Season is officially over...what now?

[FrozenTakesInGB]

We will all watch the last two games. But, for the first time in eight years the Pack will be playing games that don't matter. What an odd and terrible feeling. Here are the next four things that must happen.

1. Sit Aaron for the last two games. I know it will suck to have to be the person to tell him. But, he is a very smart man. He gets it. Honestly it's best for everyone involved including #7. There is zero reason he should play, even against the Vikings.

2. Fire Dom Capers. And I was honestly not on this train until after Week 10, this year when we beat the Bears 23-16. My mom and I attended the Lambeau Field stadium tour with Lynn ****ey and he spent about five solid minutes blasting Capers' schemes. At that point I was fully on board. ****ey basically said that any NFL Quarterback should be able to pick apart the Packers D. That it's not a talent issue, but a scheme and coaching problem. And he is totally right. Hire someone from the Jaguars, I'm not even kidding. We have to go out of house for this one and the Jacksonville D is unreal!

3. Sign some free agents. When we last won the Super Bowl it's because Ted made some very key veteran free agent signings. Now, don't give out bad contracts, but we need to make some waves in free agency. This does include signing our own guys as well.

4. Draft Hercules Mata'afa. Watch the Holiday Bowl between Washington State and Michigan State. We need impact players on D and that is exactly what this kid is. I'd even trade up for him if I didn't think he'd be there when we are picking in the first. Even with Rodgers at QB we have to have a defense that can occasionally make third down stops. A great pass rush is the best way to make that happen. Hercules is the real deal from what I've seen of him.

What are your four-ish keys to the time between Saturday and next season?

 

[Mike McCarthy]

Fire capers

 

[Carl 2]

We will all watch the last two games. But, for the first time in eight years the Pack will be playing games that don't matter. What an odd and terrible feeling. Here are the next four things that must happen.

1. Sit Aaron for the last two games. I know it will suck to have to be the person to tell him. But, he is a very smart man. He gets it. Honestly it's best for everyone involved including #7. There is zero reason he should play, even against the Vikings.

2. Fire Dom Capers. And I was honestly not on this train until after Week 10, this year when we beat the Bears 23-16. My mom and I attended the Lambeau Field stadium tour with Lynn ****ey and he spent about five solid minutes blasting Capers' schemes. At that point I was fully on board. ****ey basically said that any NFL Quarterback should be able to pick apart the Packers D. That it's not a talent issue, but a scheme and coaching problem. And he is totally right. Hire someone from the Jaguars, I'm not even kidding. We have to go out of house for this one and the Jacksonville D is unreal!

3. Sign some free agents. When we last won the Super Bowl it's because Ted made some very key veteran free agent signings. Now, don't give out bad contracts, but we need to make some waves in free agency. This does include signing our own guys as well.

4. Draft Hercules Mata'afa. Watch the Holiday Bowl between Washington State and Michigan State. We need impact players on D and that is exactly what this kid is. I'd even trade up for him if I didn't think he'd be there when we are picking in the first. Even with Rodgers at QB we have to have a defense that can occasionally make third down stops. A great pass rush is the best way to make that happen. Hercules is the real deal from what I've seen of him.

What are your four-ish keys to the time between Saturday and next season?

Just looking at the free agency point, there's no good way to tell whether a signing will end up a bad deal (Bennett) or a good one (Evans). For the most part, fans loved the Bennett signing at the time too.

TTs approach last season when he signed a few lower tier guys rather than throwing around big money day one would be the best option. Similar to his approach with Woodson and Pickett.

Secondly, pass rushers would be my #1 priority this off-season.

 

[MackemPacker]

I'm with you almost 100% except the Jags comment. They bought a great defense, Campbell, Jackson, Bouye, Dareus and drafted a legit shutdown corner in Ramsey.

I think when John Fox is fired we should try for Vic Fangio to replace Dom, he always seems to get a D playing to beyond it's ability.

 

[pizzle]

We will all watch the last two games. But, for the first time in eight years the Pack will be playing games that don't matter. What an odd and terrible feeling. Here are the next four things that must happen.

1. Sit Aaron for the last two games. I know it will suck to have to be the person to tell him. But, he is a very smart man. He gets it. Honestly it's best for everyone involved including #7. There is zero reason he should play, even against the Vikings.

2. Fire Dom Capers. And I was honestly not on this train until after Week 10, this year when we beat the Bears 23-16. My mom and I attended the Lambeau Field stadium tour with Lynn ****ey and he spent about five solid minutes blasting Capers' schemes. At that point I was fully on board. ****ey basically said that any NFL Quarterback should be able to pick apart the Packers D. That it's not a talent issue, but a scheme and coaching problem. And he is totally right. Hire someone from the Jaguars, I'm not even kidding. We have to go out of house for this one and the Jacksonville D is unreal!

