Ted Thompson's Best Move as Packers GM

[FrankRizzo]

He's had a lot of great moves. Big moves.

I am making this tough because you only can choose ONE.

Which is it?

 

[Jess]

The move from Favre to Rodgers.

No question in my mind. That move is the single biggest reason we're set up to be contenders for the next decade.

 

[PackAttackUK]

I'm with Jess, but that wasn't there so I chose drafting Rodgers.

But yeah, having the balls (and realisation) to ditch Favre and go with Aaron is Ted's best move as Packers GM so far, without a doubt! As Jess said, it's set us up with a positive future for years to come.

 

[Kitten]

Holy Packers, Franky! That was hard!!! It literally took me 5 minutes to sit and deliberate. There is a plethora of genius moves by T.T. but the one I'm going with is trading up with the Patriots to get Clay in '09. That single move showcased T.T.s almost uncanny and intuitive ability to assess a player and know a champion in the making when he sees one. That move helped to elevate our defense to championship caliber and it set us up on defense to be in contention for a decade, very much mirroring drafting Aaron on offense. I am of the school where I think consistency in defense wins championships, therefore, although a hard call to make of all those choices (Aaron was a very close 2nd), I'd go with this move.

 

[GreenBayGal]

The move from Favre to Rodgers.

No question in my mind. That move is the single biggest reason we're set up to be contenders for the next decade.

Agreed! Clay Matthews got my vote though as eliminating Favre wasn't an option.

 

[PackersRS]

Getting Clay.

Rodgers was pratically a gimme, considering his draft board. Sure, it took a lot of guts, and he is our best player, but he didn't have to do anything but select him. One might say he got lucky.

It's a different discussion with Matthews. First of all, most didn't have him as high as he was taken, so he outscouted almost all teams. And then was the move, packaging picks to trade up to get him, outwitting Bill Bellichick (who is still looking for a pass rusher) in the process.

That might go down as one of the best draft moves of all time.

 

[Kitten]

Getting Clay.

Rodgers was pratically a gimme, considering his draft board. Sure, it took a lot of guts, and he is our best player, but he didn't have to do anything but select him. One might say he got lucky.

It's a different discussion with Matthews. First of all, most didn't have him as high as he was taken, so he outscouted almost all teams. And then was the move, packaging picks to trade up to get him, outwitting Bill Bellichick (who is still looking for a pass rusher) in the process.

That might go down as one of the best draft moves of all time.

A big Amen! I'll admitt outwitting Bill Bellichick (who in himself is a master of the draft) was also a factor in my own reasoning process. The fact they are still needing a pass rusher makes it all the sweeter.

 

[KilrB]

I say the Mathews pick.

Aaron Rodgers was a no brainier IMO. With Burt being a ***** we needed him and it was amazing he dropped that far and that had little to do with TT.

Seeing the potential in Mathews and having the balls to move up to get him was a stroke of genius!

 

[Future]

You can say Rodgers was a no-brainer but he certainly wasn't a no-brainer for 23 other teams. Drafting Rodgers is, by far, Thompson's best move.

 

[PackersRS]

You can say Rodgers was a no-brainer but he certainly wasn't a no-brainer for 23 other teams. Drafting Rodgers is, by far, Thompson's best move.

But how much that had to do with Ted Thompson? He had no influence in 23 other teams passing on Rodgers.

I agree that it was great scouting, that he saw great value and had the guts to pull the trigger.

But in the Clay trade, not only it was great scouting, and was also a lot of guts to trade all those picks, but he also had to make the trade for the absolute right spot, and figure out how much he was gaining and losing.

 

[bozz_2006]

I voted for Chuck. There is no way to quantify what he brings to the defense. He is the defining piece of the defense, the face of the defense, and the leader of the defense. The move to get him in green and gold is made even better if you remember the perception that Chuck was seen as completely washed up and broken down and that Ted was the only GM in the league to even make him an offer. And Ted doesn't just go out and sign any ol' big name guy either. The move to take Woodson was as calculated as any of the other moves, and far riskier, in my opinion.

I'd say moving up to take Clay is second. Grabbing Aaron was a great move but if the poll is purely based on Thompson's moves I can't vote for Rodgers, as I don't think that conversation can take place without talking about the fantastic job McCarthy has done with him. If the poll question had to do with Ted sticking with Rodgers when Favre decided to come out of retirement and storm the castle, that would be a whole other discussion. But I've gotta go with Woodson 100%.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Right on.

If Ted Thompson knew how great Rodgers was going to be, he wouldn't have sat and waited for him to fall... to 20, 21, 22, etc.... that's kinda like NE getting Brady at #199. Had they really known, they wouldn't have waited so long.

With Matthews, Ted had a strong belief that Matthews could be that Lawrence Taylor, DeMarcus Ware sackmaster off the edge in our new 3-4, and he shocked EVERYONE by trading up for once..... and then taking Matthews! Nobody expected him to take Matthews that spot even when our jaws hit the ground when we saw our logo come up in place of New England's.

THAT was a BRILLIANT move.
Grabbing Rodgers was great, but took a lot of luck, and was more of a gift.

