Ted Thompson's waiver wire work. Very disappointing.

[gbpackfan]

Is anyone else as disappointed as I am that our waiver wire claims were three rookies. Not a single WR or a proven kick returner? Not a vet. OL? I hope his work is just getting started but the roster is now full.

Mark my words, not claiming Calico, Watts or Rodgers will come back to haunt us. Going into a season with 4 WRs is stupid. I remember the playoff game a couple years ago against the Vikes I believe when Sherman only took 4 WRs into the game. Two got hurt and we only had 2 the rest of the day. Martin had to line up at WR. It was a nightmare. DUMB! DUMB! DUMB!

[Lurker64]

Maybe TT is comfortable with the fact that Will Blackmon can play WR and Charles Woodson would like to?

I'd like to get a better idea of what everyone else did on the waiver wire before we condemn TT over this. There's still more that can be done before we've got our final roster. Do teams usually claim a lot of people off of waivers?

[gbpackfan]

Lurker,

Teams usually sign a couple players off the wire. The "bad" teams sign more because they have first pick. By the time the Seahawks get to make claims, there might not be a whole lot left.

TT maybe working out a trade that involves one of our DT. He also might be signing a WR that was cut that is now a FA. Your right, I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, but the only one of these rookie signings that I am excited about seeing play is Jarrett Bush.

[BallHawk]

Believe me, signing a WR that in his career has only racked up 42 catches for 501 and 4 TDs, won't come back to haunt us in the season. He doesn't live up to his website name of bigcatchcalico.com. He is just another Fergy. Hell Feguson numbers are THREE TIMES better than his! Believe me, we won't miss him.

[Willard]

Thank goodness the Packers didn't sign this player. There would have been far too many bad jokes if this guy was a Packer:

Jaguars | Fudge signed to the practice squad
Sun, 3 Sep 2006 13:43:13 -0700
ESPN.com reports the Jacksonville Jaguars have signed free agent S Jamaal Fudge (Jaguars) to their practice squad.

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

Thank goodness the Packers didn't sign this player. There would have been far too many bad jokes if this guy was a Packer:

Jaguars | Fudge signed to the practice squad
Sun, 3 Sep 2006 13:43:13 -0700
ESPN.com reports the Jacksonville Jaguars have signed free agent S Jamaal Fudge (Jaguars) to their practice squad.

lol

[Willard]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=490624

Packers claim three; waive Horton
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 3, 2006
The Green Bay Packers took fliers on youth Sunday, claiming three rookies off waivers for their 53-man roster.Advertisement


With two roster spots available, the Packers had to make room and they chose to release veteran cornerback Jason Horton.
Claimed on waivers were guard Tony Palmer, from St. Louis; safety Charlie Peprah, from the New York Giants; and cornerback Jarret Bush, from Carolina. Peprah was a fifth-round pick, Palmer a seventh-round pick and Bush a rookie free agent.

With only eight offensive linemen on their roster the Packers decided to take a look at the inexperienced Palmer rather than bring in a veteran. The 6-foot-2, 330-pound guard from the University of Missouri saw only limited action during the exhibition season.
It's unclear whether the Packers claimed simply to bring him in for a workout or if they think he's someone that can help them down the road.
"They wouldn't claim him just to bring him in," said Palmer's agent, Peter Schaffer. "He's a great young man with a great family. He has a lot of talent. Six teams wanted to put him on their practice squad. It's an indication the kid has talent."
Though the Rams cut Palmer, they clearly wanted him back on their practice squad and thought of him as someone they could develop. After acquiring veteran guard Adam Goldberg in a trade with Minnesota, they appear to have run into a numbers problem.
"We'd love to have him back," Rams head coach Scott Linehan said Saturday after cutting Palmer. "He's going to develop into, I think, a real fine offensive guard in the NFL."

The 5-11, 202-pound Peprah was a four-year starter at Alabama, playing both cornerback and safety. He had five tackles and an interception in the exhibition season.

The 6-foot, 194-pound Bush played at Utah St. before signing with the Panthers.

Horton played two seasons with the Packers and was set to be their dime cornerback. However, he had a rough game against Tennessee Friday and had a mediocre training camp. In two seasons, he played in 23 games, had 13 tackles and no interceptions or passes defensed.

Bigby among practice squad additions
The Green Bay Packers have brought back at least four players they released over the past week, including safety Atari Bigby whose broken hand kept him from vying for a spot on the 53-man roster.
In addition to Bigby, the Packers have agreed on practice squad contracts with defensive end Dave Tollefson, tight end Zac Alcorn and wide receiver Calvin Russell, agents for all four players said.
The Packers can have as many as eight players on their practice squad, which is made up of players who have less than a year of experience and have passed through waivers. The Packers haven't announced any of their agreements and it's likely they have others in place.
Bigby broke his hand in the team's intrasquad scrimmage and missed all but the final couple of days of training camp. He underwent surgery to repair the hand and practiced with his hand in a large, cumbersome padded cast.
The Packers kept only three safeties on their active roster and might be stashing Bigby until his hand heals. Bigby was told the injury would take four to six weeks to mend, which means he should be near full strength in a couple of weeks.

