Packers 3, New England 27. Just an awful game. Bad 1st quarter special teams contributed to 10 early New England points. Frequent offensive turnovers. Far too many penalties. Poor run defense. Several key injuries during the game including WR Antonio Chatman, WR Javon Walker, DE KGB, and FS Nick Collins. It does not sound like the injuries are a cause for concern.

The major problem on offense was that QB Brett Favre wasn't in any rhythm, and that was as much to do with New England's great defense. Favre had three interceptions, one was called back on a penalty but it lead to the neck injury to Chatman. Was it bad routes by the receivers? Was it bad throws by Favre? It wasn't clear watching the game, but it looked more like poor routes by the receivers.

The run offense didn't have much success, but New England has an interesting 3-4 defense with essentially 3 nose tackles on the defensive line. If one team is built to stop the run in the NFL, it is New England.

QB Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good (for a rookie), once he stopped fumbling the snaps (he fumbled his first two snaps from center). Remember, Rodgers is a rookie quarterback, and most rookie quarterbacks are bad to awful, with only a few exceptions. He shouldn't look very good, yet.

G William Whitticker had won the starting right guard spot, but he might have lost it with his play against New England. His biggest sin was moving too far to his left on a pass play when the defensive lineman to Whitticker's left ran a stunt, ran around Whitticker's right side, and got a clean shot at Favre, leading to a painful grimmace from Favre. Whitticker can probably win the job with a solid last preseason game, otherwise G Grey Ruegamer will start. C Scott Wells had a lot of playing time backing up LG Adrian Klemm at left guard and might convince the Packers to move Klemm to right guard and let Wells start at left guard.

The Packers defense had some bright spots. FS Nick Collins started with the first team, and his biggest mistake was dropping an interception that would have stopped a New England TD drive. CB Ahmad Carroll played very well, although far too much taunting (calm down Ahmad!). CB Mike Hawkins backed up CB Al Harris again, but got burned on the 2nd quarter TD pass. CB Joey Thomas looked better as the 3rd cornerback. There are still a lot of question marks on the Packers overall, but the secondary has made a lot of progress this preseason.

So has P B.J. Sander. He launched some giant punts and has a lot of hang time. He has completely turned his career around, after spending the entire 2004 season inactive. He could be a valuable field position weapon in 2005.

The run defense looked awful. New England ran almost every run play right at Gbaja-Biamila and was most successful when DT Cullen Jenkins played next to him. The Packers are about 30 pounds heavier per player with DT Colin Cole and DE Aaron Kampman to the right side. Gbaja-Biamila had success on run defense when he was able to use his speed to run past the left tackle, but that rarely happened. DT Cletidus Hunt will play next to Gbaja-Biamila when he returns from his injury, so hopefully that will help. Defensive coordinator Jim Bates has to figure out how to stop teams from running right over Gbaja-Biamila.

WR Terrence Murphy (2nd round, 2005) hasn't played yet, and now Chatman and Walker got hurt. Walker's finger injury isn't as serious as Chatman's neck injury, but a finger injury for a wide receiver can't be a good thing. The wide receiver depth is now WR Donald Driver, WR Robert Ferguson, and you don't want to know. In one game, this position just became a problem.

$6 million signing bonus for Bubba? TE Bubba Franks finally signed a contract with the Packers after remaining a free agent ever since the Packers slapped the transition player tag on him back in March. The signing bonus is one of the top 5 largest signing bonus ever paid by the Packers, only QB Brett Favre, DE KGB, FS Darren Sharper and WR Antonio Freeman have ever gotten more. Should the Packers have paid this much for Bubba? If they had this much cap room available, should they have used it to try and resign G Marco Rivera or G Mike Wahle instead? Should they have used the money to cut and resign FS Darren Sharper?

Bubba is a three time Pro Bowl tight end. He has developed into a very good receiver after starting out in his rookie season with a bad case of the drops. He never has too many catches or too many receiving yards, but he always catches a few touchdowns, which may be more an indication of playing with a great quarterback. He is an excellent run blocker and deserves credit for contributing to the great Packer run offense in 2003 and pretty good run offense in 2004. He plays a position without a lot of depth around the NFL, and some teams seem plagued to never have a good tight end (Hello Chicago!) so it is probably a good idea to keep a good one once you've got him. He is only 28 years old and is likely to continue to play well for at least two more seasons.

However, Bubba had been a free agent for months now, and had not received an offer from any other team, as far as had been reported. If another team had signed Bubba, they wouldn't have had to pay any compensation for him, because the Packers only used the transition tag and not the franchise tag. Maybe teams weren't interested in pursuing Bubba because they knew the Packers would match any offer. Maybe no other team in the NFL was interested in Bubba. If the Packers had held a hard line for Bubba, what were his options? No other team appeared interested in signing him. Would he sit out a season? If Bubba had no other options and had to eventually sign with the Packers, why give him one of the richest deals in team history?

It is a mixed signing. There is a lot of good although it looks like the Packers didn't have to overpay for Bubba. Instead they gave him big money anyway. It is a good signing for the 2005 season, but the Packers might come to regret it by 2007 if Bubba doesn't age well. I have heard criticism on the radio by Peter King of SI that the Packers only spent $50,000 in signing bonuses this offseason on defensive players when they knew that their defense needed help. I didn't think they had the cap room for a multi-million signing bonus, but apparently they had it for Bubba, although most NFL teams only spend modest amounts on their tight ends. It seems like an odd allocation of money and cap room for a team tight against the salary cap.

Head coach Mike Sherman signed a two year extension. This is supposed to help a coach in two ways; first he gets a bunch of guaranteed money, and second he receives the all important vote-of-confidence. I don't quite understand how receiving a contract beyond the current season really helps his relationship with the players by showing confidence in your coach. In today's NFL, everyone is one injury or one bad game/decision away from unemployment. I still don't think it will help Sherman beyond this season. If the season goes bad, new GM Ted Thompson might put the blame on Sherman for the collapse or decide he really wants his own guy as head coach, and fire Sherman anyway; two years left on his contract or not.

And NT Grady Jackson might be able to play! One of these weeks. His knee still isn't good enough to pass a physical. Who knows.

Packers 7, Buffalo 27. I didn't watch the game so I don't have much to comment on. I watched Buffalo during their scrimmage with the Packers a couple of weeks ago and I was very impressed with their defense and their depth at defense. The Packers' backups really struggled against Buffalo's backups, so it was not surprising that they lost a preseason game played mostly by backups. It was good to see the first team offense score (QB Brett Favre TD pass to RB Ahman Green) against their great defense. But it looks like Buffalo was able to run all game against the Packers and kept their offense on the field a long time, which probably means that the Packers poor run defense is still poor, and no one is stepping up on the defensive line or at linebacker while LB Na'il Diggs and NT Grady Jackson are out.

QB Aaron Rodgers probably didn't look good again because his stat line sure didn't look good. But he shouldn't be very good as a rookie (very few rookies are good in the NFL), plus he is playing with all backups who haven't played together for very long. Overall, he shouldn't look very good right now. Hopefully he looks good fundamentally and the rest will come with practice and experience.

I did watch part of Minnesota's preseason game this weekend. Minnesota made many mistakes and lost a game they could have won. It has been the biggest problem of Minnesota in recent seasons; they look great on paper but it doesn't translate into a dominant team. The rest of the NFC North is struggling; Detroit lost to a very weak Cleveland team at home and Chicago has its usually soap opera of quarterback problems. All this means if the Packers can maintain their great offense and the defense can rebound back to its 2002 and 2003 performance level, then the Packers should be the favorites to repeat as NFC North champs.

S Arturo Freeman was cut after the preseason game against San Diego. Freeman didn't play in the scrimmage or San Diego game until late and played behind S Earl Little. It probably didn't help him at all when he committed a penalty in the San Diego game and that he has been playing through an injury to his right hand. The announcers always gave Freeman a little more credit than the other defensive players because he is the only player who played for defensive coordinator Jim Bates in Miami last season. But the Packers have brought in a number of safeties this season; Freeman, Little, 2nd round pick S Nick Collins and 4th round pick S Marviel Underwood. Freeman probably had the inside track coming into training camp at the starting safety spot alongside S Mark Roman, but for whatever reason, it didn't work out for him. The Packers didn't sign him to a big free agent contract this offseason, so the Packers don't have a financial incentive to give Freeman any second chances.

