Ricky Jean Francois Signs With Packers

[pbmax]

Adam Schefter‏ @AdamSchefter 2m2 minutes ago
Former Washington DT Ricky Jean Francois signed a one-year, $3M deal with Packers, per source.

Ted must be cryogenically frozen.

[Zool]

Well no shit. That's a pretty friendly deal too.

[gbgary]

guess he'll take guion's place (who's been suspended 4 games) who'll have to show he's worth bringing back week 5. wouldn't surprise me if he gets cut.

[Joemailman]

Bye Bye Guion.

[SMBASS]

I don't think Guion is going anywhere this year. I think Francois is being signed for veteran depth and to essentially take the place of Pennel.

[gbgary]

I don't think Guion is going anywhere this year. I think Francois is being signed for veteran depth and to essentially take the place of Pennel.

there ya go! i knew they were going to be short there (he signed w/nyj). couldn't think of the circumstances.

[red]

These are the types of signings that I wish we would have seen more of over the years

Decent vet player, not a cap buster, but should help the team be better

[gbgary]

These are the types of signings that I wish we would have seen more of over the years

Decent vet player, not a cap buster, but should help the team be better

let's hope so...but at this point it's one d lineman out/one d lineman in. hole plugged.

[SMBASS]

Pennel played so little last year it was almost like not even having him on the roster. Between the suspensions and injuries I think he only appeared in 7 games. I like this signing because now between Daniels, Clark, Lowry, Francois, Guion, Price, and Ringo I think we're in pretty good shape along the DL. Shouldn't even have to spend any picks in this area unless T.T. sees someone fall who he just can't pass up or they find an undrafted rookie who ends up being a diamond in the rough.

[texaspackerbacker]

They say Francois is better than his statistics show - what does that even mean? That he doesn't do much, but he looks good doing it? I'm lukewarm about this signing. Let's wait and see; Hopefully he will be a positive part of the rotation.

BTW, didn't Guion get $1 million a year? Based on that, $3 million for somebody not expected to be significantly better is not all that cheap.

[Rutnstrut]

Now this is the kind of FA signing I like. This alone is not much, but added with the draft and possibly a little more FA activity and I really think it will help. Now if the o-line sucks and Rodgers goes down, none of it will matter.

[red]

They say Francois is better than his statistics show - what does that even mean? That he doesn't do much, but he looks good doing it? I'm lukewarm about this signing. Let's wait and see; Hopefully he will be a positive part of the rotation.

BTW, didn't Guion get $1 million a year? Based on that, $3 million for somebody not expected to be significantly better is not all that cheap.

Think Gilbert brown or Ryan picket or Santana Dotson. Those guys never had a ton of sacks or tackles, but they were damn good players

RJF is a run stuffer, he takes up blockers so others can make plays

Like a 3-4 lineman should do, he's gonna do the dirty work and make guys like clay, perry and bevis and butthead look better

[RashanGary]

Overall, tt has been the most successful gm in the NFC during his time with the Packers. But the Patriots are better and do use FA more. I think it's a positive change for Thompson. I think the people who wanted to see more free agents were right. I also would have taken tt over all the other GMs because they're just plain worse at winning. But I'm glad tt seems to have changed. Should be good for our SB chances!!

[Joemailman]

They say Francois is better than his statistics show - what does that even mean? That he doesn't do much, but he looks good doing it? I'm lukewarm about this signing. Let's wait and see; Hopefully he will be a positive part of the rotation.

BTW, didn't Guion get $1 million a year? Based on that, $3 million for somebody not expected to be significantly better is not all that cheap.

Guion got 1 million his first year with the Packers. He's been getting about 3.5 million since.

Guion has now been suspended twice with the Packers. If Francois isn't as stupid, that alone could make him an upgrade.

[Carolina_Packer]

These are the types of signings that I wish we would have seen more of over the years

Decent vet player, not a cap buster, but should help the team be better

Totally agree and have thought the same. Perhaps TT has come to realize the issues with depth being mostly young players. The other thing about having RJF as depth is that if a starter misses any time prior to game 5, they can better survive Guion's absence. If they are all healthy and RJF is killing it, then Guion may have trouble finding a roster spot.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I don't believe we've had this much money to play with. When people criticize Thompson, they point to him not signing outside FAs. However, he generally resigns his own, and it hasn't left him much to play with. This year, a lot of our own guys got away. Thus, instead of resigning a Jared Cook, T.J. Lang, and Eddie Lacy, he signed Bennett, Kendricks, Francois, and House--outside of using a good chunk of change on resigning Nick Perry.