[red]

now, before everyone starts throwing fits because we didn't pick up any vets off waivers, remember one thing

if you've been in the league a certain amount of years, you don't have to go through the waiver wire process. i think it's mostly rookies and players that have only been in the league 2 or 3 years that have to go through the process

guys like liwienski, i think just become free agents and get to go wherever they want

i think

[the_idle_threat]

My undertstanding, which also could be wrong, is that all players have to clear waivers. However, if you make a waiver claim, you are assuming the contract the guy had with the other team. Once the players clear, they are all free agents.

In this scenario, why claim veterans on waivers and assume their contracts, when you can let them clear and then negotiate a deal close to the veteran minimum?

[Bretsky]

With only four wide receivers and eight offensive linemen, odds are the Packers will pick up one of each from the scrap heap created when final cuts were made Saturday. Thompson wasn't guaranteeing anything, but it's a good bet that by sometime today the roster will be filled.

"I'm sure we won't be at 51 forever," the understated Thompson said. "During the course of the season all teams will fluctuate between 53 and 50. Right now we felt comfortable doing what we did today."

In saying he was comfortable, Thompson meant he didn't think the Packers unnecessarily cut anybody just to keep two roster spots open. In the next 48 hours or so he'll have a chance to fill the remaining spots with players he deems better than the ones let go.

He will not, however, be adding someone the caliber of a starter.

The list of players released Saturday bore very few big names, so the odds are Thompson will be picking up someone young and full of potential.

Across the NFL, a couple of veteran receivers were released, the most prominent of whom was Detroit's Charles Rogers, the oft-injured second pick in the 2003 draft. Thompson gave little indication that the Packers were willing to put in a waiver claim and potentially add his $757,917 base salary this year.

According to Thompson, the Packers have until 11 a.m. today to submit a claim. Priority when two or more claims are made goes to the team with the worse record in 2005.

Some of the free-agent receivers who are available are Tennessee's Tyrone Calico, Denver's Darius Watts, Pittsburgh's Quincy Morgan, Seattle's Peter Warrick, San Francisco's Jason McAddley and Philadelphia's Jabar Gaffney.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Calico fits Green Bay's desire for big receivers and showed his athletic ability on a 17-yard touchdown pass Friday at Lambeau Field that ultimately was reversed by replay. But Calico has been unreliable because of injury, missing 21 games in the last three seasons.

The 6-2, 190-pound Watts also has size and has played in a West Coast-style offense, catching 31 passes in 2004. But he was injured most of last year and dropped too many passes in training camp for coach Mike Shanahan's taste.

As for the offensive line, the veteran pickings are small. Tackle Mike Pearson has played eight games over the last two seasons for Jacksonville, and guard David Loverne, a former starter in Detroit, couldn't make a Houston team with offensive line problems.

Arizona tackle-guard Jeremy Bridges ran with the Cardinals' first team for a while this summer, but at 6-4 and 325 pounds he probably doesn't fit the mold of nimble linemen the Packers like to have.

Thompson could use the final two spots to stockpile athletes, perhaps for special teams help, rather than to bolster units where he has low numbers.

No deal: Thompson said he fielded many calls about making trades for players, but he never seriously considered giving up a significant draft pick.

"I'm never going to be reluctant to help our team," Thompson said. "We haven't had those offers over the last couple of days. People normally call you with people they're going to release and try to get something for that. We haven't had that option. Certainly we value draft picks, I've said that over and over."

Debut coming: The Packers could have put rookie cornerback Will Blackmon on the regular-season physically unable to perform list, but Thompson said the fourth-round pick is nearly recovered from a broken foot and should be able to start practicing soon.

Had he gone on the PUP, Blackmon would not have been eligible to practice or play until after the sixth game of the season.

"He's doing really good," Thompson said. "It's not going to be too, too far. At some point we'll do a little bit like what we did with some of our other guys, where they'll start practicing on a limited basis. I don't know when that will be."

Home free: Though a number of kickers and punters came free this weekend, Thompson indicated that kicker Dave Rayner and punter Jon Ryan were safe.

"I never say never," he said of finding someone else. "It'd be silly for me to do that. (But) I wouldn't anticipate changeover there."

Close call: Wide receiver-returner Carlton Brewster made a spirited effort to make the team after being acquired in a trade with Cleveland Aug. 22, but he dropped a punt against Tennessee on Friday and was among those released Saturday.

