Where does Thompson rank as far as GMs go?

Sherman suked...hard.

He was awful!! At least he was harmless when he was sleeping.

I can only think of one GM that I'd take over Ted, so I have to say top two.

True. My contention about Sherman was that he was still a good coach, but his GM moves made the team pitiful by the time they went 4-12. That and, as we all mentioned, his inability to manage Favre adequately.

Now don't get me wrong, he's no incompetent jerkoff who plays this game like its madden like a giddy child.. He's a man who makes the tough decisions and gets the job done.. I've grown on him a lot since he gave us a chip and respect him for that, but there's holes in his game that doesn't put him at the top with Kraft or even Reese. One glaring case is the giants release of Canty and signing of Jenkins.. You can't just release players that produce without having someone of equal or greater caliber to replace him no matter how much they cost or you will constantly take steps back.. Reese knows this, releases Canty which frees up about 6 mill and signed Jenkins to about 2.6 mill.. Got a beast in Jenkins for about 3 mill less. So they got the equal or greater production to replace Canty And saved cap space.. We tried this exact scenario after we got the chip but without it being thought out too well and it was obvious from the min it happened that it was a mistake.. We release Jenkins to save cap space but thought we had his replacement in Neal.. Sorry but once again you cant let go of players who produce without having someone of equal or greater caliber to replace him with no matter how much they cost..so we tried to replace a pro bowl caliber player with a rookie at a position that was lacking playmakers from the start..even if Neal had panned out that year, a 3 man front of Jenkins raji and Neal with pickett rotating was what we should have wanted and what we still desire to this day..it's decisions like these that separate the great from the good.. Now no matter what we do with Canty or any f/a de it's almost a lose lose 3 years in the making unless he can replace Jenkins production at a lower cap cost...thoughts?

Your argument is flawed. You have to be prepared to let players go. You absolutely cannot pay everybody. You absolutely will have holes on your team, the salary cap causes that.

As good Jenkins was, and as useful to the Packers, he was not a game changer. A superstar. Let those guys walk so you can give your game-changers and superstars, those people who are (currently) irreplaceable, the money required to keep them.

Also minor nit, Neal wasn't a rookie, but a second year player in 2011. Now compare the Jenkins/Neal situation to the Favre/Rodgers situation.

Neal: As a high-draft-pick rookie, plays a little, has a great game against the Redskins. Ends the season on IR. Penciled in as a starter in 2011 and Jenkins is released for cap, age, and injury reasons. By your 'Rule,' this is a bad idea, because Neal is largely unproven.

Rodgers: As a high-draft-pick rookie, barely plays. As a second year player, he barely plays and ends his season on IR. As a third year player, has one good game against the Cowboys. Penciled in as a starter, Favre is traded away. By your 'Rule,' this is a bad idea, because Rodgers is largely unproven.

For one thing, Jenkins was a free agent. He wasn't released. He went elsewhere for a better offer than we wanted to give him. Big difference. Teams are going to lose FAs almost every year.

And this mentality is very flawed. Its easy to say you should never let a player go unless you have someone equal or better to replace them. In the real salary-capped NFL world, its not that simple.

Draft and develop teams do rely on turnover and strong internal devopment. Jenkins wasnt the first solid player that they had to let walk and he won't be the last.

Agree with the dissenters. Hindsight is 20-20 and it all seems like a no-brainer now, but the GM game is all about weighing trade-offs. Had Neal taken off TT would be in the genius category. Then again, you're the only one that I've seen call him a genius. There is a thread about him being a top-5 GM and I'll stand behind that 100%. There are no geniuses in the NFL. Nobody has the game figured out. There is just varying degrees of doing better than the others

Rodgers sat behind farve for 3 years and was considered a HUGE STEAL in the first at the time.. Neal was a second year second round player that was considered a reach because of need and who ended the season on IR. apples to oranges really.. My argument isn't as flawed as you may perceive it to be.. Once again you do not release good to great players no matter how much they cost if you don't have equal or greater production to replace it with.. And what he was commanding at the time and now wasnt and isn't the backbreaking contract that you speak of that would've put us in cap issues.. I believe Jenkins was much more of a game changer than you do I guess

F/a or released doesn't make much of a difference, at all really..name me a team who releases their internal good to great players and consistently wins..49ers? Giants? Falcons? Patriots? Nope nope nope and hell no..some people are smarter than TT believe it or not

And I'm most certainly not the one that puts him in the genius category hahahaha read around a bit more

The argument that Jenkins wasn't a game changer is flawed as well. We have two superstars on the current roster.... Matthews and Rodgers that make great plays on most Sundays. But on any particular Sunday there are oftentimes other players who make a particular play that turns a game around. You don't have to be a superstar to make a solid contribution to winning.

