My 30 Second (Tight End) Rant

[rodell330]

I am guessing that something could have been worked out with the Browns to have made his cap number work for the Packers this season and as Captain stated, the release of Shields will help with future years.

I get it, its a big gamble to pay a guy like Haden (as it was Shields) all that money and lose a draft pick as well, but it also has turned out to be a bad gamble on standing pat with our current group of CB's.

I hope we keeping winning and I think we can, but if we do loose as a result of our CB's just not being good enough, many will view what was and wasn't done at the position a key factor in the final outcome of the season.

If the Packers have Shields or Hayden covering Bryant instead of Gunter..different ballgame score wise for sure. Can't help what happen to Shields but Hayden could've been had. Sometimes it's worth giving up a draft pick for a proven guy...simply because he's proven! A draft pick isn't. As far as his salary? If you cut Shields, Starks, and Peppers retires you have more than enough to compensate a solid pro bowl corner still in his twenties.

 

[Mondio]

yes, a CB would have helped. I'd love one. What I don't agree with is that Ted didn't do anything. The fact he signs guys like Peppers and nobody had any clue whatsoever they were even talking until he was signed tells me how he operates. Yes salary could be worked around, yes cap can be worked around, yes a shut down corner makes this defense completely different.

This also supposes, one was available, and at a cost that made sense. My guess is into the season, you have 2 options. A team looking to unload cap and rebuild, meaning we get big salary and give up a few draft picks, or we get a guy that isn't doing what he's paid to do , but has a valuable name. i don't think the odds were in our favor, but I don't think Ted didn't look. I think it's silly to think otherwise. Because some beat writer with a readership to maintain has a different story? I don't buy it.

And DB might be the reason we don't win a super bowl. It might also be due to missing Burnett. Having 2 other guys injured all year, Perry with a Club, Matthews with one good shoulder. It could be due to all sorts of things. yet here we are, 1 game away. A lot happens in a season, i'm enjoying this one and all they've overcome. We need things to go a certain way to win, and there isn't a team left that doesn't have stipulations next to them in order to win it all.

 

[Half Empty]

Seems to now be more of the standard TT thread discussion than one about a TE rant.

 

[Mondio]

It's absolutely mind-boggling that a reasonable fan like you denies the Packers should have been able to improve the cornerback position during this season once it became clear it was in desperate need of an upgrade.

I don't see teams just giving up good players to teams who need them regularly in the NFL a quarter of the way into the season. Not without big costs. Of course I can see a shut down guy would help. I can also see, this staff is good at what they do. And they believe in their guys. They believed the youth needed time to mature. and they've been better. I don't hold that against them and I don't expect them to just break it all down and abandoned the plan, because that mentality that permeates from the top down, and would have seen this team not even in the playoffs. Instead the men at the top and the men in the coaching chairs and the men on the field all operate with a different mentality, and they're finding ways to get it done

 

[Deleted member 6794]

yes, a CB would have helped. I'd love one. What I don't agree with is that Ted didn't do anything. i don't think the odds were in our favor, but I don't think Ted didn't look. I think it's silly to think otherwise. Because some beat writer with a readership to maintain has a different story? I don't buy it.

A lot happens in a season, i'm enjoying this one and all they've overcome. We need things to go a certain way to win, and there isn't a team left that doesn't have stipulations next to them in order to win it all.

Well, it's a fact Thompson didn't do anything to improve the cornerback position once it became obvious it was in need of an upgrade. Trying doesn't cut it for me.

Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying the Packers run over the last eight weeks resulting in the team playing in the NFCCG as well but an improved secondary would drastically increase the chances of winning the next two games.

 

[swhitset]

Free agents none the less. And it's your opinion again. This supposes that someone better is always available at any given time. It takes into account nothing else that happens in terms of roster. I can't help think about all the signings over the years made by fans and what that would have meant to this team. Man that Rolondo McClain signing that never happened would have been nice

I don't want the fans to sign anybody, but I would like to see Thompson act a bit more often than he does in this area.

 

[Mondio]

just like Rodgers to Cook took both guys to make the play, plus a host of others. A GM can't just go get any player he wants just because he wants them. It takes at least 2 to tango.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

just like Rodgers to Cook took both guys to make the play, plus a host of others. A GM can't just go get any player he wants just because he wants them. It takes at least 2 to tango.

While that's true I'm convinced a team out of the playoff race and in a rebuilding mode would have been interested in a trade with the Packers.

 

[pacmaniac]

Cook is so good that he even drops passes at the right time (right before the half in the Giants game to set up the hail mary).

 

[Mondio]

they could have been, i'm sure he looked. I don't mind that we didn't give up the farm to land a guy if that's what it would have taken either. I think Ted is reasonable and made a reasonable decision. I don't even care anymore. I'm more concerned that Burnett comes back healthy in time for this weekend, because with him, I think even with the mash unit we have, we can have those 5 moments on defense that will decide the game, assuming our offense keeps doing what it should be doing.