There is talk of trading WR Robert Ferguson? To rival Philadelphia? Ferguson has not been huge success in his career with the Packers, but his stats are generally what a team should expect from their 3rd wide receiver. If Ferguson is traded, behind WR Donald Driver and Javon Walker is only Antonio Chatman, Terrence Murphy (who hasn't yet recovered from a hip injury) and a bunch of guys I don't want to see on the field during the regular season. The Packers were in a major bind during last season's playoffs when Walker was injured. For most of the game, QB Brett Favre's only receivers were Driver, Chatman, and the Packers practice squad in the form of WR Andrea Thurman. Thurman's lack of time with the team caused at least one of Favre's interceptions in the game. This preseason, Thurman hasn't been too impressive and neither have any of the other young receivers. Any insight Ferguson would bring to Philadelphia about the Packers offense would be minimal; Philadelphia's Andy Reid knows how it works from first hand experience and Philadelphia managed to completely shut down the Packers in 2004 anyway. Jsonline.com suggested Philadelphia might offer a 2005 4th round pick for Ferguson. Although, Ferguson has been disappointing as a Packer, if Driver or Walker is injured, the Packers depth is suspect or very inexperienced behind Ferguson and Chatman. Ferguson isn't worth a 1st round pick, but even if Philadelphia would trade it, Ferguson is more valuable as a Packer right now than a 1st round pick is worth next season. Ferguson can't be replaced so close to the start of the 2005 season if the Packers have an injury to Driver or Walker. Added concern; Walker is in a similar contract situation/dispute with Green Bay as WR Terrell Owens is with Philadelphia and both players are represented by Drew Rosenhaus. Walker appears ready to play, unlike Owens, but who knows?

Preseason. Packers 10, San Diego 7. The first string offense looked good, except they had trouble running the ball. QB Brett Favre looked sharp, which had been an early season problem for him a couple of seasons ago. Favre was injured during a preseason game against Denver in 1999 and then he didn't play much over the next few preseasons to either avoid injury or recover from previous injuries. This cost the Packers the first game of the 2003 season when Minnesota won the opening game at Lambeau and Favre looked unusually awful in the first half of it; he used the first half to shake the rust off instead of doing it during the preseason. The last two preseasons, Favre has gotten more work in the preseason and it has helped him.

LG Adrian Klemm started with the first team ahead of LG Grey Ruegamer. Klemm was signed as a free agent this offseason to start at left guard, but Ruegamer started ahead of Klemm during the scrimmage against Buffalo. Rookie RG William Whitticker started with the first team, ahead of free agent RG Matt O'Dwyer, who had been battling some injuries this season after missing all of 2004 with injuries. O'Dwyer didn't play well when he did play in the second half and he was flagged for at least two penalties. The Packers didn't sign O'Dwyerfor big money, he signed for the veteran's minimum, so it would not cost the Packers anything to cut him if he is beaten out by Whitticker.

The Packers run defense didn't look good; the main problem is that they are letting running backs cut back or get outside for big gains. San Diego didn't have much success running up the middle, although San Diego only used their backup running backs against the Packers defense and star RB LaDainian Tomlinson sat it out. Hopefully this is something that can be improved over the course of the preseason.

Rookie 2nd round pick WR Terrence Murphy sat out again with his injured hip. He is probably a lock to make the team as the 5th wide receiver, but it would be great to see him play. All the receivers battling for a roster spot or maybe a practice squad spot haven't looked impressive so far.

The Packers gave a long look at QB J.T. O'Sullivan in this game and it wasn't pretty. He moved the offense into field goal range on the last drive of the game, but did nothing with his other chances against San Diego's backup defense. O'Sullivan doesn't appear to have any chance at beating QB Craig Nall out for the 3rd string job.

TE Ben Steele looked really good in this game. He made some good catches, including a key reception on the game winning field goal drive. He might be turning into a valuable receiver for this season, if he can hold off TE David Martin and TE Sean McHugh for a roster spot.

San Diego burned CB Mike Hawkins for their only touchdown of the game, but it looked like Hawkins played it perfectly. Hawkins kept the receiver in front of him, in the center of the field, and didn't get spun around by the receiver. It looked like S Todd Franz blew it and came in late when the receiver slanted in toward the goal post. Hawkins has been one of the big surprises in training camp and right now would be starting opposite CB Al Harris. CB Joey Thomas will probably start when he returns from his calf injury, but Hawkins has to be considered the 3rd cornerback, which is essentially a starter in the NFL today. CB Ahmad Carroll has to have slipped down to 4th cornerback; he was called for another illegal hands penalty.

The player who made the most noise in this game was rookie 6th round pick DE Mike Montgomery. Montgomery had the only sack of the game, was all over the field on defense, and even made at least two special teams tackles. The entire second unit defense looked energized; LB Paris Lenon made a couple of great tackles and LB Roy Manning looked very active.

Finally, P B.J. Sander has played so much better in the first scrimmage and preseason game in 2005 then he did in 2004. Whatever he has done to improve himself over the last two seasons, including a stint in NFL Europe, has really worked. His punts aren't long distance, but most of them have been high, giving the punt coverage team a chance to get down the field. Sander's problem last preseason was that all his punts were line drive 30-35 yard punts. His punts are only traveling around 35-40 yards but they have a lot better hang time.

Crap! LB Na'il Diggs looked good during the scrimmage on Friday night only to injure his knee at practice the next Monday. The jsonline.com article plays down the injury, saying it could have been worse, but either way its bad. Diggs struggled through an injury in 2004 that took away his speed and effectiveness in coverage and outside the tackles, and this knee injury might do the same to him in 2005.

Scrimmage! The Packers scrimmaged against Buffalo during Family night at Lambeau field. This is an annual event, but the first time the Packers scrimmaged against another team.

Defensive tackle is a question mark with the bad knee of NT Grady Jackson and bad attitude
of DT Cletidus Hunt. In their places started undrafted 2nd year DT Colin Cole and 2004
6th round draft pick DT Corey Williams. Cole made some good plays on the first series
while Williams didn't stand out either way. Buffalo had some success running the ball and
the Packers didn't create much pass rush without a blitz. DE KGB didn't make a play and the camera angle was right on DE Aaron Kampman as he was pushed out of nearly every play.

It was obvious that LB Na'il Diggs and Hannibal Navies look better already. Both played
hurt in 2004 and both looked much better on Friday. Especially Diggs, who looked great
getting outside in run support. Free agent LB Ray Thompson looked good when he came clean on a blitz for a sack, however, LB Paris Lenon was confused, especially in pass coverage.

CBs Ahmad Carroll and Leigh Torrence started at cornerback, and neither played well.
Carroll continued to look like a 1st round bust, getting beat in coverage and still
putting his hands all over the wide receivers. Torrence is an undrafted rookie free agent
and was beaten in coverage at least 3 times in Buffalo's first 2 series. It was a lot to
expect out of a undrafted rookie, but he didn't play well either. 2nd round pick S Nick
Collins looked confused when he played against QB Shane Matthews (Buffalo's 3rd QB) but he
has a lot to learn too. The secondary was abused by backup QB Kelly Holcomb. However, CB Mike Hawkins played a lot early, he looked very good, and he almost intercepted a ball that would have been returned for a TD. S Mark Roman played well, but remember Roman played well in 2004 until mid-season when the wheels came off on his season. The Packers awful 2004 season tackling performance wasn't obvious until Roman started missing tackles too. Maybe he caught the bug from the rest of the team. It looks like right now, S Earl Little would be the starting safety alongside Roman.

The entire Packers defense, unfortunately, might have looked better than they actually
played on Friday, because Buffalo's 2nd year starting QB J.P. Losman looked awful, playing in true preseason form. Commentator and outstanding WR Sterling Sharpe counted at least 3 mental mistakes and 3 bad passes.

Buffalo blitzed on almost every play, frequently bringing 6 on the pass rush, and made the
Packers rebuilt offensive line look awful. Of the veterans, LT Chad Clifton looked good,
it is great to see C Mike Flanagan back on the field, and RT Mark Tauscher had some
problems, but nothing to be worried about yet. G Grey Ruegamer, who played in all 16
games last year for the Packers, has held off free agent G Adrian Klemm so far, Klemm came
into the scrimmage after Ruegamer, and started at left guard. It is not surprising
Ruegamer is ahead of Klemm since Ruegamer has worked in the offense the past 3 seasons while
Klemm is new. G Atlas Herrion started in place of probable starting RG Matt
O'Dwyer and didn't stand out for good or bad. The offensive line really came apart when
all the backups (G Steve Morley, G William Whitticker, C Scott Wells, etc.) came into the
lineup and had problems with the blitz assignments.