3. Sign some free agents. When we last won the Super Bowl it's because Ted made some very key veteran free agent signings. Now, don't give out bad contracts, but we need to make some waves in free agency. This does include signing our own guys as well.

4. Draft Hercules Mata'afa. Watch the Holiday Bowl between Washington State and Michigan State. We need impact players on D and that is exactly what this kid is. I'd even trade up for him if I didn't think he'd be there when we are picking in the first. Even with Rodgers at QB we have to have a defense that can occasionally make third down stops. A great pass rush is the best way to make that happen. Hercules is the real deal from what I've seen of him.

What are your four-ish keys to the time between Saturday and next season?

1. Force TT/Dom to "retire/work as front office consultants". Nuff said...

2. Replace TT/Dom with Eliot Wolf/Todd Bowles. Wolf will be more aggressive in FA/work to update the team's philosophy and roster to today's NFL. Where the RBs can keep heat off your vet QB (Saints) and you gotta be able to hit the QB (practically the entire NFC Playoff field this year-i.e. MIN/ATL/CAR/PHI). Bowles will be the engineer of a consistent Top 12 D his first two years, then bump it up to eventually hover around Top 7.

*That's more than enough for the rest of AR12's days as our signal-caller for him to start hawking down TB12 in jewelry.*

3. Trade Nick Perry to Rams/sign Malcolm Butler in FA/climb up in draft to snag some defensive studs for transformation on D. LA has cap space, and a lower pick in top round anyway due to making playoffs. We give them this year's 4th/6th/7th next year's 5th and #53 for their 1st. NE can't pay Butler and Gilmore, so BB doesn't match our offer for the former. We go "ALL-IN" for real this time with Young Wolf out to prove something. Restructure #18/#87 thru 2020 to lower their cap #s, guap up #17/#63, resign #73/#81/#82/#42/#48/#55/#91 to 1-2 YR cheap deals, extend #12, and then grab Butler. Come draft time have to finally get the defense some real chess pieces to put on the board. Before the draft we give up our 3rd in '17 + 4th and 5th in '18 to get an extra early 2nd. Gotta hunt for big game, not fish for minnows. We pluck these nine in April:

Harold Landry OLB BC 1st
Dorance Armstrong Jr OLB Kansas 1st TRADE
Jaire Alexander CB Louisville 2nd TRADE
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo OLB/ILB Oklahoma 2nd
Tyrell Crosby OT Oregon 3rd [comp]
Mike Love DE South Florida 5th
Jordan Akins TE Central Florida 5th [comp]
Hercules Mata'afa OLB Wash State 6th [comp]
Jordan Thomas TE Miss State 6th [comp]

We have the requisite parts for Bowles to work with to get the D back at least respectable, somewhere it hasn't been in ages. Wolf sets us up for immediate (and future) success with some savvy moves this spring.

4. Adopt a 'no-excuse mentality'. Win or Bust "Lombardi" approach from now on with Aaron at the helm. Meaning adapt or become extinct/not in GB any longer. MM either uses his young backs more efficiently and effectively to balance the wunderkind play of AR12/a defense that is not lights out at the present date or he's gone. #52 plays out his final season under contract at mostly ILB or he's gone. We adjust to the modern NFL with some stout defenses and elite athletes changing the benchmark or we fall behind. Waaaay behind.

This season better finally wake up Mark Murphy. It's time to reboot...

 

[Gonepackin]

Lol it’s Ted and Dom’s fault, but McCarthy is completely fine?! What a joke

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

1.) Fire Thompson and promote Elliot Wolf

2.) Fire Capers and upgrade. Not sure his replacement is on staff.

3.) Sit Aaron until OTAs

4.) Draft Mason Rudolph with that mid 1st pick. We can fix the D later on, what we can't wait to do is draft the heir apparent, and I think Rudolph fits more of what our Offense asks.

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

1. Force TT/Dom to "retire/work as front office consultants". Nuff said...

2. Replace TT/Dom with Eliot Wolf/Todd Bowles. Wolf will be more aggressive in FA/work to update the team's philosophy and roster to today's NFL. Where the RBs can keep heat off your vet QB (Saints) and you gotta be able to hit the QB (practically the entire NFC Playoff field this year-i.e. MIN/ ATL/CAR/PHI). Bowles will be the engineer of a consistent Top 12 D his first two years, then bump it up to eventually hover around Top 7.

