Packers release Arturo Freeman, activate Chris Johnson

packfan43084

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My only question is simply WHY? I mean, Freeman was the best free agent that we picked up, not to mention he knows Bates' defense. I thought he would start for sure but apparently not. Now we're looking at probably Collins and maybe Roman or Little as the other safety. What do you guys think?

link: http://packers.com/news/releases/2005/08/14/1/
 

CalifPacker

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Interesting news. Freeman must have lost a step or just plain got beat out.

Lets see if Chris Johnson finally gets some pre-season playing time now that he is "healthy" again. Nick Collins must be doing quite well in the eyes of the coaches.
 

agopackgo4

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Yes this came as a surprise to me also. I thought that Freeman was going to stick around for a while at least for the season. Some things just dont make any sense. But maybe there is somthing that we don't know about with him?
 

GBXU

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There was a reason that Freeman was never a full time starter in Miami, he just wasn't that good. Signing him had to be a security blanket in case both draft picks flopped. I guess Bates has enough confidence in Collins and Roman to allow this to happen. Looks like it will be Collins, Roman, Little and Underwood. And personally, I have no problem with this.
 

Zero2Cool

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The Green Bay Packers have released safety Arturo Freeman and activated cornerback Chris Johnson. Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson announced the moves Sunday.

Freeman had signed with Green Bay this past offseason after beginning his career with the Miami Dolphins.

Johnson, a third-year cornerback out of Louisville, was declared physically unable to perform last month. The Packers have passed him on his physical and cleared him for his first 2005 training camp practice.


I wasn't expecting this at all. This makes me somewhat excited about Johnson though!
 

net

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When the Packers signed Freeman, I went to the Miami Dolphin fan site and asked them what they thought about Freeman. To a person, none of them liked him. Most people said there was a reason he wasn't starting and he tended to disappear for long stretches. O.K., I thought, but there was much talent in the former Miami secondary, and little in the Green Bay secondary, so he might blossom here. Maybe Bates grew weary of waiting for him to blossom. I think the Packers signed him so they would have some assurance in case they couldn't get better help. Collins flatout appears to have won the job already. Also, Mark Roman appears to have fit into this system much better and is starting to play like he was expected to when he signed as a free agent. They still have Little, Underwood, Franz, etc.
I thought something was awry when he didn't start the other night, instead it was Collins. The Packers also have way too many guys at the corners so a few of them will be gone soon, too.
Same thing on offense. Whittaker starts instead of O'Dwyre, then O'Dwyre pulls two bone-head penalties...not good for a FA vet. Looks to me like the Packers are going young...and if you don't come to play, see ya.

Freeman might have asked to be released when it was obvious he wasn't going to start, and the team obliged so he could go elsewhere.
 
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Steel Wheels said:
Bhawoh Jue was better than Arturo Freeman or Mark Roman.

Oh PLEASE enlighten us as to how MS screwed the Pack over by not signing Jue to a extension when he was GM. Honestly man when you type something out on the forums here, do you think it makes you look like a genius? Becuase if you do, then you need to understand thats not the case.

Anyways, this move surprises me quite a bit. I would have expected Franz to go first. I believe that perhaps Freeman did ask for a release when it became apparant he would not start.
 

Steel Wheels

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all about da packers said:
[quote="Steel Wheels":2n9qeg99]Bhawoh Jue was better than Arturo Freeman or Mark Roman.

Oh PLEASE enlighten us as to how MS screwed the Pack over by not signing Jue to a extension when he was GM. Honestly man when you type something out on the forums here, do you think it makes you look like a genius? Becuase if you do, then you need to understand thats not the case. [/quote:2n9qeg99]


Reread my post. I didn't say that Sherman should have signed Jue to an extension.

I said Bhawoh Jue was better than Arturo Freeman or Mark Roman.

I think you need reading lessons.
 

Greg C.

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I'm not too surprised. Freeman did zippo in the scrimmage and the exhibition game. Like others here, I tend to view this as a positive, indicating that the coaches have confidence in the young guys. If another veteran is cut soon, I'm guessing it will be Matt O'Dwyer.
 

arrowgargantuan

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definitely didn't see this one coming...but it did seem like he was absent during the mini-camps and training camps.