TE Ben Steele dropped another pass. Steele's appearances in 2004 usually involved a
dropped pass, and he started off with it again in 2005. With TE Bubba Franks out, Steele
is probably the number 1 TE with TE Sean McHugh as number 2. Steele did recover and catch
two TD passes from QB Brett Favre and Steele was the only Packer who scored during the
scrimmage. Both Steele and McHugh came in late last season after they were the final cuts from the 2004 camps for Minnesota and Tennessee and both looked better on Friday than they had at any time during 2004. For purposes of tight end analysis, it will be assumed that TE
David Martin is always injured.

QB Aaron Rodgers got some playing time and looked really good. His dropback form is
nearly perfect, he keeps the ball at his chest so no one can knock it away, and he has a
quick release despite his funky windup. Unfortunately for Rodgers, his receivers kept
dropping the ball. WR Andrae Thurman was a late 2004 signing after the injury to WR
Robert Ferguson, he didn't play very well during his brief 2004 apperances, and he looked
even worse on Friday. He dropped one pass from Rodgers over the middle and misplayed a
deep pass into the corner of the end zone. Undrafted rookie WR Chad Lucas was another
receiver who dropped a Rodgers pass.

Unsurprisingly, WR Javon Walker reported to training camp. Someone on ESPN was talking about how Walker had to report because Walker got on the bad side of QB Brett Favre and had to report otherwise Packer fans would turn on Walker. Walker had to report because the Packers weren't offering a new contract, they could start collecting fines from Walker, and Walker could never actually miss the season because then he would be another year away from a big contract. It is good to see Walker report right on time and deliver the inevitable resolution (Walker in camp with the same contract) sooner rather than later.

NT Grady Jackson threatens a holdout for a new contract, but when he does report to camp he flunks his physical? It was some serious nerve on Jackson's part to threaten a holdout when his knee is still injured. If the Packers had actually fallen for it, they would have been the joke of the NFL.

It is surprising to see QB Aaron Rodgers signed so soon. I thought he would ask for money comparable to QB Alex Smith, since Rodgers and Smith were seen as pick 1A and 1B for so long during this offseason. Smith received approximately $24 million in guaranteed money, which is appropriate for a quarterback picked first overall, and Rodgers's approximately $5.4 million guaranteed is appropriate for a late first round QB. If Smith and Rodgers really were 1A and 1B, then is more proof what a great value pick Rodgers was for the Packers. Rodgers could not afford to lose his first training camp in a holdout; it would have held back his development for the rest of his career.

TE Bubba Franks is sorely missed, apparently. The Packers are right in holding a hard line with Franks. His best skill is in run blocking and quality run blocking tight ends are floating all over the NFL. The unique skill Franks has is his pass catching ability, but that skill has been more promise than production. Franks hasn't produced anything like a top catching tight end; such as TE Antonio Gates or TE Tony Gonzalez. Franks catches a lot of touchdowns, but does anyone think that has more to do with Franks than Favre? The big advantage for Franks in negotiations is that the Packers roster has no other tight ends capable of starting 16 games this season.

Finally! After a month of nothing but holdout talk from WR Javon Walker and DT Grady Jackson, its finally time to get some players into camp. Yesterday was the first day of camp, but all the veterans don't report until Wednesday. Also, QB Alex Smith finally signed with San Francisco, which should finally get movement on signing QB Aaron Rodgers (1st round), CB Nick Collins and WR Terrence Murphy (both 2nd round). It is always important to get players in for most of training camp, even players like Rodgers who shouldn't be playing much in 2005, because missing training camp during their rookie season essentially holds players back a season.

The NFL has been really slow in signing its first round picks this season; I'm used to the top pick signing soon after the draft, but this year it took almost three months. The biggest problem is that there is no salary cap in 2006, or something like that. I haven't paid too much attention to the issue because I expect the NFL and the players will renegotiate the labor agreement, and all the post-2005 rules will be changed next winter.

Reading the depth chart on packersnews.com, it lists CB Joey Thomas ahead of CB Ahmad Carroll at left cornerback. Despite all the criticism of Carroll, it is the first time I have actually seen it published that Thomas is ahead of Carroll (right next to a picture of Mike Sherman chewing out Carroll). As much as Carroll struggled last season, Thomas rarely played ahead of Carroll in 2004 and Thomas showed almost nothing when he did play. Hopefully one of these guys puts it all together to complement CB Al Harris this season.

Another interesting point, CB Mike Hawkins, the Packers obscure 5th round pick this past draft, is listed as the backup right cornerback behind Harris, ahead of guys like CB Chris Johnson and CB Jason Horton who have actually had a little NFL playing time. Either Hawkins has really impressed early in the minicamps, or the depth behind Thomas, Carroll and Harris is really weak.

Oh good, NT Grady Jackson has hired Drew Rosenhaus as his agent and is threatening to hold out. Since NFL teams rarely honor the contracts they negotiate with players, it is a bit hypocritical to insist all players honor their contracts too. Unfortunately, Rosenhaus was CB Mike McKenzie's agent last season during McKenzie's divorce from the Packers. The Packers lost out on the cornerback they really needed last season and McKenzie mailed it in when he did finally show up for the first few weeks. Hopefully, Jackson's holdout doesn't go the same route.

It is understandable that Jackson would want to improve what might be his last NFL contract, so he might holdout for some time. I still can't imagine WR Javon Walker will hold out for a significant length of time, although he is represented by Rosenhaus too. Walker is too young and probably too anxious to get back on the field, holding out for a season postpones unrestricted free agency by another season, and the Packers will hold much harder on Walker because Walker's demands will be at least 10 times Jackson's demands (probably even a lot more).

It seemed that Jackson's last contract was underpriced when he signed it in 2003, but he was coming off a season in which he just got cut by New Orleans. Jsonline.com compared Jackson to NT Pat Williams and NT Ted Washington, but neither of those players were cut in the middle of the 2003 season. The deciding factor in whether to negotiate with Jackson might be the play of NT James Lee and NT Donnell Washington. If new defensive coordinator Jim Bates feels comfortable with the play Washington and Lee, then the Packers might find no pressure to negotiate with Jackson and let him sit out the season.

The other problem with renegotiating either Jackson or Walker's contract is that the Packers still haven't signed their top draft choices. QB Aaron Rodgers contract will be bigger than the usual 24th pick's contract because quarterbacks usually receive bigger contracts. It is from April 2005, but John Clayton says the Packers have less than $5 million available under the salary cap, which is very little to work with after signing Rodgers. The Packers tight cap will probably hurt Jackson and Walker's wishes too.

The financial side of the NFL has always interested me because a team's ability to generate and spend revenues is just as important as its ability to scout and coach. Take Philadelphia and New England for example. Both teams had the best collection of talented players and coaches in the NFL during 2004. Another big plus for both teams is that they've greatly improved their revenues with new stadiums and have avoid salary cap problems. Both teams acquired a big star in 2004 (Philadelphia WR Terrell Owens and New England RB Corey Dillon) and neither team busted their salary cap (ala Baltimore in 2000) to do it. Both teams should not have a Tennessee-type salary cap roster purge in the near future. When an aging star plays out a contract (New England's CB Ty Law or Philadelphia's DE Hugh Douglass), they let other teams spend big money on them and sometimes the player eventually ends up back with the team after a season or two (Douglass and Trotter both returned to Philadelphia). The three financial steps that Philadelphia and New England follow to create a great team are to maximize revenue, maintain salary cap flexability, and avoid overspending on aging veterans.

This comes to mind because of John Clayton's article about the Packers annual report. It is a huge benefit for all NFL financial junkies that the Packers are the one NFL team that actually reports their financial position each year because they are the only publicly owned team. Clayton's article is about the NFL's overall financial condition and next collective bargaining agreement, which isn't what really interested me as much as his comments regarding the Packers financial future.

Clayton wrote "The Packers' $25.4 million profit showed a team can hustle and compete with the bigger cities. Revenue from the Packers Pro Shop and the new Atrium at Lambeau Field accounted for $23.1 million in local revenue. They made another $18 million through marketing. They maximized revenues by being aggressive and smart."