And once again, there is a salary cap that all teams have to work within, so this strategy, as simple as it sounds, is not always possible, as tough decisions sometimes need to be made. Don't you think all teams would do this every time if they could?

Giants just released Bradshaw. Falcons just released Michael Turner, John Abraham, and Dunta Robinson. And that's just from THIS offseason so far. So there goes that argument right there. This is all just for the sake of argument, because again, the Packers did not release Jenkins, he was a free agent. He signed somewhere else, just like many other free agents do every year. The 49ers are probably going to lose Sopoaga in free agency, and they don't have someone equal or better to replace him. This happens to EVERY team. This does not make them idiots.

Also, on the teams you named, the 49ers did not consistently win until 2011, and the Falcons still have yet to reach the Super Bowl in this era. The Patriots haven't won it all since before MM and TT were in Green Bay. We seem to be doing just fine here. We have a Super Bowl win in 2010 and are a perennial playoff team every year. The grass is not always greener on the other side.

Jesus Christ. Anquan to the Niners for a 6th rounder?

Keep sitting on your hands Ted. Fuark

That was possibly the worst comment I've ever read on here. A lot of our 6th rounders turn into starters. Wayyyyy more than most teams. Check our draft history. 6 th rounders are virtually cost less on the cap. Boldin will make some $ and wouldn't start on our team (he'd be our 4th WR).

Therefore, ill agree with your "keep sitting on your hands" statement, although you made it sarcastically. People need to start learning how the business works. FA is a great way to go through the roller coaster ride of ups and huge downs. There is a reason the packers are always competitive. People's lack of patience sucks.

You misunderstand. I hold "Game Changer" to a very high standard. If the other team doesn't game plan to stop that person first, you're not a game changer. And even then, you still have to rise above it. Jenkins, as good as he was, was never that guy. You have to be prepared to let those guys go, relatively early in some cases.

It's not easy and sometime you picked wrong in hindsight. I'd argue that happened with Jenkins. It was a solid, defensible move that happened to workout wrong.

So what? The Ravens were probably just going to cut him anyway if they couldn't find a taker. If he doesn't take a paycut to play in SF, that's a pretty big chunk of their payroll for a receiver who will be 33 this year. It's not like they were going to land an early round pick for Boldin.

I swear, the Packers could be 16-0 every year and win the Super Bowl and people would still be outraged this time of year when he isn't following other teams swapping draft picks for vets or overpaying for free agents.

I find it ironic that recent reports have Flaco saying Boldin should stick by his guns and not a take a pay cut from Baltimore. Excessive contracts have consequences.

Cue Flacco in 2 years struggling to a 20 TD/20 INT season bitching that the team hasn't surrounded him with any talent.

Here are the 6th. round picks in the Thomson era:

2012: none
2011: Schlauderaff, Elmore, D.J. Smith
2010: Starks
2009: Wynn, Underwood
2008: none
2007: Hall, Bishop, Crosby
2006: Jolly, Culver
2005: Montgomery, Bragg

That's a checkered record. And that's not a criticism of TT; it's as good as most. The 6th. round is a crap shoot.

I'm not sure where fans get this idea that TT regularly pulls rabbits out of hats in the mid-to-late rounds more frequently than others.

He's built a pretty average football team that wins with an All Pro QB; he gets points for having to regularly draft low and for conservative cap management.

Prior to this past season I had a higher opinion of Flacco than most. I figured he'd have a breakout year sometime soon, putting him solidly in the second tier with the likes of Eli Manning.

The 20/20 would roughly fit the Eli off-year profile, of which there have been a couple.

It's absolutely asinine, as well as highly unrealistic, to expect to have pro-bowl caliber studs at every position on the roster. Also, I'm still waiting for you to list the teams that have had a lot of post season success specifically because they signed a big name free agent.

Yeah, Jenkins was not a game changer by that definition. But Philly did not pay him game changer money: 5 years/$25 million without much guaranteed money. One cannot help but think personality conflicts played a part in his departure.

TT made a two-pronged mistake...signing Hawk to his deal precluded paying Jenkins.

Here's a takeaway: Jenkins was more valuable to the team in 2010 than Raji in 2011 or 2012. So what is Raji really worth, relative youth notwithstanding? Less than the numbers the press has been fond of batting around.

And he's costing the Niners $6 Million this year.

So yes, I hope Ted keeps sitting on his hands.