*That's more than enough for the rest of AR12's days as our signal-caller for him to start hawking down TB12 in jewelry.*

3. Trade Nick Perry to Rams/sign Malcolm Butler in FA/climb up in draft to snag some defensive studs for transformation on D. LA has cap space, and a lower pick in top round anyway due to making playoffs. We give them this year's 4th/6th/7th next year's 5th and #53 for their 1st. NE can't pay Butler and Gilmore, so BB doesn't match our offer for him. We go "ALL-IN" for real this time with Young Wolf out to prove something. Restructure #18/#87 thru 2020 to lower their cap #s, guap up #17/#63, resign #73/#81/#82/#42/#48/#55/#91 to 1-2 YR cheap deals, extend #12, and then grab Butler. Come draft time have to finally get the defense some real chess pieces to put on the board. Before the draft we give up our 3rd in '17 + 4th and 5th in '18 to get an extra early 2nd. Gotta hunt for big game, not fish for minnows. We pluck these nine in April:

Harold Landry OLB BC 1st
Dorance Armstrong Jr OLB Kansas 1st TRADE
Jaire Alexander CB Louisville 2nd TRADE
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo OLB/ILB Oklahoma 2nd
Tyrell Crosby OT Oregon 3rd [comp]
Mike Love DE South Florida 5th
Jordan Akins TE Central Florida 5th [comp]
Hercules Mata'afa OLB Wash State 6th [comp]
Jordan Thomas TE Miss State 6th [comp]

We have the requisite parts for Bowles to work with to get the D back at least respectable, somewhere it hasn't been in ages. Wolf sets us up for immediate (and future) success with some savvy moves this spring.

4. Adopt a 'no-excuse mentality'. Win or Bust "Lombardi" approach from now on with Aaron at the helm. Meaning adapt or become extinct/not in GB any longer. MM either uses his young backs more efficiently and effectively to balance the wunderkind play of AR12/a defense that is not lights out at the present date or he's gone. #52 plays out his final season under contract at mostly ILB or he's gone. We adjust to the modern NFL with some stout defenses and elite athletes changing the benchmark or we fall behind. Waaaay behind.

This season better finally wake up Mark Murphy. It's time to reboot...

I would add a 4a. here, and I love what you're doing with your 4th idea.

4a.) Damn the fines and suspensions, if you take out one of ours with an illegal hit or bs play, we take out 2 of yours. Do that 2 or 3 times teams won't be taking shots at Adams and Rodgers and others.

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Lol it’s Ted and Dom’s fault, but McCarthy is completely fine?! What a joke

Ted has to go first, I think we'd all agree on this. Dom's scheme has been a problem as well. The offense is ok as long as we can keep Aaron off the trainer's table so I can't fire Mac YET.

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

I would add a 4a. here, and I love what you're doing with your 4th idea.

4a.) Damn the fines and suspensions, if you take out one of ours with an illegal hit or bs play, we take out 2 of yours. Do that 2 or 3 times teams won't be taking shots at Adams and Rodgers and others.

I meant to type shots so sorry mods I wasn't trying to cuss THIS time.

 

[melvin dangerr]

Let’s forget about firing Capers or McCarthy, “please” MM has 1 year left on his contract, and firing Capers would do him no good at this point because, it is uncertain that he will keep his job, or TT, it’s Murphy’s call to make, I would like to see changes like everyone else and I feel IMO with this current staff we will not see a SB anytime soon.

 

[armand34]

We all saw this coming a while ago and it sucks.

Capers being fired is the only possibility

MM & TT will remain until at least the end of next season based on their contract unless one or both decide to "step down"

I honestly see MM as Ben McAdoo (without Aaron Rodgers, running game, and decent line). I feel they are the same and both do not grasp the concept of fitting a scheme to players over fitting players into a scheme.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

I meant to type shots so sorry mods I wasn't trying to cuss THIS time.

fixed it for you.

 

[G0P4ckG0]

1. Sit Rodgers and play Callahan these last 2 games. We know what to expect from Hundley, so this will be a great opportunity to see if Callahan is a serviceable replacement if Rodgers goes down next year.

2. Fire Dom Capers. His schemes are outdated by a decade and he is either too stubborn or too apathetic to change his mentality. My top replacements would be Lovie Smith, Kevin Greene, and Rex Ryan.

3. Promote Eliot Wolf to GM but keep TT on board for a year as a direct consultant.

4. Trade Matthews, Nelson, and Montgomery for draft picks. Matthews and Nelson are clearly past their primes as evidenced by this year's performance. Montgomery no longer has a place on this team with Jones and Williams stepping up, plus he's too injury prone.

5. Draft/sign free agents in the trenches. This season was lost due to poor O-line and D-line play (minus coaching). The oldest saying in the book is "games are won or lost in the trenches". This must be addressed).

6. Give McCarthy 1 more year to prove himself. If next season is anything less than a conference championship appearance, give him the axe.