Clayton has reported that the Packers have followed the first financial step; maximize financial revenue. Hopefully this is a good sign that the Packers have the organizational structure to continue to the success of the past 12 seasons and avoid the ineptness that plagued the organization from the end of the Lombardi era to the beginning of the Holmgren/Wolf/Favre era. The Packers did manage to avoid overpaying for their aging veterans such as OG Marco Rivera, however, the Packers haven't done well at maintaining salary cap flexability and it has cost them players. The Packers had to let FS Darren Sharper and OG Mike Wahle go, although they both could be productive for the next few seasons, and they haven't had the ability to trade for a veteran, such as CB Patrick Surtain who went from Miami to Kansas City this offseason, who could have helped improve a poorly played position during the 2004 season. There will probably be a lot of change with the Packers after the 2005 season, both Mike Sherman and Brett Favre could be gone after it, but it is good to know that some financial steps for long term success are already well established in the organization.

June just isn't a month for Packers news, unless you are curious about the signing of an undrafted free agent tight end or the signing of the Packers' 6th round draft choice. Not much going on until the unsigned veteran free agents get desperate by mid-July and training camp starts July 25th.

Tennessee released S Lance Schulters after the former Pro Bowl safety refused a salary cut. The Packers had previously expressed an interest in Schulters, should he become available. It is hard to get excited about a safety who just turned 30 and is recovering from a foot injury that cost him most of last season in Tennessee. If the price is right, the Packers should give him a call, but it is more likely another safety desperate team might push his price up too high.

The first mini-camp ended last week without much big news, although a few stories did raise their heads.

QB Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers played like a rookie QB in the mini-camp; awful. Jsonline.com reported that Rodgers even had trouble with his accuracy, which was his strength in college. The coaches all appeared quick to defend Rodgers. It will be interesting to see how Rodgers looks when the preseason starts; he should have plenty of opportunities in those games.

The offensive line. Footballoutsiders.com described the who's who's of candidates to replace departed OGs Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle. If the season started tomorrow, it would probably be Matt O'Dwyer (if healthy) and Adrian Klemm. Klemm was the big signing this offseason, but footballoutsiders.com is staffed by New England fans who spent the last several seasons watching Klemm suck for the Pats. C/OG Grey Ruegamer, C Scott Wells and RT Kevin Barry all have a chance to compete too. Maybe even T Brennan Curtin, but T Steve Morley's poor NFL-Europe performance after a disappointing 2004 season probably ended any chance for him. If Barry made the lineup, it might move RT Mark Tauscher to guard. The biggest news for this unit was the healthy return of C Mike Flanagan, as reported by numerous sources. Last season, I questioned whether Flanagan should retire because he missed the 2004 season due to complications from the injuries he suffered in 1996, and I thought he might want to retire while he could still walk. However, Flanagan's surgery appears to have been a success and he appears ready to resume his career. Flanagan's return, along with competant seasons by Rivera and Wahle's eventually replacements, might be enough to offset the loss of the two starting guards.

WR Terrence Murphy. Murphy got a lot of press at jsonline.com, but he might have gotten a lot of good words from the coaches for WR Javon Walker's sake. Maybe the coaches wanted the word to get out to Walker that Murphy looks great and just maybe he could play in place of Walker. Murphy is a welcome addition to a wide receiver group that had paper thin depth in 2004 that was torn wide open once WR Robert Ferguson was lost for the season during the game vs. Jacksonville. Murphy can push Ferguson, challenge WR Antonio Chatman, and maybe even encourage Walker to show up for training camp.

Defensive coordinator Jim Bates's new defense. There are a lot of candidates at the two safety spots with no clear favorites. Rookie S Nick Collins had a lot of playing time according to jsonline.com, but if the season started today, the Packers would probably start last season's disappointing SS Mark Roman and S Arturo Freeman, who followed Bates to the Packers from Miami. Both players could easily lose out to other players, including veteran S Earl Little or rookie S Marviel Underwood. LB Ray Thompson and LB Hannibal Navies are also battling to start at linebacker alongside LBs Nick Barnett and Na'il Diggs. Jsonline.com reported Thompson was hurt early and Navies is still recovering from the injuries he sustained during the 2004 season. Navies told jsonline.com that his disappointing season was the result of a week 1 rib injury he suffered against Carolina. For whatever reason, it was the first time I heard that Navies played hurt during most of 2004. If that was the reason Navies lost nearly all effectiveness during 2004 then his return to his solid 2003 self would be very welcome.

P B.J. Sander joined the team after a successful NFL Europe season! Huzzah! Jsonline.com had a story that Sander had regain his ability to target kicks under the 10 yard line, but no one knows how that will go until Sander shows up in some games. I'm sorry B.J., but until you prove otherwise, you have been a complete bust and last season's P Bryan Barker should keep his bags packed and ready to fly to Green Bay.

Minicamp started June 1 and continues on through the end of the week. The Packers need to work on revamping the offensive line and revamping the defense. It's hard to tell how either project is really going until the preseason starts, but there are a few stories of note at training camp anyway.

QB Brett Favre. Mike Sherman excused him, most likely to give the other three quarterbacks more practice time, but Favre showed up anyway. Favre had to travel to Green Bay for a charity softball game, so this is not a big surprise. Unlike past seasons with Sherman, when Favre sat out to rest an injury from the previous season, Favre could play. Maybe he should play. According to various articles from jsonline.com, the other three quarterbacks (QB Aaron Rodgers, Craig Nall, and J.T. O'Sullivan) have all beeen awful. Favre said at his softball game that he could play for a couple more seasons, which isn't a surprise because he hasn't suffered any major injury in his career and he still plays at a high level (high completion percentage along with a lot of TD passes).

WR Javon Walker. Walker's holdout doesn't have the drama like last season's holdout with CB Mike McKenzie. McKenzie had non-money complaints about the team, probably Sherman specifically, but Walker is a top 10 wide receiver in the NFL and wants to be paid like one. Walker needs a new contract in two seasons, so an extension isn't a bad idea, unfortunately how can Walker's extension be explained when compared to RB Ahman Green. Green has been a top 5 running back in the NFL over the last 3 to 4 seasons and hasn't been given a new contract during that time. The Packers could play without Walker, while Walker won't make any money next season without the Packers. The Packers should remain stubborn and refuse to give Walker a new contract.

TE Bubba Franks. Bubba doesn't have a new contract yet and he's skipping minicamp. But still it has been a great minicamp for Bubba because none of the other tight ends are showing any signs of life. Jsonline.com mentioned how the other three tight ends (TE David Martin, Ben Steele and Sean McHugh) have had cases of the drops. Steele got some playing time last season and spent most of it dropping passes from Favre. The Packers need at minimum one backup tight end but might have to look at free agency to find one.

WR Robert Ferguson. It is amazing to think that he started all of 2004 in front of Walker. He gets a mention here because he is hurt again in minicamp. WR Antonio Chatman outplayed Ferguson in 2004 and Ferguson should be concerned he remains on the Packers roster once Walker returns.

DT Cletidus Hunt. The only reason I can think of why the Packers didn't cut Hunt this offseason was that it wouldn't provide any cap savings. Hunt made few plays in 2004 and wouldn't remain a starter on a team with more depth at defensive tackle, however, the Packers don't have a world of depth at the position, especially with DT Grady Jackson still rehabing his 2004 injuries and DT James Lee having another injury in this June's minicamp. Hunt has been making some news by not showing up for minicamp, but this is voluntary and Hunt has had a tradition of missing voluntary workouts in the past. Since Hunt signed his big free agent contract a couple of seasons ago, it wouldn't be surprising if Hunt passed up over $1 million of workout/showing up incentives. This is just business as usual for Hunt.

FS Lance Schulters. Tennessee hasn't cut him yet, but the Packers confirmed for jsonline.com that he might be the only June 1st cut that the Packers might be interested in signing. Schulters can still play, at least according to comments I read on footballoutsiders.com, and Tennessee wants to keep him, however, at a cheaper price. Of all the free agents still unsigned, he would be the best signing the Packers could make.

This is late from mini-camp, but packersnews.com had a great mini-camp update last week.

