Bretsky
04-30-2007, 10:55 PM
Packers stay away from bold moves
Thompson stays true to conservative ways
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 29, 2007
There were several options available to Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson over the weekend that might have upgraded his roster significantly.
The Packers were not able to swing a trade for Randy Moss. The temperamental wide receiver was traded from Oakland to New England for a fourth-round pick in the NFL draft.
He could have traded for Oakland wide receiver Randy Moss.
He could have traded for Seattle wide receiver Darrell Jackson.
He could have traded for San Diego running back Michael Turner.
He could have traded up in the draft to select running back Marshawn Lynch.
Any one of the four would have been a bold move - a gamble, one might say - given the circumstances. The potential for failure was no small matter.
But Thompson stood pat, choosing to stick to his conservative plan of building almost solely through the draft and forgoing any of the risks his mentor Ron Wolf made while building the franchise into a Super Bowl contender in the 1990s.
And now after three drafts, Thompson's neck would appear to be on the line. His offense arguably isn't any better than it was a year ago and he's potentially a year away from losing the one constant that gives the team hope each season: quarterback Brett Favre.
"What we try to do is everything in our power to try to help make this team as good as it can be," Thompson said Sunday shortly after selecting his 11th and final player of the 2007 draft. "You have to take a lot of things into consideration.
"Sometimes it's an aggressive move; sometimes that aggressive move is not the appropriate time. But you just keep doing everything you can to make the team better. And that's all you can do."
But has Thompson done all he can do?
It's possible his plan to build through the draft will finally show some progress this year with young players pushing up through ranks to raise the overall level of play. But after losing running back Ahman Green and tight end David Martin in free agency, and failing to add a single free agent on offense, Thompson did nothing dynamic in the draft.
In the first round, he sat and watched as Buffalo stole Lynch four spots ahead of him; then sat and watched as Minnesota jumped over him two spots in the second round to take South Carolina receiver Sydney Rice. Carolina then snapped up Southern California receiver Dwayne Jarrett on the next selection, leaving the Packers no choice but to trade down.
Thompson, who was booed by Packers fans for his decision to draft defensive tackle Justin Harrell with his first pick, didn't see any need to move up in the draft to secure a player he wanted, although he said he did try to move forward in the first round to no avail. In both cases, he probably could have overpaid to get what he wanted, but standing pat was more in his nature.
"I am disappointed, not speaking about anything specifically," Thompson said. "I am disappointed on a couple of things that we were working on that didn't work out."
Among those things might have been the acquisition of Moss, the temperamental wide receiver who was dealt to New England for a fourth-round pick. The Packers were in the running for Moss' services, but it appears Moss was more interested in playing for an established winner than taking his chances with the Packers.
ESPN reported that Moss was willing to restructure his contract only for the Patriots, and that any other team would have had to pay him his full $9.75 million this year. In a conference call with New England writers, Moss said that wasn't necessarily true but he made it clear the Patriots had more to offer.
"How many players can you ask in the league that wouldn't want to come up here and play for the New England Patriots?" Moss said.
Asked if he could have done more to get Moss to come to Green Bay, Thompson refused to discuss anything about the Packers' attempt to complete such a deal. If Moss was unwilling to restructure his contract for Green Bay, Thompson wasn't saying. He also wasn't saying whether agreeing to pay Moss the $9.75 million would have landed him the veteran receiver.
Choosing not to take a chance with Moss, Jackson, Turner or anyone else, Thompson added on offense Nebraska running back Brandon Jackson in the second round, receiver James Jones in the third, offensive lineman Allen Barbre in the fourth, receiver David Clowney in the fifth, fullback Korey Hall in the sixth, running back DeShawn Wynn in the seventh and tight end Clark Harris in the seventh.
In assessing where this draft and others left his offense, which in the past two years has lost Green, Martin and receiver Javon Walker, he chose to look at the full picture instead of a single face.
"As a team, the best way and the most consistent way to get better is from within," Thompson said. "I think our own guys have to keep trying to get better, I have to get better, our staff and that sort of thing. I think we have a chance. I think we have a pretty decent group of guys here."