 

[weeds]

I went with drafting Rodgers....particularly when a lot of good football minds passed on him. Were I in his place, I'd be scratching my head going..."What am I missing here??"

No doubt that I couldn't do his job because I'd have missed on Matthews entirely and I'd have passed on Mike McCarthy truthfully - at the time I was wondering if Ted was in the room at all when Ron Wolf was running the show thinking... "Yeah...I need to hire the Offensive Co-ordinator from the worst offensive team in the NFL for my head coach to make up for Mike Sherman's errors in judgment." Hahahaha... honest to god, that's what I was thinking...by that time, I was so "Sherman'd" out that I was willing to give anyone a shot.

 

[Big E]

First of all, I LOL'd hard at Brian Brohm being on this list. :lol:

Second, HOLY CRAP THAT WAS A HARD CHOICE. I think it comes down to drafting A-Rod, signing C-Wood, and and moving up to get Clay. Tramonster could also be included, but I'd say the other 3 are better moves because there was more risk involved spending money and using high draft picks.

Then, I ruled out the Aaron Rodgers pick because it seemed like a no-brainer that year. He had #1 pick talent and somehow dropped all the way down to us. We needed a QB to become the heir apparent to Favre.

The last two remaining were incredibly difficult to choose between. Both were trend breakers for TT. For the first time, he went out and spent some serious money in free agency to get C-Wood. And he broke his trend of only trading down to move up and get Clay. Well, I think he had traded up before that, but it wasn't a very big trade up. Ultimately, the decision came down to my gut and I picked signing Charles Woodson. He wasn't having exceptionally productive seasons in Oakland and he was beginning to get up there in age. Since coming to Green Bay, he's been a leader and one of our biggest playmakers. The vote could have easily gone to one of the others though.

 

[FrankRizzo]

First of all, I LOL'd hard at Brian Brohm being on this list. :lol:

Thank you. I thought it was funny..... guess you and I are the only ones with that sense of humor!

 

[PackersRS]

Thank you. I thought it was funny..... guess you and I are the only ones with that sense of humor!

Yeah, I just noticed it and went full WTF mode.

 

[KilrB]

Its easy to argue A-Rod, Wood or Matthews!

Frikin Awesome Argument too!:yahoo:

 

[neilfii]

I guess I'll be the lone wolf here. Y'all are right, this was one tough choice, but I am going with hiring MM because I think it all starts at the top with a guy who can coalesce and bring all of that talent together. I know I sound like a broken record, but stars and great individual talent doesn't win games, teams do, and the team/family relationships MM created are what led to it all coming together, and unless it ALL came together I don't think there would have been a SB win.
Everything rises or falls on leadership, and for the Pack, that's the coach.

 

[ivo610]

Cant be Rodgers. He needed a future QB and the possible #1 pick was still on the board.

Trading up for Matthews was ballsy, So that was my choice.

Woodson was a good move but whenever its brought up people seem to say no one in the league wanted him. Thats a load of sh*t. No player gets a 50 million dollar contract if no one wanted them.

 

[greenandgold]

Trading a washed up Favre isn't on the list?

 

[bozz_2006]

Woodson was a good move but whenever its brought up people seem to say no one in the league wanted him. Thats a load of sh*t. No player gets a 50 million dollar contract if no one wanted them.

I've always been under the assumption that the offer he agreed to was far from the Packers' first offer to him. It took that much money to get him to agree to play in cold dinky Green Bay, even with no other offers. By every single account I've heard, Woodson didn't receive an offer from any other team.

 

[Future]

I've always been under the assumption that the offer he agreed to was far from the Packers' first offer to him. It took that much money to get him to agree to play in cold dinky Green Bay, even with no other offers. By every single account I've heard, Woodson didn't receive an offer from any other team.

I'm fairly certain he had a solid offer from Tampa but they wanted him to play safety. One of the main reasons he came to Green Bay was that he could play corner here.

 

[Matty Flynn]

WTF? Brian Brohm but no Matt Flynn? I think Flynn beat Brohm for the back-up spot.

 

[Jordyruns]

Trading a washed up Favre isn't on the list?

Yeah this is more what I would think of with Rodgers. TT made the decision to move on with Rodgers and end the Favre era which was the best move TT has made.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Yeah this is more what I would think of with Rodgers. TT made the decision to move on with Rodgers and end the Favre era which was the best move TT has made.

Getting rid of that *****ser was precious, but I didn't want to put that in this poll because that was as much Mike McCarthy as it was Ted Thompson, plus I wanted it about adding a specific player, of which Ted has done a great job of.

No love for Greg Jennings?
Think about that one. New England traded UP with us, giving us an extra pick or two, in the 2nd round of the 2006 Draft, and they took highly touted WR Chad Jackson from Florida.

Later in the round, Ted took WR Greg Jennings from Western or Central Michigan.

Have you ever seen Chad Jackson catch a pass? Ever? Even from the golden boy Tom Brady? No you haven't.

Greg Jennings?

Ted Thompson has just r***d Belichick the genius, twice. We have Jennings and Matthews because of that overrated mastermind. And they don't have an OLB or a deep threat WR.