The most notable news is the play of LB Ray Thompson, who has emerged as the likely starting strong or weak side linebacker, depending on where LB Na'il Diggs plays in 2005. I noticed Thompson signed right before the NFL draft last month, but I didn't think much of the signing. It looked like roster filler. I assumed that something must be wrong with Thompson. Apparently Arizona coach Dennis Green didn't like Thompson and Arizona had been hoping to trade Thompson for a draft pick before this April's draft, but when no other team made an offer, Arizona decided to release Thompson instead, according to jsonline.com on April 22nd. Thompson was injured early in 2004, but apparently came back healthy during the season. He tested positive for drugs twice previously in Arizona, but he hasn't had a positive test since 2003 and he appears to have put that behind him. This was a nice bargain signing; Thompson signed for the veteran's minimum according to jsonline.com. Thompson had a nice 2002 season; 104 tackles, 3 pass defenses, 1 forced fumble, and 3 sacks. He took a step back in 2003, only playing in 12 games, I assume because of injury. His 2004 season was unimpressive, but he did get benched for his disagreements with Coach Green. Thompson appears to have good speed, and some pass rushing ability to go along with good run support, but he doesn't appear to be an above average player in pass coverage, and the Packers could really use some improved pass coverage from their linebackers in 2005. At the point in the offseason when Thompson was signed and for the bargain price of the veteran's minimum, Thompson seems like a very quality signing and deserving of a chance at starting. He definetly doesn't lack confidence; jsonline.com quoted Thompson as saying "I was one of their best players on defense" regarding last season in Arizona, despite the fact that he got benched.

Defensive coordinator Jim Bates thinks S Marviel Underwood could start at safety for the Packers in 2005, according to packersnews.com. They also mentioned S Nick Collins, but it seems unlikely that Collins will quickly make the transition to the NFL from small college ball and remains at least another season away. Underwood was the Packers 4th round pick from San Diego State. Because he came from a smaller Division I school and was a second day selection in a weak draft for safeties, I assumed he would be a longshot to make the team. But apparently the Packers like what they saw in mini-camp. It will be interesting to see Underwood play when the preseason starts.

Packersnews.com mentioned that DT Cletidus Hunt's roster spot is in danger, which seems unlikely. Hunt had an uninspiring 2004 season that could have led to his release, but he remained with the team. He isn't a workout warrior or a player that has made any of his preseason workout contract incentives in the past, so he shouldn't look too good in May practices. Packersnews.com reported that DT Donnell Washington and DT Corey Williams could take over, but that is unlikely. It is really good to see Washington is back from a lost rookie 2004 season to provide some depth and serious bulk in the middle of the defense, but Williams appeared better suited at defensive end in 2004.

Packersnews.com reported that new OG Adrian Klemm is the new left guard, but failed to mention that he will remain the starter only until his inevitable injury. Sorry for the sarcasm Adrian, but lets see you make it through a full season first. It is really good to read in the same article that T Kevin Barry looks great and it wouldn't be a surprise to see RT Mark Tauscher move to right guard and Barry take over at right tackle. The only down side of that plan would be in 2006 because Barry is playing on a one year contract. Barry drew surprising little interest in free agency, and a strong 2005 season as the starting right tackle may push Barry out of the Packers salary range.

It is really surprising that QB Craig Nall didn't draw more interest from teams this offseason. Nall signed the Packers low qualifying offer when no other contract offers presented themselves. It is too bad for Nall; he looked great in limited action in 2004 and would be a lot better back up for all the teams keeping QB Quincy Carter, QB Tim Hasselbeck, and QB Jeff Blake around on their rosters. That is probably most playing time Nall will get from now on; he should be the 3rd quarterback behind QB Aaron Rodgers. Nall might get the backup spot if Rodgers holds out or doesn't pick up the offense quick enough, but it seems likely that Rodgers will play in most of training camp and pick up the offense in a short period of time. The real loser in this situation is QB J.T. Sullivan, who resigned with the Packers right before the draft. He was probably thinking he would be number 3, but then Rodgers fell to the Packers and now Sullivan will probably be looking for work come September.

I had ignored the fact that the Packers hadn't bothered to find a punter to challenge the feeble efforts of P B.J. Sander. The Packers appear to be counting on Sander to punt for them in 2005. Sander has the best net punting average in NFL Europe this spring, but he is battling former Packer Travis Dorsch, who the Packers showed little interest in last season. Despite favorable comparisons to Dorsch, hopefully Sander is improving and will be useful in 2005.

I wrote a review of Minnesota's offseason for vikesgeek.com, so I thought I would post it here too.

Minnesota had one big problem in 2004; defense. Footballoutsiders.com ranked the pass defense 29th overall and the run defense 32nd overall, however, Minnesota made some big changes to improve this sorry defense.

Coaching: The biggest improvement might be on the sidelines, with the hiring of new defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. Cottrell was the defensive coordinator for the Jets during the last 6 seasons, but he didn't exactly coordinate a world beating defense in 2002 (according to footballoutsiders.com they were 27th overall), or in 2003 (30th overall), or in 2004 (19th overall). Cottrell might not seem like an obvious improvement based on his track record with the Jets, but as Tice pointed out to his team last season, there are a lot of high draft choices underperforming on defense. A change in defensive philosophy is essential for improvement in 2005.

Defensive Line: An obvious improvement was the signing of Pat Williams. Minnesota probably paid too much for a nose tackle on the wrong side of 30, but Williams was in the middle of a Buffalo run defense that was fantastic in 2004 (2nd overall according to footballoutsiders.com). Chris Hovan seemed to disappoint everyone in Minnesota, he will try to salvage his career in Tampa Bay in 2005, and signing Williams is a major improvement over Hovan. I don't understand why Minnesota drafted Erasmus James. I watched almost every Wisconsin game in 2004. Sometime James was awesome and carried Wisconsin, such as he did against Michigan State and at Purdue. But James missed all of 2003 with an injury and after he got hurt in the 2004 game at Purdue, he wasn't the same player for the rest of the season. The biggest problem with James is that Minnesota already has a nearly identical player in Lance Johnstone. James shouldn't replace Johnstone or Kenechi Udeze on passing downs, however, James does add depth and could push Udeze and might be an eventual replacement for Johnstone. A defensive line with this much talent, including the best defensive lineman in the NFL, Kevin Williams, should be improved in 2005.

Linebackers: This group had to disappoint everyone in Minnesota in 2004. E.J. Henderson put up some solid numbers, but Chris Claiborne was a non-factor for most of 2004 and Minnesota had to be disappointed in the progress of Dontarrious Thomas. The Packers were very high on Thomas, but Minnesota's coaches appeared to lose faith in Thomas and I don't remember Thomas being a factor in any of the games against the Packers. Minnesota added Sam Cowart and Napoleon Harris into the mix, but I don't like either of those moves. Cowart will likely push Henderson outside, but Henderson hasn't proven to be very good in pass coverage, although this could improve the run defense. Harris is the other outside linebacker, but he isn't very good in coverage either. Harris is especially a concern; he is a talented player who took a step back in 2004 due in part to injuries, but he also contributed to an awful Oakland defense. Cowart was once a Pro Bowl linebacker, but he hasn't been the same since tearing his achilles tendon a couple of seasons ago, and he will probably never get his speed back. A big reason Cottrell's Jets defense took a big step forward in 2004 was the addition of fantastic rookie linebacker Jonathan Vilma, but Minnesota doesn't have anyone on its roster that has ever played as well as Vilma did in 2004. This unit will disappoint again for Minnesota in 2005.

Secondary: I will continue to verbally kick Packers GM Ted Thompson at every opportunity for letting FS Darren Sharper leave the Packers. He is a big play maker and if anyone available this offseason will have an impact ala New England's safety Rodney Harrison, it is Sharper. In 2004, Sharper had his lowest interception total (4) since 1999, but he played some of the season hurt and he returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns. Plus, if your worst interception total in five seasons is four, then you are doing something right. He played a step slower last season, but he blamed it on former Packer defensive coordinator Bob Slovik's request for him to bulk up last offseason so he could play closer to the line of scrimmage. Still, he is a great signing for Minnesota. Fred Smoot wasn't as good of a signing, but he is a quality starter and it will make a big difference to move Brian Williams to 3rd cornerback and remove all memory of Terrance Shaw from the roster. There are some areas of concern with the cornerbacks; both Antoine Winfield and Smoot are smaller cornerbacks, and neither player has produced a lot of pass defenses or interceptions in their careers. However, when considering the disaster Minnesota's starting cornerbacks had been before Antoine Winfield and Smoot were signed over the last two offseasons, this is a big improvement for Minnesota. One last thing, Minnesota also drafted Dustin Fox from Ohio State, who played cornerback in college and probably would have been more highly regarded if the 2005 draft hadn't been so deep with good cornerbacks. It wouldn't be surprising to see Fox play a role later in 2005.

