Free Agents and Green Bay

[red]

GB was a great landing spot for Peppers. It gives him one last hurrah for a Super Bowl, and is within decent travel distance from his residence north of Chicago. Throw in what seems to be a very generous financial package from the Packers, and it was probably an easy decision for him.

TT insists that they do pursue FAs every year, yet they rarely sign anyone. We know he is very selective about overpaying anyone new, so the only logical conclusion is that all being equal, GB is a tough sell to a free agent.

By and large, the Packers pay their own FAs quite well. These are people who, like Woodson, learned to appreciate the football side of GB, and learned to deal with the rest of it. Good pay, comfortable in their role, an easier sell than an outside FA. But that is exactly why TT's emphasis is where it is. It is easier to re-sign his own guys than to lure in someone new, and in this case "easier" might mean cheaper even when the player is seemingly overpaid like Brad Jones.

Don't overlook the fact that there are frequent examples of players who seem to be anxious to get out of Green Bay, regardless of what they say. Walker, McKenzie, Wahle (even apart from his prohibitive bonus that year), Sharper (who absolutely refused to even discuss any contract changes with the Packers, Longwell, Wells, Jennings and even Jenkins seemed more than happy to leave. Most talked about it a year or two in advance.

i think peppers probably came running to green bay more then green bay running to him. peppers was pissed when the bears cut him, and what better way to stick it to the bears and prove they were wrong, then going to their most hated rival and the one team that seems to have the bears number every year

i think if peppers has anything at all left in the tank, its gonna come out in the two games we play against chicago this year, and those will be monster games by him. and i wouldn't be shocked if we saw very little from him the rest of the year

[SMBASS]

i think if peppers has anything at all left in the tank, its gonna come out in the two games we play against chicago this year, and those will be monster games by him. and i wouldn't be shocked if we saw very little from him the rest of the year

I don't know red. I have a feeling that Peppers is going to create some chaos in quite a few games this year. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and how opposing offences approach blocking him and CMIII. (Especially if we can get any kind of push on the inside.) I guess I just think he has a little more left in the tank and last year was simply a down/anomaly year for various reasons. Shoot, even the couple of, "down" years he's had weren't bad at all compared to other players. Just not up to his normal standards. I realize this is not the same Peppers from 4 or 5 years ago but something tells me he's going to play some inspired ball this year.

[woodbuck27]

if you're a black kid that grew up in the south (where a lot of good football players are coming from now), its a massive culture shock to go to green bay.

when i was young, my folks moved me from wisconsin to arkansas. the only black people i had ever seen in my life were packers and brewers, then all of a sudden half my school is black. that was a bit odd at first

then the weather sucked, it was always fucking muggy and hot, even in the winters

i couldn't understand anything that anybody said,white or black

the food and culture was all completely different. it was like living on another planet

now if i had tons of money, was older, and had a choice, i wouldn't have moved there, i would have moved someplace that was a little bit more like what i was use to

in green bay, its cold 7 months out of the year, its muggy and hot as shit for 2 months out of the year, that leaves 3 months out of the year when its pleasant

its very white, even still today. its not as totally white as it was in the 70's and 80's, but its still mostly white. the last time i was in green bay,i saw 3 black people. one was eddie lacy, one was edgar bennett, and one was an old guy in his 60's that i starred at for awhile trying to figure out when he must have played for the packers. a young black kid who has grown up around his own kind is gonna feel way out of place in GB. just like a white kid would feel out of place at grambling. a southern black kid going to chicago, detroit, new york or the like would feel a little less culture shock because those huge towns at least have lots of other black people around. not so in green bay

and really, for any young rich kid, there isn't much to do if you don't like hunting or fishing. you don't have all kinds of big clubs where you can get all kinds of tail. there's no places where you can drive you're fancy fast ass cars because the winters destroy the roads which then destroy anything with 4 wheels in the spring

if milwaukee was a bit closed to GB and you could convince you the players that they could live 15 minutes from the team, and 15 minutes from a big city with all the fun, then things might be completely different

A down to earth and real observation.

How's your citrullus lanatus "watermelon" in the summer?

[woodbuck27]

i think peppers probably came running to green bay more then green bay running to him. peppers was pissed when the bears cut him, and what better way to stick it to the bears and prove they were wrong, then going to their most hated rival and the one team that seems to have the bears number every year

i think if peppers has anything at all left in the tank, its gonna come out in the two games we play against chicago this year, and those will be monster games by him. and i wouldn't be shocked if we saw very little from him the rest of the year

Alot of Packer Nation is counting on you being incorrectly pessimistic here red.

[Pugger]

He had other offers. We just offered to pay him like an elitevor near-elite player and no one else did.

If memory serves the only other team interested was Tampa but they wanted to move him to safety and we told him he'd stay at corner.

[Smeefers]

Woodson is proof of the argument that FAs are hesitant to come to GB. He has admitted that he did not want to come to GB at all, and even let it affect his attitude the first year. He said it was the only opportunity he had for continuing to play corner and receive a salary he felt was fair. Sure he liked the football atmosphere after experiencing it, but really hasn't talked up anything other than that.

No, Woodson is proof that some free agents are hesitant to come to GB. Peppers is proof that Free Agents really want to come to GB.

False logic.