"That's too bad he dropped that punt," Thompson said. "I'm not going to comment if one play would have made the difference. He's a competitive guy. He picked up another one that bounced. That was pretty gutsy. And he made a nice catch later in the game."

[red]

heres where i got my idea from, the wording kind of makes it hard to figure out for sure

from the nflpa website

September 3, Sunday

* After 12:00 noon EDT, clubs may establish a practice squad of eight players by signing Free Agents who do not have an accrued season of free agency credit, unless that season was achieved by being on the Reserve/Injured, Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform, or on the Active List for less than nine games.

so to me, it looks like only some players are involved in the whole waiver process, just from trying to figure out that little blip. unless maybe they just mean that for being on the practice squad

[the_idle_threat]

I think you may be confusing the practice squad with waivers.

First, all released players are put on waivers, and those who are not claimed become free agents.

Afterward, only a certain young & inexperienced subset of those free-agent players are eligible for the practice squad. That's what the quote is talking about.

[red]

I think you may be confusing the practice squad with waivers.

All released players are put on waivers, and those who are not claimed become free agents.

Only a certain inexperienced subset of those free-agent players who have cleared waivers are eligible for the practice squad. That's what the quote is talking about.

ok, i think thats exactly what i did wrong

well then i agree what tt did today is pretty disapointing

we needed a vet on the o-line, there was one available, and we pass him up for a late round rookie reject

[Fritz]

People bitched last year when TT signed Klemm and O'Dwyer; now they're bitching because TT is signing rookies instead of washed up vets.

Getting a Gilbert Brown on waivers is very, very rare. Why is everybody so freaked out they passed on guys that got cut elsewhere?

[red]

People bitched last year when TT signed Klemm and O'Dwyer; now they're bitching because TT is signing rookies instead of washed up vets.

Getting a Gilbert Brown on waivers is very, very rare. Why is everybody so freaked out they passed on guys that got cut elsewhere?

because our o-line has looked so pathetic and lost that we feel other teams rejects could be our starters

i would love it if TT had more signings like klemm and o'dwyre

it would show he's actually trying to improve the o-line that everyone but him seems to be concerned about

[the_idle_threat]

Thompson gave little indication that the Packers were willing to put in a waiver claim and potentially add [Tyrone Calico's] $757,917 base salary this year.

This confirms why the guy wasn't claimed. Why not wait until he clears waivers, and start negotiating from the veteran minimum, rather than just assume his old contract that may have been negotiated in anticipation of him being a starter? The same goes for the other veterans.

We think these guys are valuable because we know their names, but they just got cut, along with about 250 other guys around the league! They don't have a ton of leverage for negotiation.

There's all the incentive in the world to lowball these guys after they become free agents. If you get in a bidding war with another team, you start from the league minimum. I can't imagine the auction will go too high ... who's looking to break the bank on the 53rd guy on the roster? You lose this opportunity when you claim a guy on waivers.

[Fritz]

Good point. As to signing a veteran, are people that excited about signing the Vikes' reject?

[red]

Good point. As to signing a veteran, are people that excited about signing the Vikes' reject?

i would at least like to see the team bring him in and check to see if he's better then our current starters

[Fritz]

Maybe they will yet, Red.

[red]

Maybe they will yet, Red.

lets hope so

i don't want TT to leave any stone unturned in trying to find the best possible o-line for us this year

the sad thing is, i really get the feeling that he's not doing that

[mraynrand]

I think if a team terminates your contract, you don't have to go through waivers. It's a way to let a veteran seek out a team he wants to play for without having to clear the dregs. Right, Patler? Patler...Patler...Patler...Beuhler?

[digitaldean]

People bitched last year when TT signed Klemm and O'Dwyer; now they're bitching because TT is signing rookies instead of washed up vets.

Getting a Gilbert Brown on waivers is very, very rare. Why is everybody so freaked out they passed on guys that got cut elsewhere?

Desparation, maybe? That's what happens off of a 4-12 year and you have a rebuilding project on your hands.

Look, most that are waived aren't good enough to make the regular roster. There are some good vets that get phased out due to salary, better play from a younger player, different scheme, etc.

I think the Packers will wait till tomorrow to have some vets in at WR, OL or S.

It's slim pickings because you have to sift through the mountain of mediocre players to find some suitable.

It's obvious we need help at multiple spots. Let's all relax and see how TT can do during the next few days.

It's doubtful someone picked up this week will significantly alter the course of the season anyway.

Let's just hope TT picks the players better than he dresses. :wink:

[No Mo Moss]

I'm not. The chances of getting a difference maker at this point are slim and none. I suppose it does happen but this is theteam we will be living with for the most part. GO PACK!!!! WE'RE GOING TO BEAT THOS F*CKING BEARS!!!!!!!!!

[gbpackfan]

I believe WR Watts, Charles Rodgers or Calico could contribute this season.