 

[FrozenTakesInGB]

Just looking at the free agency point, there's no good way to tell whether a signing will end up a bad deal (Bennett) or a good one (Evans). For the most part, fans loved the Bennett signing at the time too.

TTs approach last season when he signed a few lower tier guys rather than throwing around big money day one would be the best option. Similar to his approach with Woodson and Pickett.

Secondly, pass rushers would be my #1 priority this off-season.

A signing not meeting expectations is different than handing out a bad contract. I wold not call the Bennett deal a bad one.

 

[G0P4ckG0]

A signing not meeting expectations is different than handing out a bad contract. I wold not call the Bennett deal a bad one.

Agreed. Bennett (on paper) was a clear upgrade over everyone else on the depth chart at that position and it was a position of need. At the time it wasn't the least bit risky of a signing.

 

[adambr2]

Callahan was signed again almost immediately after being cut, so I would guess that the writing is on the wall for AR to be heading back to the IR with Hundley playing out the last 2 games.

 

[Mondio]

I want to see TT, MM and Dom signed to 15 year extensions just to see heads explode LOL. Then I want to see Dom let go. We've pretty much changed over our defensive personnel and still we have the same blown assignments. Do we have guys that can play? I think we do, but i guess it's hard to tell. I think another ILB to go with Martinez would be good, another DB, definitely pass rusher, but there were too many times where they actually looked pretty decent and it was all taken away by someone yet again left wide open. If that's the defensive call, well we need a new caller. If it's confusion, then we need new teachers and if it turns out they really aren't good enough to play defense then we need a new guy picking them. The problem is, that won't be figured out in 2 weeks

 

[adambr2]

In a way I'm kind of glad to see Atlanta extinguish our hopes last night so we can focus on next season. You could just potentially see things lining up for us to be strung along until Week 17 and then get snuffed out by Philly of all teams resting staters vs. Dallas.

 

[RepStar15]

1. Dom Capers must go and hire externally. Since this organization doesn’t ever want to hurt feelings if they hire internally it better be Moss.
2. Anyone that has been on the strength and conditioning or athletic training staff for longer than 4 years must go.
3. Draft OLB, CB, T in that order
4. Sign Davante
5. New contract for #12

 

[TouchdownPackers]

I have always hated people saying a season is over before Black Monday. It is not over until the after last game has been played on New Year's Eve. There is no reason to say otherwise. Being out of playoff contention just means it will end before the calendar turns to 2018.

Both remaining games are against the NFCN teams that beat us, so we have a little revenge to play for - especially this week because our offensive struggles since Week 6 were indirectlycaused by Anthony Barr. We also want to end the year on a high note whether Aaron Rodgers plays or not. Do you not want the Packers to close out the season with a win?

 

[TouchdownPackers]

In a way I'm kind of glad to see Atlanta extinguish our hopes last night so we can focus on next season. You could just potentially see things lining up for us to be strung along until Week 17 and then get snuffed out by Philly of all teams resting staters vs. Dallas.

I just did not care who won the Falcons/Buccaneers game because I knew we would be mathematically eliminated anyway and reports about Aaron Rodgers indicate he may not play in the last two games.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

1. Fire Thompson and Capers, promote Wolf to GM and hire someone from outside the organization as defensive coordinator.
2. Re-sign Adams, Burnett and Linsley.
3. Sign an elite free agent, either at outside linebacker or cornerback.
4. Further use to draft to mainly improve the pass rush and coverage.

Just looking at the free agency point, there's no good way to tell whether a signing will end up a bad deal (Bennett) or a good one (Evans). For the most part, fans loved the Bennett signing at the time too.

TTs approach last season when he signed a few lower tier guys rather than throwing around big money day one would be the best option. Similar to his approach with Woodson and Pickett.

Secondly, pass rushers would be my #1 priority this off-season.

There is definitely risk involved by signing high-priced free agents but the Packers might have to take it at least once this offseason to significantly improve the defense.

 

[Poppa San]

Trade Matthews, Nelson, and Montgomery for draft picks.

To who??? You'd be lucky to get a 7th or 6th for the first two. IF (<big if) you can find a taker for their contracts. Monty might get a 5th. All three have a year left on their contracts. Would you want TT to trade anything of value to get any of them?

Dang, the funny stuff smokers showed up early this year. Going to be a long off season if this is any indication.

 

[Mondio]

Dang, the funny stuff smokers showed up early this year. Going to be a long off season if this is any indication.

It always is, which is why first order of business, sign the big 3 to 15 year extensions. Get the heads to explode that need exploding, and then maybe we'll have more normalcy in talking about the offseason. Kind of like forum apoptosis It's necessary for survival in most things.