Why would a top free agent commit to Green Bay?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Tex's reality is based on what he wishes were the case. I wish I could go through life that way.

When it comes to the Vikings, you do.

[gureski]

"Green Bay is a wonderful place. Don't get me wrong. It's just not for everybody. And if the money's equal, the franchise question marks and limitations of the place, in my opinion, would send a FA looking elsewhere. "

end quote

See, you just said it... "IF the money is equal". That's my overall point... If the money is there...as in we're the high bidder....free agents WILL come to G.B.. We do not have some damaged reputation that is and will keep players from coming here. We did, in the past, have such a reputation. We don't have that right now. Guys will, have, and are coming here. You may have a few players that don't want to play here but you'll have a few players that don't want to play in any city. That's my point. There is nothing that is so awful about G.B. that forces players to NOT consider G.B..

I agree with you that endorsement deals are less in G.B. but endorsement deals are less in Minnesota then in New York and less in Indianapolis then S.D.. It's all relative. Endoresement opportunities in G.B. are not that far off Minnesota which isn't that far off Buffalo which isn't that far off the market size of Houston and Jacksonville. That's the bottom line. Market size....these cities aren't that far off G.B. and if you include Milwaukee into the picture they're the same.

The real point is that in the overall scope of things endorsement deals don't matter to the majority of players signing deals. No player turns down G.B. mainly because they don't have enough potential endorsement deals. They turn the Packers down because they're not offerring enough money or because the team talent isn't where they want it to be or because it's too cold. G.B. is just as good a place to play, if not better then any other city. Some people are talking, of late, like the Packers are a place players don't want to go. That's just not true. It's manufactured. That's what I'm attacking. If the money is there....players will come here. They wont say....I'll take less to play in a city other then G.B.. Players aren't turning away from G.B..

Do you think players are turning away from G.B.?

[jack's smirking revenge]

"Do you think players are turning away from G.B.?

Personal opinion, yes, but I really don't have anything to back that up. And, honestly, I could be totally off-base. If Woodson chooses Tampa, where he'll be stuck at safety and not corner, over GB, where he could play his natural position, then I think my point will be proven. My opinion may be colored by the questionable offseason we've had so far. Part of me supports TT and his frugalness, his "stick-to-a-plan" attitude; another part of me wonders why we've been left out in the cold by so much of the free agent markets when we were the #1 or #2 team with cap space before FA began. I agree that if we always lead with more money than the other team, which isn't always the best or easiest route to go, then we should be raking in the FAs. So why haven't we?

Blame TT? Perhaps, but we truly don't know how active (or inactive) he has been. If we hadn't nailed Pickett to a contract, all of this talk would be much different and TT would be fully defending his lack of FA success.

Blame Favre? Perhaps, but, by your logic, if we've offered a FA a money with good $$$, then Favre is irrelevant.

Blame the new staff? I think you could only blame the new staff if we had a flood of FA cross our borders and consequently choose another team. We don't know how effective (or ineffective) M3 and the new Packer coaching staff will be and no FA knows that either.

Blame the city? As you suggested, that really isn't fair. But it can't be discounted. It has to be argued in the same breath as all of the rest of the reasons.

Blame $$$? Well, that's tied to TT. We may never know how many contract offers he threw out there, only to be laughed at.

All we know is that, in this offseason, we signed a boatload of last year's players and a handful of second-tier FAs. Lots of players were signed to one-year deals. We truly can't pass judgment on the effectiveness of the offseason until the season starts.

tyler

[MJZiggy]

Some came here intentionally...

Not far from his Iowa home and his Midwestern roots, Green Bay's location was a major reason why Cundiff signed with the Packers. Green Bay is only a seven-to-eight hour drive away from his hometown of Harlan. (For the record the town did not name itself after Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan.) Cundiff also has friends in Chicago and a brother in Minneapolis.

"I wanted to get back to the Midwest," Cundiff said. "It's closer to my family."

Cundiff chose the Midwestern team over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Other clubs expressed interest in Cundiff, but the free agent derby came down to a battle of the Bays -- only Green Bay and Tampa Bay made contract offers. Viewing Cundiff as a more cost efficient replacement for their incumbent kicker and unrestricted free agent Matt Bryant, the Buccaneers signed Cundiff before the NFL established a new collective bargaining agreement.

"It was a money thing," Cundiff said.

When the NFL owners agreed to a new deal on March 8, each team received more 2006 salary cap space, and the Buccaneers could afford to retain Bryant. Cundiff, however, remains content with the way things worked out.

"I ended up coming here where they were happy to have me," he said.

As safety Marquand Manuel walks past the Vince Lombardi trophies on the way to the Packers' locker room, the former Seattle Seahawk knows why he decided to sign with Green Bay.

"The biggest thing was just the tradition," Manuel said.

Titletown's tradition also impressed outside linebacker Ben Taylor, but the main reason he joined the Packers instead of re-signing with the Cleveland Browns was because of Green Bay's defensive scheme.

Green Bay did not necessarily offer these guys any more money than they were offered anywhere else. Actually didn't one of them take less money than he could have gotten elsewhere to come here?