[Sparkey]

They say Francois is better than his statistics show - what does that even mean? That he doesn't do much, but he looks good doing it? I'm lukewarm about this signing. Let's wait and see; Hopefully he will be a positive part of the rotation.

BTW, didn't Guion get $1 million a year? Based on that, $3 million for somebody not expected to be significantly better is not all that cheap.

Good signing. A guy that plays his position and hold his ground, taking up blockers so the linebackers can make the play. Exactly how a 3-4 defense is played.

[BZnDallas]

Now this is the kind of FA signing I like. This alone is not much, but added with the draft and possibly a little more FA activity and I really think it will help. Now if the o-line sucks and Rodgers goes down, none of it will matter.

Definitely agree with you and GBGary. I wish we would have been making more of these signings through the years. Not sure what has changed, ARs comments? Fans getting unruly? Ted getting old and less stubborn? Who knows! But I'm glad he's finally going there. #gopackgo

[pbmax]

Definitely agree with you and GBGary. I wish we would have been making more of these signings through the years. Not sure what has changed, ARs comments? Fans getting unruly? Ted getting old and less stubborn? Who knows! But I'm glad he's finally going there. #gopackgo

They don't usually lose this many guys. Harv is right, they let a lot of pricey players walk, plus Shields isn't coming back.

The Packers have been second lowest in League on number of active signed players the entire offseason. There were not enough draft picks to fill the holes.

I said earlier and Dougherty wrote about it for packersnews.com that Ted decided his vets needed upgrades, especially on defense.

I think he still sees those upgrades as coming from within, but they needed depth as well. Only exception so far was TE and CB. I think House might start.

[BZnDallas]

That's pretty good analysis PB. And a lot better reason for TT to make these signings. We did lose a larger number of role players than in years past. Which is also a change of pace for TT. I agree with him that the players lost signed bigger deals than I wanted TT to sign them to. So for that and for utilizing FA to plug holes, I tip my hat.

[gbgary]

i don't think tt's changed. he's been plugging holes with FA. not really looking for upgrades so much. a lot of lateral moves. bennett is a slight upgrade, rjf may be too over pennel, who knows about house or kendrick. there's nothing all-in about this so far.

[MadScientist]

i don't think tt's changed. he's been plugging holes with FA. not really looking for upgrades so much. a lot of lateral moves. bennett is a slight upgrade, rjf may be too over pennel, who knows about house or kendrick. there's nothing all-in about this so far.

All in tends to mean sacrificing the future for (hopefully) results now. TT will never be that guy. The change is more of realizing there are more holes than can be filled in the draft / UDFA, and being better prepared for inevitable injuries (e.g. getting two TE's that are better than R.Rodgers.) Replacing Lang and Shields still needs to be done.

The Packers have enough talent to win, as long as there are no glaring holes to be exploited.

[red]

I don't believe we've had this much money to play with. When people criticize Thompson, they point to him not signing outside FAs. However, he generally resigns his own, and it hasn't left him much to play with. This year, a lot of our own guys got away. Thus, instead of resigning a Jared Cook, T.J. Lang, and Eddie Lacy, he signed Bennett, Kendricks, Francois, and House--outside of using a good chunk of change on resigning Nick Perry.

We've always had the cap room to sign one or two of these types of guys (rig, house) every year

Every season we seem to leave 4 or 5 million in cap space on the table, and just keep kicking it down the road. Last season we left almost 10 million in free cap space.

2 or 3 of these types of players last preseason might just have gotten us another super bowl win

[gbgary]

"All-in" tends to mean sacrificing the future for (hopefully) results now.

not necessarily "sacrificing" the future but taking a bite out of it yes. Rodgers and company aren't going to be around much longer so go for it while they're still good. the future gm can fix it later when Rodgers is gone and nuclear winter sets in. there's absolutely no reason to be penny pinching now.

[Rutnstrut]

not necessarily "sacrificing" the future but taking a bite out of it yes. Rodgers and company aren't going to be around much longer so go for it while they're still good. the future gm can fix it later when Rodgers is gone and nuclear winter sets in. there's absolutely no reason to be penny pinching now.

Except that TT is happy with being good for x number of years and not quite getting there as opposed to trying to be great. I like to call it hi grade mediocrity.

[Carolina_Packer]

We've always had the cap room to sign one or two of these types of guys (rig, house) every year

Every season we seem to leave 4 or 5 million in cap space on the table, and just keep kicking it down the road. Last season we left almost 10 million in free cap space.

