The Cullen Jenkins Mistake

[Patler]

When healthy in '11, Neal was more invisible than the invisible man in the song "Invisible Man" by 98 Degrees. Not resigning Jenkins was a mistake.

Neal seems to be playing better this season. I guess one of the few positives of competition is that it makes folks work harder. Last season, Neal had no competition. This season, Thompson conceded to the fact that his DL wasn't competitive without Jenkins. So he went out and signed a bunch of average free agents defensive linemen. Then he drafted a couple of young uns.

Neal is your typical underachiever and injury-prone player.

When was Neal healthy in 2011? That was the problem acknowledged by both the team and player toward the end of the season, that his knee wasn't right and wouldn't improve until he could shut down at the end of the year. Since it was felt he wasn't in danger of making it worse by playing, he continued to play.

Neal's improved play this season may simply be the result of better health.

[LegandofthePack15]

Do we even know for sure what down with Jenkins? Wasn't he looking for a big deal and found the market dead for him?

I think reports out of the major news agencies were that Thompson refused to talk to Jenkins about a new contract. Jenkins wasn't a Thompson find so he was expendable. Neal, on the hand, was a Thompson draft pick. Thompson needed Neal to feed his ego, which backfired.

Jenkins got a market deal from Philly, but nothing the Packers couldn't afford.

[LegandofthePack15]

When was Neal healthy in 2011? That was the problem acknowledged by both the team and player toward the end of the season, that his knee wasn't right and wouldn't improve until he could shut down at the end of the year. Since it was felt he wasn't in danger of making it worse by playing, he continued to play.

Neal's improved playy this season may simply be the result of better health.

Neal was healthy enough to play in the last 7 games. Otherwise he would've landed on the IR.

Neal simply did not produce. In other words, he sucked. One of the running gag at Packersnews.com was Neal's invisibility. No one noticed he was on the field even when he was on field; thanks to his lack of playmaking. Hell, Brett Goode was more visible than Neal.

[Patler]

Neal was healthy enough to play in the last 7 games. Otherwise he would've landed on the IR.

Neal simply did not produce. In other words, he sucked. One of the running gag at Packersnews.com was Neal's invisibility. No one noticed he was on the field even when he was on field; thanks to his lack of playmaking. Hell, Brett Goode was more visible than Neal.

Healthy enough to play doesn't mean he was healthy enough that his performance was not degraded by his physical condition. Tramon Williams was healthy enough to play in 2011, yet his performance was adversely affected very significantly because of his physical condition, not because he was an underachiever.

The same might have been true for Neal. I say "might" because he had no past history as a baseline performance to judge.

[Fritz]

I think reports out of the major news agencies were that Thompson refused to talk to Jenkins about a new contract. Jenkins wasn't a Thompson find so he was expendable. Neal, on the hand, was a Thompson draft pick. Thompson needed Neal to feed his ego, which backfired.

Jenkins got a market deal from Philly, but nothing the Packers couldn't afford.

Really? You're going to trot that tired, foolish old idea out?

You just undermined any credibility you might've had in this argument.

[LegandofthePack15]

Healthy enough to play doesn't mean he was healthy enough that his performance was not degraded by his physical condition. Tramon Williams was healthy enough to play in 2011, yet his performance was adversely affected very significantly because of his physical condition, not because he was an underachiever.

The same might have been true for Neal. I say "might" because he had no past history as a baseline performance to judge.

I guess the jury is still out on Neal. But for a moment he looked like the next Justin Harrell.

[Fritz]

I am a Mike Neal fan, but I am cautious about his return. He does seem to get hurt and dinged up an awful lot. He needs to show he can stay on the field and contribute.

[LegandofthePack15]

Really? You're going to trot that tired, foolish old idea out?

You just undermined any credibility you might've had in this argument.

Andrew Brandt wrote an article (either at his site or at ESPN) about NFL brasses and their egos. Typically, an NFL GM favors HIS players over his predecessor's. He wants to give HIS players every opportunity to make him look good.

The facts are what they are: Thompson never hesitated to get rid of Sherman's (or Wolf's) players, yet he's more patient than a monk with his own players.

