America
Cheesehead
A Few General Thoughts
Cutdown day is a hard day and it's one of the days that a GM's acumen makes a difference. TT has made mistakes in the past....like releasing our punter and signing Frost last year...and let's hope he didn't make any today.
1) Tyrell Sutton. A lot of us liked him but if we were going to carry 4 RBs then somebody else gets cut at a different position. And regardless of how much we like him, the reality of Sutton is that he couldn't play 3rd downs because his blitz pickup skills aren't real strong and with Ryan Grant getting the bulk of carries Sutton would be competing with Jackson and Wynn for a carry or two each game.
Lots of running backs got released yesterday, many of them bigger and faster than Sutton. There's a very good chance that he'll make it back to our practice squad.
2) Jamon Meredith. A ton of potential but "as raw as sushi" as one writer put it. This is another guy that could easily make it to our practice squad.
3) Ruvell Martin. This one surprised me, and it shouldn't have. He'd been our #5 WR for 3 years and that's all he was ever going to be here and every time that TT has had the choice between youth and experience he's gone with youth. I liked Ruvell Martin and thought he was a good player for us but NFL stands for Not For Long and the Packers apparently thought they'd seen the best that Ruvell Martin had to offer and determined that Swain had a bigger upside. Additionally, Martin was scheduled to make 1.1 million in salary and Swain is a minimum contract (350K) guy....so we save 700K on that deal.....one of the many little things that go into having a healthy salary cap situation.
4) Brian Brohm. In my opinion, this is a calculated gamble to resign him at a reduced price to the practice squad. He was only going to be our #3 this year and after shopping him and finding no takers it was determined that we'd roll the dice and try to put him on the practice squad. I'd like to say "this is a bold move" but come on, we're talking about our 3rd string QB.
5) Anthony Smith/Derrick Martin. Once again, this shows the incredibly thorough approach the Packer personnel department takes to the roster. Most of us had no clue who this guy was....I don't recall a single post by anybody saying "Baltimore might release Derrick Martin and we could take him". Apparently, they felt he was an upgrade over Smith.
Considering that Smith played OK, I'm kind of wondering if his off-the-field demeanor was a factor, as it apparently was in Pittsburgh where he went from starter to doghouse. TT places a premium on locker room chemistry and isn't going to have a guy around who might jeopardize it.
6) We only kept six defensive linemen and that concerns me. I'm Old School and I think that defense starts right on the line of scrimmage and I'm concerned about whether six guys is enough to get through a 16 game season and the playoffs. It's a tough position and these guys do get nicked up.
7) There'll undoubtedly be some more moves. Guys like Havner, Kuhn, Jones....shouldn't get too comfortable. We may still add another QB, we may (hopefully) add another DL, we could add a TE.
Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. We can analyze each move but the overall picture is that we've got a pretty strong 53 man squad.
He's also had some bad luck with injuries to Harrell, Murphy, and Lee, but getting 9 solid contributors in 5 years from your first and second round selections is a success rate that I think probably stands up fairly well to any team in the league. If you don't believe me, go to DraftHistory.com - NFL Pro Football College Draft and do the homework yourself.
Cutdown day is a hard day and it's one of the days that a GM's acumen makes a difference. TT has made mistakes in the past....like releasing our punter and signing Frost last year...and let's hope he didn't make any today.
1) Tyrell Sutton. A lot of us liked him but if we were going to carry 4 RBs then somebody else gets cut at a different position. And regardless of how much we like him, the reality of Sutton is that he couldn't play 3rd downs because his blitz pickup skills aren't real strong and with Ryan Grant getting the bulk of carries Sutton would be competing with Jackson and Wynn for a carry or two each game.
Lots of running backs got released yesterday, many of them bigger and faster than Sutton. There's a very good chance that he'll make it back to our practice squad.
2) Jamon Meredith. A ton of potential but "as raw as sushi" as one writer put it. This is another guy that could easily make it to our practice squad.
3) Ruvell Martin. This one surprised me, and it shouldn't have. He'd been our #5 WR for 3 years and that's all he was ever going to be here and every time that TT has had the choice between youth and experience he's gone with youth. I liked Ruvell Martin and thought he was a good player for us but NFL stands for Not For Long and the Packers apparently thought they'd seen the best that Ruvell Martin had to offer and determined that Swain had a bigger upside. Additionally, Martin was scheduled to make 1.1 million in salary and Swain is a minimum contract (350K) guy....so we save 700K on that deal.....one of the many little things that go into having a healthy salary cap situation.
4) Brian Brohm. In my opinion, this is a calculated gamble to resign him at a reduced price to the practice squad. He was only going to be our #3 this year and after shopping him and finding no takers it was determined that we'd roll the dice and try to put him on the practice squad. I'd like to say "this is a bold move" but come on, we're talking about our 3rd string QB.
5) Anthony Smith/Derrick Martin. Once again, this shows the incredibly thorough approach the Packer personnel department takes to the roster. Most of us had no clue who this guy was....I don't recall a single post by anybody saying "Baltimore might release Derrick Martin and we could take him". Apparently, they felt he was an upgrade over Smith.
Considering that Smith played OK, I'm kind of wondering if his off-the-field demeanor was a factor, as it apparently was in Pittsburgh where he went from starter to doghouse. TT places a premium on locker room chemistry and isn't going to have a guy around who might jeopardize it.
6) We only kept six defensive linemen and that concerns me. I'm Old School and I think that defense starts right on the line of scrimmage and I'm concerned about whether six guys is enough to get through a 16 game season and the playoffs. It's a tough position and these guys do get nicked up.
7) There'll undoubtedly be some more moves. Guys like Havner, Kuhn, Jones....shouldn't get too comfortable. We may still add another QB, we may (hopefully) add another DL, we could add a TE.
Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. We can analyze each move but the overall picture is that we've got a pretty strong 53 man squad.
In five years, each team gets 10 picks in the first and second rounds. TT has made a few trades to get an extra pick or two and the net result of what he has harvested in the first two rounds include Aaron Rodgers, AJ Hawk, Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, Darryn Colledge, BJ Raji Nick Collins, and Brandon Jackson. That's 9contributors, most of them starters, some potential Pro Bowlers and at least one possible MVP candidate.
He's also had some bad luck with injuries to Harrell, Murphy, and Lee, but getting 9 solid contributors in 5 years from your first and second round selections is a success rate that I think probably stands up fairly well to any team in the league. If you don't believe me, go to DraftHistory.com - NFL Pro Football College Draft and do the homework yourself.