Atlanta is on fire on offense, I don't look forward to stopping them, but even so, Ryan made a few mistakes that Seattle couldn't convert. I think we can, because it's who we are on defense. Give up a lot, pick our spots and make them count It's the best we can hope for at this point. Unlike Seattle, our offense can put pressure on the opposing offense too. We need Burnett back.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

they could have been, i'm sure he looked. I don't mind that we didn't give up the farm to land a guy if that's what it would have taken either. I think Ted is reasonable and made a reasonable decision. I don't even care anymore. I'm more concerned that Burnett comes back healthy in time for this weekend, because with him, I think even with the mash unit we have, we can have those 5 moments on defense that will decide the game, assuming our offense keeps doing what it should be doing.

Atlanta is on fire on offense, I don't look forward to stopping them, but even so, Ryan made a few mistakes that Seattle couldn't convert. I think we can, because it's who we are on defense. Give up a lot, pick our spots and make them count It's the best we can hope for at this point. Unlike Seattle, our offense can put pressure on the opposing offense too. We need Burnett back.

Absolutely agreed that Burnett being able to play at Atlanta would be a huge boost for the Packers defense.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Back to the thread though, just letting people know......I'm still wearing my #89 Jones Jersey......In Cook I Trust! GREAT pick-up TT!!!

 

[rodell330]

Absolutely agreed that Burnett being able to play at Atlanta would be a huge boost for the Packers defense.

Burnett playing would be a huge boost but it's going to be close. Quad injuries are funny...having to miss 95% of the Dallas game just tells me how significant the injury really was. Brice wasn't terribly bad but with Burnett out it eliminates being able to take a LB off the field on passing downs and moving Burnett to a rover position and bringing in another safety.

 

[Croak]

Man, this thread has me so confused. Is this a thread about Cook? Is it about TT? Is it about the game that just passed or the one coming up? Miscellany?

 

[Poppa San]

Technically Peppers wasn't an unrestricted free agent as he was released by the Bears before signing in Green Bay.

Was he not free to sign with any team? So what restrictions were on him if he wasn't unrestricted? Otherwise you are creating a class that technically doesn't exist.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Was he not free to sign with any team? So what restrictions were on him if he wasn't unrestricted? Otherwise you are creating a class that technically doesn't exist.

The NFL makes a difference about it as players that were released by their former teams don't factor into compensatory picks. Therefore signing guys like Peppers and Cook is pretty smart by Thompson.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The NFL makes a difference about it as players that were released by their former teams don't factor into compensatory picks. Therefore signing guys like Peppers and Cook is pretty smart by Thompson.

Thanks Captain, I knew that was discussed in regards to Peppers way back when and I couldn't remember the distinguishing difference. Wasn't Guion the same? No matter how TT acquired Cook, it has worked out and hopefully TT can repeat and rinse the CB position in a similar fashion and with as equally successful results.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Wasn't Guion the same?

True.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

True.

I think we see the pattern here Protect those compensatory picks!

Its like waiting for a "bargain night" to order a pizza, while holding on to your $2 off coupon for the next one.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I think we see the pattern here Protect those compensatory picks!

Yeah, the last true unrestricted free agent Thompson signed was Anthony Hargrove in 2012. He never played a single down for the Packers.

 

[Carl]

If the Packers had traded for Haden at the deadline the team would have taken a $5.35 million cap hit in 2016. Therefore it would have worked this season as well.

I stand corrected.

Somehow, you always manage to find any stat you need.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I stand corrected.

Somehow, you always manage to find any stat you need.

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[El Guapo]

Street Free Agents are players who had contracts terminated before their original term ended. When that happens, the player is free to sign with any team without waiting for the free agency period to start. Players who played out the entire term of their contract are unrestricted and can not sign with a new team until the free agency period begins.

Cook was obviously a good pickup. If it was that easy to find value free agents, everybody would be doing it. It's like someone walking into a room and telling you to buy more undervalued stocks. It sounds easy but somebody must assess the value and take the risk. I think that the main issue is that TT is generally risk adverse. He tries to only make moves that he believes are locks.

We saw at the end of the game where MM used a double TE set. It worked great to make Dallas think that we were running the ball into the endzone. In the mid-90s, Wolf brought in Keith Jackson to play alongside Ed West (I think) and eventually Chmura. Two tight ends can be devastingly hard to cover, if we get Cook and Rodgers running around the middle with Jordy/Cobb/Adams/Allison working the edges.

 

[Patriotplayer90]

You mean a big, athletic receiver paired with the best QB in the league actually turns out to be a good idea?

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Burnett playing would be a huge boost but it's going to be close. Quad injuries are funny...having to miss 95% of the Dallas game just tells me how significant the injury really was. Brice wasn't terribly bad but with Burnett out it eliminates being able to take a LB off the field on passing downs and moving Burnett to a rover position and bringing in another safety.

I think having Brice back playing center field, allowing both Burnett and Haha to move around, and make plays.