Offense: How does Minnesota replace Randy Moss? I've taken comfort in the fact that no matter how much Minnesota improves their defense, their offense took a hit by the loss of Randy Moss. Maybe. If you look at footballoutsiders.com, you'll see that over the past few seasons, Moss doesn't rate as the highest receiver each season. Actually, Nate Burleson had a higher rank than Moss in 2004. But Moss always scores a lot of touchdowns, and that is never easy to replace. For comparison, Brett Favre always ranks low with footballoutsiders.com, but Favre always is among the leaders in touchdown passes. For all of Favre's faults, he consistently finds the end zone each season, which is a rare talent that can't be underappreciated. The same things can be said about Moss. Even with all the injuries in 2004, he still caught 13 touchdown passes, and his loss can't be underappreciated, despite all the other baggage he brings to a team. Can Troy Williamson replace Randy Moss? I pulled up the DPAR from footballoutsiders.com on the last three players to be the second wide receiver drafted; Roy Williams 4.5 (-3.3), Andre Johnson 18.4 (0.2), and Ashley Lelie 25.4 (8.2). The numbers in paranthesis is their team's DVOA for 2004. Williams caught 8 touchdowns, Johnson caught 6, and Lelie caught 7. None of these players played as well as Moss, especially if you are comparing by touchdown receptions, but all three played on inferior overall offenses than Minnesota. If Williamson can be compared a year or three from now to those three receivers in Minnesota's top offense, then he will be a good one, but not quite an equal replacement for Moss. Maybe Moss won't be missed at all if the reason Moss was so good was because Daunte Culpepper is the best quarterback in the NFL (sorry Peyton). It will be interesting to see if the offense doesn't miss a beat without Moss in 2005.

Special Teams: Wasn't anyone in Minnesota concerned last season that the special teams was awful in 2004? Footballoutsiders.com ranked it 28th last season. Special teams can be a fluke from one season to the next, but this unit has been awful for years, and 2004's 28th place finish was actually the highest team finish since they finished 25th in 2001. Morten Anderson was let go to collect social security, but in his wake remain Aaron Elling and Jose "Fed Ex" Cortez. Former Packer Travis Dorsch is hanging around too, but it would be a shock if Dorsch becomes their kicker. Former Viking Doug Brien is sending his resume around the NFL, just in case Minnesota wants their former goat to return to Minnesota. Darren Bennett will continue punting in 2005, but he looked awful in 2004 when he played against the Packers. Minnesota didn't need to draft Mike Nugent to improve this unit, but doing nothing to improve it should disappoint many fans come the regular season. How do these moves compare against the rest of the NFC North? I think no team improved as much this offseason as Minnesota. The Packers had serious cap problems and had to let three starters leave; Sharper, Mike Wahle, and Marco Rivera. The Packers would have probably preferred keeping all three players. The Packers are replacing those three starters with a collection of players; Matt O'Dwyer and Adrian Klemm on offense, and Earl Little and Arturo Freeman at safety, who are all playing for the veteran's minimum salary, except Klemm who was paid $1.5 million. It would be a surprise if O'Dwyer, Klemm, Little and Freeman outplay Sharper, Wahle and Rivera in 2005. The Packers added little in the draft that will help in 2005. Aaron Rodgers will probably take over in 2006 and defensive back Nick Collins should take at least a season to adjust after playing small college ball, however, wide receiver Terrence Murphy looks impressive and could help very soon. I don't understand what Jerry Angelo and Matt Millen are doing in Chicago and Detroit, respectively. Chicago drafted another running back while barely improving an awful offensive line by spending big bucks on average tackle Fred Miller, who was cut by Tennessee this offseason. Then they added a rookie quarterback, Kyle Orton, to add to their collection of unproven young quarterbacks, while not helping the defense at all. Detroit drafted another wide receiver, but are still stuck playing Joey Harrington at quarterback/piano, or maybe Jeff Garcia, while failing to address holes at right tackle or safety. The NFC North should remain a battle between Minnesota and Green Bay in 2005, while Chicago and Detroit still try to figure it all out.

There is a lot of Packers news out post-draft, but the most interesting news I've read is how defensive coordinator Jim Bates plays his safeties. Most teams play with a strong safety, who is ready to drop back in coverage but is very likely to cheat up closer to the line of scrimmage on possible running plays for added run support, while a free safety plays deeper and is primarily responsible for pass coverage. Jsonline.com reported, however, that Bates plays his safeties the same, and that each safety may move up or drop back depending on the offensive formation and motion. Recently signed safeties Earl Little and Arturo Freeman are probably the two starting safeties, but neither seemed a typical strong safety because both have played primarily at free safety, and 2nd round pick Nick Collins also appeared to be a more likely free safety. Returning starting safety Mark Logan played strong safety in 2004, but he is a former cornerback, and was miscast in 2004 as a strong safety. But in Bates system, both safeties play essentially the same role, and should have similar skill sets. It had appeared that the Packers had possibly mismanaged the roster for lack of a strong safety, but the goal from the beginning was to not have a traditional strong safety at all.

It was reported as big news surrounded that QB Brett Favre missed mini-camp, but it was way over reported; Favre rarely played any snaps, or was recovering from some the previous season's injuries in the last few mini-camps anyway. Making it official gave Favre more time with his family and the coaches more chances to kick the tires on QB Aaron Rodgers. Sounds like a good idea.

What is going on with RB Ahman Green? Arrest for domestic violence and then a divorce filed the next day? Wow. Good luck Ahman, hopefully you can work through this difficult time in your life, and we will see you at training camp.

Of all the holdouts in the NFL right now, WR Javon Walker might be the most vocal. Jsonline.com reported that Walker was doing a tour of talk radio studios to voice his case. This didn't work out well with former CB Mike McKenzie last season, but hopefully this goes better. The Packers would have to bust their salary cap to pay Walker a new contract at his current value. Someone better tell Walker to stop worring about his contract because of what TE Bubba Franks is going through this offseason. According to footballoutsiders.com, Franks was the 10th best tight end in the NFL in 2004, up from his anemic 25th place in 2003. Did Franks really improve in 2004? Not really. His TD receptions jumped from 4 to 7, but he really wasn't anymore involved in the offense. Teams are probably taking a pass on offering Franks a contract because his stats are inflated by playing with Favre, who has always done a great job of helping ordinary tight ends boost their stats and play in the Pro Bowl. On the other hand, Walker was ranked as the 8th best wide receiver by footballoutsiders.com in 2004, a much tougher positional competition, and he is a young superstar receiver. If the Packers let Walker play out his contract, then placed the transition free agency tag on him, Walker would be given a giant contract offer by another team the next day. You can't compare yourself to Franks; there is no comparison.

I was down on the Packers selection of CB Mike Hawkins from Oklahoma in the 5th round, because Oklahoma's secondary wasn't very good in 2004, at least compared to the rest of Oklahoma's team, but Hawkins didn't actually play for Oklahoma in 2004. He used to attend Oklahoma, but left the team for a reason unknown to me, and has spent the last two seasons in the Arena league, according to jsonline.com, which further reported that Packers coaches are very impressed with Hawkins in mini-camp. Hawkins is only 21, so this was the first year he was eligible for the draft; read about RB Maurice Clarett if anyone is confused why Hawkins had to wait. Hawkins might be a case of the Packers doing some outstanding scouting, however, the Packers snagged CB Jason Horton out of Canada in 2004, raved about his play in training camp, and he look overmatched whenever the rare opportunity presented itself that he got into a game. So maybe there is no reason to get excited about Hawkins either.

It was a hell of a draft for the Packers. It was widely reported that Ted Thompson was
hired to replace Mike Sherman as General Manager, but based on the results from the 2005
NFL draft, it appears that Thompson was never hired, and indeed Sherman still runs the
Packers' draft. Here is the official Mike Sherman Draft Checklist: draft an obscure DB
with your second pick that no one has ever heard of? Check. (2005 DB Nick Collins; 2004
CB Joey Thomas); draft a WR from Texas A&M? Check. (2005 WR Terrence Murphy; 2002 WR Robert Ferguson); draft a player in the 1st round that no one projected that you would
draft? Check. (2005 QB Aaron Rodgers; 2004 CB Ahmad Carroll; 2003 LB Nick Barnett; 2002 WR Javon Walker).