2 or 3 of these types of players last preseason might just have gotten us another super bowl win

You're right, Red. We have had the cap room to get these types of players. Perhaps the approach/philosophy changed a little after last year's debacle with DB injuries and only young depth that wasn't ready to contribute at a high enough level. I know people like scape goating the DB's, and there are reasons and excuses and the reason they weren't very productive IS because of injuries and youthful depth. That is partially on TT and MM in the roster building. They clearly needed a better mix of experience and youth. The pass rush also wasn't very consistent last year, which didn't help the DB's.

Also, as long as you have a need to fill, the cap hit is acceptable, and you are not stunting the growth of a promising young player, I'm cool with these types of signings. What do you do if coming out of camp the guy you sign for 1 year, 3 million is under-performing (not because of injury) compared with a young, developing player. For instance, if Christian Ringo comes in and tears it up, and RJF lays an egg in camp, but you can only keep one, do you clearly cut RJF since Ringo is an ascending player? I'm not saying that will happen, I'm asking what happens if that does happen? I suppose it would be more of a hard ship if you had more cap money committed than one year, but still, you have to have a roster spot and a role for the free agents that you sign, and hope that you don't have to cut an ascending player.

[Pugger]

All right, I go away for a couple of days and Ted signs another FA? :lol: We can't say Ted didn't dip his toes in this year...

[gbgary]

All right, I go away for a couple of days and Ted signs another FA? :lol: We can't say Ted didn't dip his toes in this year...

just plugging holes he created. we're still in minus column though (more player out than in).

[pbmax]

just plugging holes he created.

Interestingly, Cowboys dumping a bunch of players this year too in FA.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/03/27/cowboys-declare-method-to-the-madness-of-defensive-exodus/

[gbgary]

Interestingly, Cowboys dumping a bunch of players this year too in FA.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/03/27/cowboys-declare-method-to-the-madness-of-defensive-exodus/

they have cap issues. Packers don't.

[Pugger]

just plugging holes he created. we're still in minus column though (more player out than in).

The only 2 glaring holes Ted hasn't plugged in FA are OG and RB. RB is one position where you can find immediate help in the draft so I don't know if you can say we are still in the minus column.

[gbgary]

The only 2 glaring holes Ted hasn't plugged in FA are OG and RB. RB is one position where you can find immediate help in the draft so I don't know if you can say we are still in the minus column.

absolutely...but the subject was FA.
All right, I go away for a couple of days and Ted signs another FA? We can't say Ted didn't dip his toes in this year...

[Pugger]

gbgary, because we can plug that hole in the draft I didn't consider not signing a FA to replace Lacy a minus.

[Fritz]

they have cap issues. Packers don't.

Geez, I wonder why they have cap issues.

[Bretsky]

The only 2 glaring holes Ted hasn't plugged in FA are OG and RB. RB is one position where you can find immediate help in the draft so I don't know if you can say we are still in the minus column.


Are you remotely happy with our four starting LB's ? Perry Matthews.................I think our pass rushing remains a huge hole we need to address.....as is team speed on defense

[Pugger]

I was just addressing what Ted did to replace our FAs that left with the FAs we added. ILB is still a big issue. Perhaps they are considering putting Clay back in there? :huh:

[gbgary]

Geez, I wonder why they have cap issues.

jerrah renegotiating contracts year after year. a year or two ago he didn't have enough to even sign draft picks. i forget who he renegotiated to fix that. the romo contract was a killer, one trick pony dez. tried to build a team for aging romo like we should be doing for Rodgers. what's kicked dallas' ass was romo not playing last year...their best chance to win a sb. they lucked into dak and now don't have room to do anything this year. the chances that the Packers immediately run into a great qb to take Rodgers place is slim to none. no way the Packers could do it three qbs in a row. that's why i'm in favor of future cap disarray, for the next gm, to go for it now while Rodgers is still good.

[red]

Geez, I wonder why they have cap issues.

i doubt they got there by signing a bunch of free agents to 1 year deals

[pbmax]

The $4-7 million they have at the end of the season is for two things:

1. Emergencies. You need to sign guys if people get injured and they all count on the cap.
2. Signing your own. I think given that this year the number carried over after signing a bunch of guys midseason indicates they thought they would sign one more guy prior to FA. Didn't get done last year after Bach.

[red]

so, what does our new signing do with all his nfl money?

does he drink it?, smoke it?, put it up his nose? spend it on hookers?

nope he spends in all on dunkin donuts

and not the same way BJ raji or eddie lacy do it

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2701056-packers-de-ricky-jean-francois-owns-25-dunkin-donuts-franchises?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial