Grow from Within

[Patler]

And looking ahead to post-2008 season, the FA class of the current roster is also small:

Tauscher
Poppinga
Underwood
Ryan
Ferguson

I doubt that Ferguson will matter at that point.
Who knows about Ryan? He may or may not matter.
Underwood, Poppinga? Still a lot to prove. May or may not be starters by then.
Tauscher - hard to say. Could be nearing the end. Could have another 2 or 3 productive years to give. He would be starting his 10th year under a new contract in 2009. Hard to believe!

[wist43]

It was a nice try at getting the last word in, Wist...Besides Barnett, what young players have contracts coming due? I want to see Barnett resigned and believe it'll get done. TT does seem to learn from his mistakes and though I don't know enough details about Green's situation to know how he ended up on the FA market (yes I've heard your ideas on the topic), I have a feeling he may not let it happen twice in a row.

I've made a comparison to what TT did with the OL two years and what he's doing with the RB position this year... there are similarities there - although we're still very early in the offseason, and other than Green, there really isn't anyone else available out there that I think addresses the position. He can't possibly go into the season with what he has there.

As for the young guys, I do believe that TT will make an effort to resign "his guys"... and, maybe even preemptively ala Jenkins - something I am a huge advocate of. But, as has been pointed out, there really aren't too many "core" young guys coming due w/in the next couple of years.

As for Barnett - everyone knows I'm not a fan. That said, he did play slightly above average last year, and I'm not necessarily against resigning him at a reasonable number. As much as that pains me to say; however, I'm sure they're going to pay a lot more for him than I think he's worth.

[pbmax]

A lot could depend on his own coaches evaluation of him in the scheme.

Wolf/Thompson have not spent large dollars on Mikes (other than coaches ), so it would be down to the coaching staff to lobby for his resigning.

[mraynrand]

I like some of the young guys the Packers have on the roster. I especially likd what I saw from Bush on teams. He was unblockable by the end of the year. Tons of sped and strength. Will be interesting to see if he has any coverage skills, because he's got the knack for teams. I also thought Hunter was good on teams - very agressive. Again, are these guys career backups and teams players or do they have skills is the question. I 'll be optimistic and guess that they do.

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BTW, the Bush administration has spent 5 billion (that's BILLION with a B) on climate reseach every year of his presidency for a running total of 30 BILLION DOLLARS - just on research. Much of that research is into climate change - global warming research is a huge business, and if you don't agree with the dogma that humans are causing global climate change, you won't get a single research dime from the government.

[Farley Face]

Wow FF arguing with the great Patler careful you may be struck by lightning.

I guess I don't understand that comment. I haven't noticed a reluctance of people to argue with me. Heck, if they weren't disagreeing with me I wouldn't post nearly as much!

No argument intended, just a level headed, objective debate. My concern is with the current roster there seems to be little difference between or primary backups and or bottom of the roster guys. That is worrisome to me.

[Farley Face]

Wow FF arguing with the great Patler careful you may be struck by lightning.

I guess I don't understand that comment. I haven't noticed a reluctance of people to argue with me. Heck, if they weren't disagreeing with me I wouldn't post nearly as much!

No argument intended, just a level headed, objective debate. My concern is with the current roster there seems to be little difference between or primary backups and or bottom of the roster guys. That is worrisome to me.

substitute 'our' for 'or' twice. Sorry, too many Labatts.

[BF4MVP]

I think it's a good idea to build primarily through the draft. That way, the players come cheap for their first few years, and it's always easier to sign your own guys than to sign other teams' guys..The question is, how many of these young players will be worth anything in the future? Can they be good players? The early results of the 2006 draft are extremely promising..I guess we'll see what happens..TT's ability to draft could make the rebuilding process a lot easier, or it could prolong it for a loooong time..We'll see what happens I guess..I also think the fate of this team could be determined by whether Aaron Rodgers turns out to be a good quarterback. Like Lombardi said, if you miss on a quarterback, it could set your team back a decade..Or something like that..