After years of speculation about the Packers drafting the QB of the future, the Packers finally pulled the trigger and drafted a first round QB with Rodgers. Rodgers is exactly the player the Packers should be drafting in the late first round; a projected top 5 pick who fell to #24. Why Rodgers fell to #24 is a very good question. Rodgers's arm strength was questioned, but just two weeks before the draft, it would have surprised no one if Rodgers was the first overall pick. Rodgers lack of arm strength should have been widely known before then. He wasn't a clear top 5 talent in a draft that was not top heavy and his signing bonus demands probably scared off Miami and Tampa Bay, plus it didn't hurt Miami and Tampa Bay that elite running backs were available at their picks either. There is no explaination why Arizona shouldn't have considered him at pick #8. Rodgers completed a high percentage of his passes in college, at just over 63% for his career, which translates to success in the NFL, he will have no pressure to start in his rookie season, and will play in a small media city, all of which should make his transition to
the NFL a lot easier than #1 pick QB Alex Smith. Unfortunately the last time the Packers drafted a QB in the first round, they drafted California QB Rich Campbell in 1981. If you have blocked out the horrid Rich Campbell era with his absolutely dead-no arm strength-arm, then your life is fuller. There is a lot to like about Rodgers long term, but it does nothing to help Favre get one more Super Bowl chance in his career. In some ways, Favre brought this on himself by getting closer to retiring this offseason then ever before in his career and giving the Packers a reason to draft a QB. On the other hand, the Packers most glaring needs in the draft were a top safety and top linebacker, neither of which was available at pick #24, and arguably not available at any spot in the draft. This was the best pick for the Packers.

Who is DB Nick Collins from Bethune-Cookman? Even Chris Berman seemed uncertain when Collins's name was called. Collins is big (for a DB) and fast, which seems ideal in a free safety. Although the Packers could have probably traded down and drafted Collins later. One of the few sites I saw that projected Collins, i-aa.org, projected the small school Collins in the 5th round, but in another article (I can't remember the site) reported that Collins's expected to be drafted in the 2nd round, so maybe he knew something most observers didn't. Jsonline.com reported some talk that Collins will start in the very near future, but that seems highly unlikely. Thomas was drafted from small Montana State in 2004, and he didn't seem ready to play even a part-time role until late in 2004. The pick reminds me a lot of the man Collins intends to replace, FS Darren Sharper, who was a 2nd round pick and converted from CB to FS. It took Sharper a couple of seasons to figure it all out. It should take Collins a similar length of time too. The 2nd round selection used on Collins came from New Orleans from the CB Mike McKenzie trade, so in a way, Collins is replacing both Sharper and McKenzie. That is a lot to ask for a rookie from a I-AA school who might be starting during Favre's last season.

It might seem like WR Terrence Murphy was a luxury 2nd round pick when the Packers had so many needs on defense, but he wasn't. 2005.otcdraft.com ranked as one of the top 35 players and a second round selection. Murphy is one of Texas A&M's all time great WR and might have been a 1st round selection in another season that wasn't so deep with talented wide receivers. The reason the Packers badly needed Murphy was because they have no depth at wide receiver. WR Javon Walker was one of the top 5 WR in the NFL last season, WR Donald Driver was one of the top 5 number 2 WRs in the NFL, and WR Antonio Chatman turned himself into a competant number 3 or 4 WR. WR Robert Ferguson has the talent but hasn't put it all together, and by this point he might never do it. Behind them was nothing but practice squad talent like WR Kelvin Kight. The lack of depth was at its worst during the playoff loss, when Ferguson was out, Walker got hurt during the game, and Favre had to teach his new 3rd WR (I can't even remember his name) how to run routes during the playoff game. In the receivers defense, he had only been with the Packers about 10 days by that time, but the depth was a big problem. Hopefully the problem is solved with Murphy.

2nd day picks. Who knows about these guys? Ted Thompson channelled a bit of Bill Walsh and Ron Wolf to trade down, grab some more late round picks, and maybe catch some magic. Looking over the drafts Seattle had from 2000-2004, the only name that caught my eye was starting LB Isaiah Kacyvenski, but it is arguably whether he should start at all in Seattle. Plus, it is really hard to draft on day 2. Bill Belichick will always be highly regarding for drafting QB Tom Brady on the 2nd day of the draft, but New England hasn't exactly lit it up on day 2 over the last couple of seasons since then, although CB Asante Samuel and C Dan Koppen have turned out as excellent picks from 2003. After all the problems the Packers had early in 2004 at nose tackle, it wouldn't have hurt if the Packers had drafted a big defensive lineman in the late rounds. Wisconsin's DT Anttaj Hawthorne was a 2nd round talent who slid to the 6th round because he got caught smoking marijuana, but the Packers passed on Hawthorne in the 5th round to select Oklahoma CB Michael Hawkins, a longshot to make it on a team with so many young and raw cornerbacks like the Packers have on the roster, and a questionable selection considering Oklahoma's secondary was scorched during the latter part of their 2004 season. In some ways it was very appropriate that Hawthorne was busted for pot and ended up in Oakland, playing alongside DT Warren Sapp, who famously slid down to #12 overall after he was caught smoking pot before the draft.

Would it have killed the Packers to draft a linebacker either? This wasn't the draft for linebackers, but even linebacker starved New England managed to find someone they liked in 5th round. It forced the Packers to resign 2004 starter LB Hannibal Navies, who should not be starting in 2005 either, to provide some depth.

It was a draft that should have excited no one; although drafting a quarterback is always exciting, announcing the end of the Brett Favre era should not excite anyone. It isn't a draft that will help much in 2005, which isn't exciting either. Although Chicago and Detroit had questionable drafts; selecting quality players at positions where they already had quality players, instead of looking at what they need, Minnesota seemed to do very well, and maybe pulled away from the Packers in 2005. Minnesota has a great team on paper, but Mike Tice was frustrated last season that such a good defense, on paper, played so poorly. They still have to put it all together too.

The Packers made a couple more bargain signings to fill in the gaps. Before it was OG Adrian Klemm and OG Matt O'Dwyer to replace departed OG Marco Rivera and OG Mike Wahle. Now its S Earl Little and S Arturo Freeman. Both Little and Freeman were signed for the veterans minimum. Freeman had not been much of a playmaker in his career but he had 4 interceptions last season. Little had a forgetable 2004 season, but played well between 2001 and 2003. Both are free safeties and fill the void left by FS Darren Sharper's release, but neither is likely to challenge SS Mark Roman.

The Packers missed out on LB Monty Beisel in free agency, and Beisel instead signed with New England. Although it might not be such a miss. Aaron Schatz wrote about Beisel at footballoutsiders.com and he had no kind words for Beisel's run defense. When an opposing running back got past the line of scrimmage in Kansas City, Beisel's previous employer, last season, Schatz described it as "party time" for the running back. Beisel is probably better in coverage, but New England has zero depth at linebacker right now, so Beisel was needed. Its telling that in this weak free agent market for linebackers, former Packer LB Hannibal Navies is receiving no interest.

DE Aaron Kampman signed an offer sheet with Minnesota. The Packers could still match the one year offer Kampman received. Jsonline.com speculated that Minnesota was just trying to force the Packers to pay more for Kampman than they wanted, otherwise Minnesota would have offered Kampman more than one year because Kampman's signing would cost a 5th round selection. Kampman played great in some games last season but I suggested last week that the Packers improve that defensive end position by drafting Georgia DE Kevin Pollack. The Packers are better, Minnesota is better too, with Kampman starting at defensive end compared to both teams current in house solutions. It depends on what the Packers want to do with their remaining cap space. If there is no free agents remaining that the Packers want to use their cap space on, then they should resign Kampman. If there are some other players they are targeting, specifically at linebacker, then DE Corey Williams or DE Kenny Peterson might do just as well in 2005 as Kampman. Maybe the Packers could draft a useful defensive end with the 5th round selection they would receive for losing Kampman. At this point, I would lean towards letting Kampman sign with Minnesota.

So who are the Packers going to draft? Reading nfl.com's Pat Kirwan over the last couple of weeks, there doesn't appear to be a safety or linebacker worth drafting at the end of the first round. Kirwan does say this is a strong draft for cornerbacks. Its not the same need, but that would be an option. I'd mention names, but I've never heard of many of these players anyway. Better to read Mel Kiper at espn.com or someone else. None of the Packers current cornerbacks are well suited to switch to the needed strong safety and probably none of the top cornerback prospects are suited to it either. The top safety prospect remains Georgia S Thomas Davis, a former linebacker turned safety. Converting from linebacker to safety worked well last season in Seattle, where S Michael Boulware had a great rookie season, so maybe Davis should be the Packers first round selection. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds next weekend.