[Smeefers]

if you're a black kid that grew up in the south (where a lot of good football players are coming from now), its a massive culture shock to go to green bay.

when i was young, my folks moved me from wisconsin to arkansas. the only black people i had ever seen in my life were packers and brewers, then all of a sudden half my school is black. that was a bit odd at first

then the weather sucked, it was always fucking muggy and hot, even in the winters

i couldn't understand anything that anybody said,white or black

the food and culture was all completely different. it was like living on another planet

now if i had tons of money, was older, and had a choice, i wouldn't have moved there, i would have moved someplace that was a little bit more like what i was use to

in green bay, its cold 7 months out of the year, its muggy and hot as shit for 2 months out of the year, that leaves 3 months out of the year when its pleasant

its very white, even still today. its not as totally white as it was in the 70's and 80's, but its still mostly white. the last time i was in green bay,i saw 3 black people. one was eddie lacy, one was edgar bennett, and one was an old guy in his 60's that i starred at for awhile trying to figure out when he must have played for the packers. a young black kid who has grown up around his own kind is gonna feel way out of place in GB. just like a white kid would feel out of place at grambling. a southern black kid going to chicago, detroit, new york or the like would feel a little less culture shock because those huge towns at least have lots of other black people around. not so in green bay

and really, for any young rich kid, there isn't much to do if you don't like hunting or fishing. you don't have all kinds of big clubs where you can get all kinds of tail. there's no places where you can drive you're fancy fast ass cars because the winters destroy the roads which then destroy anything with 4 wheels in the spring

if milwaukee was a bit closed to GB and you could convince you the players that they could live 15 minutes from the team, and 15 minutes from a big city with all the fun, then things might be completely different

Let me start off by saying that I totally agree with your demographics assessment. That surely plays a role in FA's wanting to come to GB.

What I have an issue with is the "only black guys I see are packers" statement. That's basically not true. I played at Danz and pickle park when I was a kid and that was a cauldron of different races. I bounced in GB for a while and the clientele was a good 10 - 15% minority. I lived in the NW section of the city off Broadway for a while and there were plenty of cute little latino and african kids playing at Howard Elementary. There's a stigma in GB that it's a white only town and perpetuating it isn't helping anyone.

[Bretsky]

I think players consider other locations more appealing
With that being said

We don't get many visits because Agents want to talk Numbers before sending their clients to Green Bay

In general TT...good or bad...is a bargain shopper and is not going to overpay...even if it's for the right player

The numbers don't fit so the player does not visit.

[Patler]

No, Woodson is proof that some free agents are hesitant to come to GB. Peppers is proof that Free Agents really want to come to GB.

False logic.

Did I say ALL free agents? False assumption on your part.

But, the facts are:
- Woodson said that he did not want to come to GB at all, and admitted that he moped about it his first year in GB
- TT says they really do pursue FAs every year, but are quiet about it.
- No FA of significance signed since Woodson, until Peppers this year.
- Before Woodson, the most significant FA to come was Pickett, who admitted his wife insisted on GB for the family.
- They haven't even signed any marginally significant FAs since the likes of Chiller.
- In 10 seasons they have had three FAs of significance; Pickett, who's wife insisted; Woodson, who had no other option and now Peppers, who got a very good contract and could almost commute from his current home.
- Yet TT who seems as honest as they come, tells us they go after FA's every year.
- Throw in the several occurrences of FAs scheduling GB last, and not even bothering to check it out before signing elsewhere. Why isn't GB ever first, (except for Peppers, apparently; and Pickett way back when) or at least checked out before the committ?

Looks to me like GB is a tough sell, except in the unique situations like with Pickett, Woodson and maybe Peppers.

[Patler]

Regard GB's ethnicity, this is what the city has put out:

[Just Jeff]

False assumption on your part.

But, the facts are:
- TT says they really do pursue FAs every year, but are quiet about it.
- Yet TT who seems as honest as they come, tells us they go after FA's every year.

I think that this may be closer to a false assumption. Not sure that just cause TT says it, that its true. The old actions speak louder than words may apply.

[Patler]

I think that this may be closer to a false assumption. Not sure that just cause TT says it, that its true. The old actions speak louder than words may apply.

I wrote he "seems as honest as they come" from having listened to him struggle to answer questions when he doesn't want to say something, but can not bring himself to be less than totally honest. I have often observed him refuse to answer rather than lead people on in situations that he easily could and be done with it. Just the opposite of Wolf, who often seemed willing to say whatever would serve him best at the time. I wrote it because people who know him and deal with him attributed that quality to him.

Yet TT offered the statement about FAs when he didn't have to, making it more likely true.

[Just Jeff]

I wrote he "seems as honest as they come" from having listened to him struggle to answer questions when he doesn't want to say something, but can not bring himself to be less than totally honest. I have often observed him refuse to answer rather than lead people on in situation that he easily could. Just the opposite of Wolf, who often seemed willing to say whatever would serve him best at the time. I wrote it because people who know him and deal with him attributed that quality to him.

Yet TT offered the statement about FAs when he didn't have to, making it more likely true.

I go after hot blondes EVERY nite. I come away from it smelling like an appletini, having a wet shirt, and am perceived as funny by the women within earshot.

[pbmax]

No, Woodson is proof that some free agents are hesitant to come to GB. Peppers is proof that Free Agents really want to come to GB.

False logic.

I think the number of cancelled visits and other non-interest each year speak to the percentages. I think Peppers is more the exception.

If the GM were not Ted, and was willing to bump his price up past his value a bit (or agree to general contract terms before the visit) then you would see more action. But I think the threshold is higher. If Kevin Greene's wife wants to leave GB and he does, it certainly can happen to players.

[red]

Regard GB's ethnicity, this is what the city has put out:

what does 5, 10 and 15 min mean?

is that 5, 10, and 15 minutes from the center of town or something?

if i'm reading it right, its around 2-3% black and supports what i was saying. so theres just over 4,000 black folks living in the greater green bay area, an area with 200,000 people

yeah,a black person is gonna feel a wee bit out of place