Since Thompson took over, he got rid of, to name a few, Wahle, Rivera, Sharper, Walker, Favre, Barnett and Jenkins. At the same time, he kept Justin Harrell on the roster for a million years. Hawk was (and probably still is) average as fuck and he's still on the roster (but not Barnett). I mean, there was a time when Hawk couldn't even beat out a guy like Brandon Chillar for playing time. If Neal were someone else's pick, I bet he'd be gone already. The guy's injury-prone, an underachiever, and he got suspended for taking illegal drugs.

[Patler]

Andrew Brandt wrote an article (either at his site or at ESPN) about NFL brasses and their egos. Typically, an NFL GM favors HIS players over his predecessor's. He wants to give HIS players every opportunity to make him look good.

A new GM is usually brought in because the team felt the previous GM was doing a poor job, so fired him. Why would you not expect a housecleaning of sorts? That is what is expected of the new GM, a roster makeover.

[Patler]

The facts are what they are: Thompson never hesitated to get rid of Sherman's (or Wolf's) players, yet he's more patient than a monk with his own players.

I doubt that Craig Bragg, Will Whittiker, Dave Tollefson, Tyrone Culver, Ingle Martin, Cory Rodgers, Abdul Hodge, David Clowney, Brian Brohm, Jamon Meredith, Caleb Schlauderoth, Ricky Elmore or even Brandon Underwood are overly impressed with his patience.

[Patler]

Since Thompson took over, he got rid of, to name a few, Wahle, Rivera, Sharper, Walker, Favre, Barnett and Jenkins.

Wahle, Rivera and Sharper - no choice based on the Packers salary cap at the time, the bonuses due to Wahle and Sharper, Sharpers unwillingness to renegotiate and the contracts each ultimately received.

Walker was traded for the 37th pick, which was then traded for #s 47, 93 and 148, with #93 then traded for #s 109 and 183; and finally 109 being traded for #s 115 and 185. To summarize, Walker was traded for draft rights that became Daryn Colledge, Ingle Martin, Johnny Jolly, Will Blackman and Tyrone Culver. Not bad for a guy who wanted to leave GB in the first place and was coming off a knee injury.

Arguably, they should have made the switch from Favre to Rodgers a year earlier than they did, and it certainly was not a mistake to do it when they did. They showed tremendous deference and patience with Favre and his annual "Will I or won't I retire" dance.

Barnett - someone had to go, too much cap space tied up at the position. Hawk was the more injury free, is not a distraction (not that Barnett was a big problem, but was a bit polarizing among fans and probably the Packer staff as well). It wouldn't have bothered me if the kept Barnett and go rid of Hawk. My biggest disappointment was that they weren't able to trade Barnett and ended up getting nothing for him.

Jenkins - you know my feelings on that one!

[Zool]

Since Thompson took over, he got rid of, to name a few, Wahle, Rivera, Sharper, Walker, Favre, Barnett and Jenkins.

Just in case you don't watch sports media coverage, Favre retired. 3 times.

[Guiness]

Andrew Brandt wrote an article (either at his site or at ESPN) about NFL brasses and their egos. Typically, an NFL GM favors HIS players over his predecessor's. He wants to give HIS players every opportunity to make him look good.

The facts are what they are: Thompson never hesitated to get rid of Sherman's (or Wolf's) players, yet he's more patient than a monk with his own players.

Since Thompson took over, he got rid of, to name a few, Wahle, Rivera, Sharper, Walker, Favre, Barnett and Jenkins. At the same time, he kept Justin Harrell on the roster for a million years. Hawk was (and probably still is) average as fuck and he's still on the roster (but not Barnett). I mean, there was a time when Hawk couldn't even beat out a guy like Brandon Chillar for playing time. If Neal were someone else's pick, I bet he'd be gone already. The guy's injury-prone, an underachiever, and he got suspended for taking illegal drugs.

Was considering crafting a well thought out response to this thread, but this post pretty much shows that you're simply trolling.

From justifying your thoughts about Thompson's behavior to a generic article written about NFL GM to saying Neale's prescription medication for a pre-existing condition is an illegal drug...

[3irty1]

I agree with LegendofthePack... what this forum needed was a poster who is acutely wrong about everything.

A few months ago this thread would have had no discussion.

[mraynrand]

If Neal were someone else's pick, I bet he'd be gone already. The guy's injury-prone, an underachiever, and he got suspended for taking illegal drugs.

Injury Prone!