If that's the case, it should start to show this season. It probably needs to for Thompson's sake.
Thompson stays true to conservative ways
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 29, 2007
There were several options available to Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson over the weekend that might have upgraded his roster significantly.
The Packers were not able to swing a trade for Randy Moss. The temperamental wide receiver was traded from Oakland to New England for a fourth-round pick in the NFL draft.
He could have traded for Oakland wide receiver Randy Moss.
He could have traded for Seattle wide receiver Darrell Jackson.
He could have traded for San Diego running back Michael Turner.
He could have traded up in the draft to select running back Marshawn Lynch.
Any one of the four would have been a bold move - a gamble, one might say - given the circumstances. The potential for failure was no small matter.
But Thompson stood pat, choosing to stick to his conservative plan of building almost solely through the draft and forgoing any of the risks his mentor Ron Wolf made while building the franchise into a Super Bowl contender in the 1990s.
And now after three drafts, Thompson's neck would appear to be on the line. His offense arguably isn't any better than it was a year ago and he's potentially a year away from losing the one constant that gives the team hope each season: quarterback Brett Favre.
"What we try to do is everything in our power to try to help make this team as good as it can be," Thompson said Sunday shortly after selecting his 11th and final player of the 2007 draft. "You have to take a lot of things into consideration.
"Sometimes it's an aggressive move; sometimes that aggressive move is not the appropriate time. But you just keep doing everything you can to make the team better. And that's all you can do."
But has Thompson done all he can do?
It's possible his plan to build through the draft will finally show some progress this year with young players pushing up through ranks to raise the overall level of play. But after losing running back Ahman Green and tight end David Martin in free agency, and failing to add a single free agent on offense, Thompson did nothing dynamic in the draft.
In the first round, he sat and watched as Buffalo stole Lynch four spots ahead of him; then sat and watched as Minnesota jumped over him two spots in the second round to take South Carolina receiver Sydney Rice. Carolina then snapped up Southern California receiver Dwayne Jarrett on the next selection, leaving the Packers no choice but to trade down.
Thompson, who was booed by Packers fans for his decision to draft defensive tackle Justin Harrell with his first pick, didn't see any need to move up in the draft to secure a player he wanted, although he said he did try to move forward in the first round to no avail. In both cases, he probably could have overpaid to get what he wanted, but standing pat was more in his nature.
"I am disappointed, not speaking about anything specifically," Thompson said. "I am disappointed on a couple of things that we were working on that didn't work out."
Among those things might have been the acquisition of Moss, the temperamental wide receiver who was dealt to New England for a fourth-round pick. The Packers were in the running for Moss' services, but it appears Moss was more interested in playing for an established winner than taking his chances with the Packers.
ESPN reported that Moss was willing to restructure his contract only for the Patriots, and that any other team would have had to pay him his full $9.75 million this year. In a conference call with New England writers, Moss said that wasn't necessarily true but he made it clear the Patriots had more to offer.
"How many players can you ask in the league that wouldn't want to come up here and play for the New England Patriots?" Moss said.
Asked if he could have done more to get Moss to come to Green Bay, Thompson refused to discuss anything about the Packers' attempt to complete such a deal. If Moss was unwilling to restructure his contract for Green Bay, Thompson wasn't saying. He also wasn't saying whether agreeing to pay Moss the $9.75 million would have landed him the veteran receiver.
Choosing not to take a chance with Moss, Jackson, Turner or anyone else, Thompson added on offense Nebraska running back Brandon Jackson in the second round, receiver James Jones in the third, offensive lineman Allen Barbre in the fourth, receiver David Clowney in the fifth, fullback Korey Hall in the sixth, running back DeShawn Wynn in the seventh and tight end Clark Harris in the seventh.
In assessing where this draft and others left his offense, which in the past two years has lost Green, Martin and receiver Javon Walker, he chose to look at the full picture instead of a single face.
"As a team, the best way and the most consistent way to get better is from within," Thompson said. "I think our own guys have to keep trying to get better, I have to get better, our staff and that sort of thing. I think we have a chance. I think we have a pretty decent group of guys here."
If that's the case, it should start to show this season. It probably needs to for Thompson's sake.