Defensive FA's will not bring Favre back.

[Robin Yount]

Even if we sign both Woodson and Arrington, Favre's decision will hinge on the Offense, specifically the O-line.

Look at Mortensen's article and Favre's past comments. The guy is concerned about getting his head taken off behind, what he perceives to be, an average to below average O-line.

Favre may be waiting for TT and MM to make a commitment to getting D. Ferguson in the draft. If they tell him that they will get him or other top O-linemen in the draft who can start right away, Favre could return. (Note: Winston Jutice is another 1st round beast. If we made the Denver trade we could get him at #15 and still add more at #22).

 

[DePack]

Favre said in his latest press conference that the draft will not help him with his decision. He said anyone we drafted would not pay off for a few years, so in his opinion that would not help this year.

Robin...I thought the same thing you did until Favre said this. I do think the two offensive players that are automatic impact players in their rookie year are Ferguson and Bush.

 

[Robin Yount]

I'll tell you what, if TT and MM told Favre that they are committed to getting Ferguson or Justice Favre's decision may be a whole lot easier.

 

[DePack]

I'll tell you what, if TT and MM told Favre that they are committed to getting Ferguson or Justice Favre's decision may be a whole lot easier.

You would think! If my *** was on the line, that's what I would like to hear!

 

[Robin Yount]

Even if Favre still retires our future QB will be set with one of those two protecting him. As much as Williams or Hawk are exciting picks for fans, Ferguson may actually make the most sense.

There are other draft picks this year and we can always add FAs next year. A top notch O-lineman that lasts forever (ex. Larry Allen, Orlando Pace) IS hard to find.

My vote is for Ferguson at #5, if not then move down and get Justice and more draft picks.

 

[Chamuko]

Well DePack I think Brett is worried about the offense, I will be he has no guards and no reliable center, so will you drive a 400hp Ferrari without breaks? He hasnt got a real good WR target, so this Ferrari comes without seat belts too...... The RB corps needs to prove that injuries are history, so the Ferrari comes without stop lights..... I wont ride that car at all.....

TT hasnd done anything on the Ofense side other than signing Boerigter and Gardner and letting Chatman and Flanny go, not even signed a bunch of journeymen like he did for the defense.

But TT is getting his team, and he will invest in defense, he knows Brett wont be back so why spending in the offense?? DEFENSE will be his strenght, maybe he will get his golden boy A-Rod killed but at least he will have a good better than average defense to start rebuilding the team around..

We will miss our ofense, I seems that we are heading towards becoming a clone of the bears Good defense no ofense team..... I hope we can come with a great defense in a couple of years.

 

[DePack]

Even if Favre still retires our future QB will be set with one of those two protecting him. As much as Williams or Hawk are exciting picks for fans, Ferguson may actually make the most sense.

There are other draft picks this year and we can always add FAs next year. A top notch O-lineman that lasts forever (ex. Larry Allen, Orlando Pace) IS hard to find.

My vote is for Ferguson at #5, if not then move down and get Justice and more draft picks.

If it has to be one of those scenarios, I would vote to move down and sign Justice. The only time I saw Ferguson was in the Senior Bowl and I wasn't impressed. He must be a stud because everyone says so but I would rather have Justice and extra picks

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Justice likely won't be available at #15. Ferguson wouldn't make sense because of Clifton. Read the thread discussing picking Ferguson. Also, it's unlikely Ferguson will be available at #5.

Still we are solid at OT right now, so why pick another solid OT?? The draft is not the way to improve the OL. A solid rookie WR could make an impact though.

I think we're going to need to wait for June 1st cuts to find an experienced OG. It's also likely that TT will be content to see how our existing players develop in the new blocking scheme and offense.

 

[TOPackerFan]

I think Vernon Davis might sweeten the pot for Brett a bit too. He'd have to be drooling if a guy with that kind of ability showed up in Green Bay.

 

[DePack]

I think Vernon Davis might sweeten the pot for Bret a bit too. He'd have to be drooling if a guy with that kind of ability showed up in Green Bay.

Good point!

 

[Robin Yount]

"The draft is not the way to improve the OL." - Bobby Roberts

I think these teams would beg to differ with you:

Cowboys - Larry Allen
Rams- Orlando Pace
Seahawks - Steve Hutchinson
Vikings - Bryant McKinnie

When the guys above were drafted they were INSTANT impact players. Yes you can get a bust by drafting an O-lineman, but the top O-linemen are usually the SAFEST picks in the draft. What if Ferguson or Justice is a top notch career O-lineman, how could we pass him up?

 

[SuperRat]

Just looking causually through the last few drafts I haven't seen offensive linemen drafted high being all that successful. Robert Gallery is a good starter but he probably wasn't worth a number 2 pick. Marc Columbo was a bust. Mike Williams, who was drafted ahead of McKinnie has been a bust thus far and other than that there are several i haven't heard of and drafts like last year where only one lineman was taken in the 1st round and it was Logan Mankins who has been struggling and punched a guy in the nuts.

 

[warhawk]

The man just said in his interview we knew we would be better when we got Reggie.

It's not all about the offense with Favre. It's about competing for the playoffs and a shot at the SB.

Signing these guys would put us in the top 5 or 10 max on "D". Defense wins SB's.

Yes, we still need to address some things on offense. That's why it's asking a little much to do all this in one off-season. Not impossible but IMO we DO have to count on a draft pick or two to make big contributions for us also.
It happens all the time. Why completely discount it as a possibility?

 

[Robin Yount]

warhawk,

As the Bears showed us a great D with no O is a major problem.

 

[WinnipegPackFan]

Even if we sign both Woodson and Arrington, Favre's decision will hinge on the Offense, specifically the O-line.

Look at Mortensen's article and Favre's past comments. The guy is concerned about getting his head taken off behind, what he perceives to be, an average to below average O-line.

Favre may be waiting for TT and MM to make a commitment to getting D. Ferguson in the draft. If they tell him that they will get him or other top O-linemen in the draft who can start right away, Favre could return. (Note: Winston Jutice is another 1st round beast. If we made the Denver trade we could get him at #15 and still add more at #22).

Piece from the April 10 th article concerning this :

"Favre has been waiting for the Packers to give him some hope. He even told general manager Ted Thompson that he'd come back instantly if the team would sign controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens. He wanted to see the Packers -- a huge revenue team despite their small-market status -- spend some of that $30 million of salary cap space on some quality blockers and, if not Owens, somebody else who could catch the ball in crunch time".

I think he needs some type of improvement on both the blocking and recieving fronts, just my opinion !!!

 

[warhawk]

I'm not disputing that. But we are a long ways off from having a great ""D".

How many times did we see our "D" fold when we did have a lead?

The Vikes game was a great example. Up 17 to 0 and the "D" just dropped off completely. You can't expect to be a playoff team when your "D" keeps getting beat when the other team needs a score.

Again, we do need help on offense, no question, but we will not be back in the playoffs until our defense gets a whole lot better.

31st against the run aint going to get it.

And by the way, the Bears DEFENSE cost them the playoff game. The "0" did plenty enought to win that game.

 

[P@ck66]

I was gonna say..

"Does anybody think that TT has a bias for defensive players..."

(maybe a blind spot..too.!)

 

[Bobby Roberts]

"The draft is not the way to improve the OL." - Bobby Roberts

I think these teams would beg to differ with you:

Cowboys - Larry Allen
Rams- Orlando Pace
Seahawks - Steve Hutchinson
Vikings - Bryant McKinnie

When the guys above were drafted they were INSTANT impact players. Yes you can get a bust by drafting an O-lineman, but the top O-linemen are usually the SAFEST picks in the draft. What if Ferguson or Justice is a top notch career O-lineman, how could we pass him up?

Our best players on the OL are Tauscher and Clifton. Both top notch career OL. Ferguson and Justice are OTs. So your suggestion to improve our OL is to replace our best players with rookies??

My comment about the draft not being the way to improve the OL is taken out of context. In order to make the OL better this season, our best bet is to pick up solid experienced OGs. We already have young inexperienced, yet talented, players in Couston and Witt along with Wells and White. I'm sure we'll draft a good prospect at OG/C, but it'd be foolish to count on that player making a major impact this season.

So if you are looking to keep Favre here with a big signing on the OL, then we have to wait since there isn't much available right now.

The suggestion to draft Davis may be the best one since this would provide an instant threat that may be lost by the Walker situation. If we are able to settle things with Walker, then Favre will have a great time with weapons of Driver, Walker, Davis, Franks, Gardner to throw the ball at. This could also open things up for Green, Davenport and Gado to do some damage.

 

[digsthepack]

No, but it will make the team better, and allow for future efforts to be concentrated on offense after June 1 and in the draft.

 

[pyledriver80]

No way do I go with an OL in the first round and definitely not at 5.

You can get good OG's all throughout the Draft. Most O-Lineman in the game today are mid rounders.

Go with Hawk at 1 and grab Mangold at 2 if there. If he's not I am still not sure I would go guard. Jean-Gilles and Lutui would probably be the 2 to go with but neither really fits the Zone-Blocking scheme. Grab Boothe from Cornell and Kuper from ND in the later rounds. Both are extremely aggressive and fit the Zone-Blocking thing perfectly.

 

[warhawk]

BobbyRoberts,
I agree. If our "0" line is going to improve next year it will need to be thru FA. There are no impact Guards in the draft that could make any big difference.

Unfortunately, the FA guard market is fairly thin as well. The Hutchinson deal got to be a joke and Allen would have been o.k. but not sure he would even be a great fit for what they want out of the lineman now.

There's a couple of restricted guys that might work if they don't sign by the deadline and compensation is no longer an issue.

It's certainly not oozing guards out there though.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

BobbyRoberts,
I agree. If our "0" line is going to improve next year it will need to be thru FA. There are no impact Guards in the draft that could make any big difference.

Unfortunately, the FA guard market is fairly thin as well. The Hutchinson deal got to be a joke and Allen would have been o.k. but not sure he would even be a great fit for what they want out of the lineman now.

There's a couple of restricted guys that might work if they don't sign by the deadline and compensation is no longer an issue.

It's certainly not oozing guards out there though.

You are correct that there isn't anything out there right now to get excited about. I was hoping to see a solid OG signed early on, but now I'm hoping for one to become available after the June 1st cuts.

It makes sense to draft an OG, maybe even as high as our 2nd round pick, but it's unlikely that player will make Favre decide not to retire. It's also unlikely that player will have a major impact as a rookie.

 

[JbShell]

I'm not disputing that. But we are a long ways off from having a great ""D".

How many times did we see our "D" fold when we did have a lead?

The Vikes game was a great example. Up 17 to 0 and the "D" just dropped off completely. You can't expect to be a playoff team when your "D" keeps getting beat when the other team needs a score.

Again, we do need help on offense, no question, but we will not be back in the playoffs until our defense gets a whole lot better.

31st against the run aint going to get it.

And by the way, the Bears DEFENSE cost them the playoff game. The "0" did plenty enought to win that game.

Was it the D that folded or the coaching staff. I think it had more to do with Shermans well we dont want to embarrass anyone philosiphy than anything else. Hopefully MM brings a we are gonna beat you until you are in the ground mentality.

 

[digsthepack]

To me, the defense was in many cases abandoned by an offense that went "play not to lose" when they held, briefly, a lead.

 

[warhawk]

I think all of this was part of the problem last year. The thing with the "0" with all the injuries though took a lot out of the playbook.

A lot of guys paid to score were hurt. Our "0" line was inconsistant. a lot of things.

But to build a solid "D" and work towards a strong running "0" is a fine plan with me.