Freeman might have asked to be released when it was obvious he wasn't going to start, and the team obliged so he could go elsewhere.

very possible.
 

GBXU

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Steel Wheels said:
Bhawoh Jue was better than Arturo Freeman or Mark Roman.

True, he was last year but it takes two to tango and I'd be willing to bet that Jue wanted a fresh start somewhere else... time to move on.
 

Zero2Cool

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Ryan said:
Freeman is still on my Madden 06 so I will let you know how he does :)


omg wtf change his name to S. Vision and raise his ratings to 99!! :D



ps, im white too if you can change that
 

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Hopefully this is a sign that the young DBs are looking solid enough that the coaches have confidence in them and not that Freeman looked that bad.
 
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SW, I will agree that Jue played better than Roman. However, I think you can't blame Roman for having Slo as the D-coach. Frankly, I think Jue's time was to move on, we got Collins and Underwood, who, surely even you must agree, are better then Jue.
 

ArizonaPackerFan

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net said:
Freeman might have asked to be released when it was obvious he wasn't going to start, and the team obliged so he could go elsewhere.

Give Net a cigar. It sounds like he was right according to the article below because it said Freeman asked for his release. It made it sound like 10 teams are interested in him already. He has already signed with Tennessee.

This news bums me out. I was hoping he'd be better than Roman. I hate the thought of another year with Roman. When Roman helped jar the ball loose the other day against the Chargers on a hit he made, the announcers were raving about his hit. But when it wasn't ruled a fumble, he was the one who helped give up a 20 yard pass play on the very next play for a 1st down.

http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/aug05/348435.asp
 

lonewolf

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I'd like to believe (unlike some others here, who remain nameless!) that Mike Sherman is not an idiot, or possesses such bad judgement as to not see what Arturo Freeman really was, a marginal safety whose instincts paled in comparison to Collins. I also heard some rumor on the radio that Freeman did ask for a trade, but you know how those kinds of rumors are -- might have been pure speculation, as in this thread.
 

Robin Yount

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To be honest and frank, this is not a good sign. We need to find someone to start ahead of Collins at least for the first 6 to 8 games.

As much as I hope Collins is a total stud . . . he is still a rookie playing Safety in the NFL with a marginal veteran safety guiding him (Roman). Rookies 1.) make rookie mistakes 2.) often wear down or "hit the wall" at some point and 3.) can be ruined by coaches who play them too early due to necessity on the roster.

Most rookies in most positions are brought up slowly. Even though Barnett had an excellent rookie year how much better would he have been if he would have developed behing a solid professional veteran.

I hope Collins is not the typical rookie and can carry a heavy load. If he can't we may have ruined one of our future building blocks.
 

Bruce

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How can this not be a good thing??????

The Packers releasing Freeman looks like a very good sign to me. The guy is a player and he didn't have a shot at making the Packers roster so they released him. His agent claims that they heard from 15 teams as soon as he was released and signed by Tennessee inside of 24 hours -- more evidence that he is not a guy without skills.

This means that the other safeties outplayed him, despite his jump start on knowing the defense. Competition breeds success -- Freeman competed and loss, but the players who beat him out had to step to the plate to make that happen.

I see Freeman's release as a very good sign indeed.
 

Zero2Cool

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at packersnews.com an article said Sherman thought it best to release Freeman so he can find a job elsewhere because they wanted to evaluate the younger talent more thoroughly thought the final three games.
 

musccy

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Ryan said:
Freeman is still on my Madden 06 so I will let you know how he does :)

:lol:

Johnny Gray was mentioning what Slick said (give freeman time to make a roster, give young guys more time) last night on the training camp show.
 

calicheesehead

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They said that he has lost a step in one of the Packersnews.com articles. This just means that our younger players, Underwood, Little, and Collins have much more upside than the security blanket. I read this as good news. The youngsters are picking up the scheme.
 

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