Looking around cbssportsline.com's mock draft, two writers picked Florida LB Channing Crowder as the pick for the Packers in the first round this month. Cbssportsline.com has a lot of information on Crowder and other potential 1st round picks. At 6'2" 236 lbs. Crowder is similar in size to LB Nick Barnett. Crowder made a lot of tackles/game and made an attention grabbing 13.5 tackles for losses in 20 games played at Florida. Unfortunately Crowder had multiple knee surgeries already in his brief career and a few off field incidents. Mock drafts can be very accurate with the first five or ten picks, but are often wrong as you move further away from the top pick. Crowder fills an apparent need, but all his knee injuries don't make him sound like a good pick.

The player that has my attention at the moment is Georgia DE David Pollack. Pollack fills no apparent need, unless you consider that a great pass rush makes a poor pass defense look much better. Name the award for a defensive lineman (Ted Hendricks, Lombardi, SEC defensive player of the year) and Pollack has won it. He played weak side defensive end at Georgia, but at 278 lbs. he is bigger than either DE Jason Taylor or DE Adewale Ogunleye when they both started together during the 2003 season in Miami under defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Miami had the number 3 run defense according to footballoutsiders.com in 2003, so Bates doesn't need a bigger elephant-type defensive end opposite DE KGB to make his run defense work. There is also a comfort level for me with Pollack; I've seen him play and have never heard of Crowder or LB Barrett Rudd or LB Daryl Blackstock or most of the other players mentioned at the end of the first round. Obviously GM Ted Thompson will research and find a comfort level with many more players than I will before the draft.

Does anybody know who the Packers might want to draft this April with their first pick? I'm terrible at guessing who the Packers draft in the first round and this April is wide open for speculation. In the past few seasons, most offseason guessing had centered around a young QB to groom as QB Brett Favre's replacement. But this offseason has the Packers trying to rebuild a broken defense and has seen their offensive line lose both starting guards to free agency. There isn't a single position that couldn't use more depth. Tight end to replace still unsigned TE Bubba Franks? More depth behind the top 3 wide receivers? More depth on offensive line? Defensive line? Linebacker? Secondary? All of these positions could use more depth. The most obvious two positions are linebacker and safety, however, linebackers and safeties are two of the most ignored positions in the first round. Pat Kirwan at nfl.com reviewed the top 32 players and said "there seems to be more of a blur when you consider how close the talent pool is this season." GM Ted Thompson might seemingly reach for a player, but that player might be better than the players he supposedly reached over. Kirwan listed Georgia S Thomas Davis as the 24th best player in the draft so maybe the Packers will draft Davis, especially since the Packers have no players currently on the roster worthy of starting at safety. The Packers could have no trouble finding a potential starting safety or linebacker in the second round at pick #51 either. If the talent level is as much of a blur as Kirwan suggests, then the Packers probably have no shot trading down because teams won't feel the need to move up to spot #24 to draft the player they have to draft. Maybe Thompson would trade up into the top 10 to draft someone like Texas LB Derrick Johnson, but with so much depth needed on the roster, it would be hard to surrender the second round pick at #51 or even worse a future number 1 pick to move up that far. Although Thompson had been credited for deciding Seattle's drafts in recent seasons, Thompson was only part of the front office. Now he is the front office. Maybe he really likes to wheel-and-deal on draft day. Maybe he likes to stand pat and let quality players fall to his selection. We won't know until after he establishes a pattern after a few drafts. Anything is possible with the draft this April.

Tom Silverstein wrote a great article on new defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Just go read it. http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/apr05/315028.asp. It is going to be a pleasure to watch the defense improve next season under Bates. Bates could have remained in Miami and worked under new head coach Nick Saban, but instead he picked the opportunity to rebuild the shattered Packer defense. I still don't know why Bates made this decision; does he have something to prove or did he see something in the Packers defense that made him want to coach them?

By the way, the Packers still have no safeties on the roster. S Mark Roman is still around but he has a lot to prove. S Todd Franz was signed and he had spent some time on the Packers roster in the past, but he is unlikely to start or even make the roster. S Arturo Freeman is coming to town for a visit, according to jsonline.com, however if Freeman couldn't beat out former Packer S Antuan Edwards last season in Miami until Edwards was released mid-season, then Freeman isn't a full-time starter candidate either.

RB Najah Davenport resigned a small deal with the Packers for next season. It is not surprising that Davenport couldn't find a team that wanted to start him next season. 2004 was basically a lost season for Davenport with various injuries. He gets a mulligan with the Packers; forget 2004 ever happened, come back in 2005 healthy and without any serious competition as the backup tailback, have a big 2005 season, and sign for big money with another team for 2006. He would probably sign with the Packers if he could start, but it seems unlikely the Packers would part with RB Ahman Green, so it will probably have to be elsewhere in 2006. However, if Davenport doesn't look good in 2005, he has probably lost any chance of ever being a starting tailback in the NFL.

Jsonline.com reported that former Kansas City LB Monty Beisel will visit the Packers. Although former starter LB Hannibal Navies was a bigger linebacker and LB Na'il Diggs was a good LB in pass coverage before 2004, the Packers would be better off with a LB who is good in coverage. Beisel is a former defensive end, so he probably isn't the fastest LB in the NFL, but DC Jim Bates seems to like Beisel's speed according to jsonline.com. Of the linebackers still available in free agency, former St. Louis LB Tommy Polley had 4.5 tackles for loss and 6 pass defenses, would probably be the better fit. Unfortunately, Polley never looked too impressive when I saw St. Louis play, he probably realizes he is the best free agent LB still available, and has a big price tag. LB Anthony Simmons was an outstanding linebacker in Seattle before his career was derailed by injuries, however Simmons probably wants a lot of money too and who knows if he is healthy. There are a few middle linebacker types available (LB Rob Morris, LB Jay Foreman, LB Scott Fujita) but they are middle linebackers and Bates would want more speed than they would bring to the team. Overall, none of these players seem a good fit, but the Packers need more depth at linebacker.

Still no word on the Packers safety position. Maybe that is something better addressed at the end of free agency.

There isn't much to say about the loss of FS Darren Sharper to Minnesota. Minnesota picked up a big play maker on defense and paid him about the same in a signing bonus as the Packers would have paid in a roster bonus ($4 million). Part of the problem was that Sharper's Packer base salary would have been higher than his Minnesota base salary. Sharper should be a good to great player over the next four seasons of the contract. It strengthens a division rival while weakening the Packers. The only good news this offseason in Minnesota is that the loss of WR Randy Moss can't be overcome by these other additions.

The Packers have been busy reconstructing their offensive line. Resigning OL Grey Ruegamer was a good start; he wanted to stay with the Packers and he was dirt cheap (around $540,000 with a "modest" signing bonus according to jsonline.com). The Packers know what they are getting with Ruegamer, but if that was so great then the Packers wouldn't have cut him in the first place. OL Adrian Klemm probably is being paid too much, but a 2 year $2.6 million contract, according to jsonline.com, is pretty cheap for the modern NFL. Klemm should have been a minimum wage signing, but a number of teams were apparently interested in what Klemm could be. Klemm's only 27 years old and could be a useful starter. The real interesting thing about Klemm is that if he could have stayed healthy over the last five seasons, he would have started at left tackle for three Super Bowl teams in New England. The big downside with Klemm is that there is a lot of what he could have been in his career. OT/TE Kevin Barry resigned with the Packers. The Packers used to have dreams of Barry at right tackle and RT Mark Tauscher at guard, but those dreams have probably died over the last two seasons. Barry is still young, healthy, and familar with the offense; so the price was right. The final signing (so far) is OL Matt O'Dwyer. O'Dwyer missed all of last season in Tampa and had been known for having quite a temper. In 1999, O'Dwyer was arrested for felony assault at a bar along with two other New York Jets linemen, including current Jets LT Jason Fabini. Thirty-one (31!) officers were called to the scene because of the size of the three men. O'Dwyer allegedly kicked out the window of a police cruiser. O'Dwyer is not the teddy bear of the NFL, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in an offensive lineman, and he has been named the starter on every team he has played for in the NFL. If O'Dwyer is healthy, then he will probably be starting at one of the guard spots next season. At the veteran's minimum, it is a pretty good deal. The Packers are probably done in free agency at offensive line, but it would be very surprising if no offensive linemen are drafted next month.

Another harmless signing was TE David Martin. Martin has managed to regress (although injuries have played a part) every season in the NFL, so he probably has ran out of chances with the Packers. Except the pass catching TE is an endangered species on the current Packers roster, and because Martin can catch the ball some, he is getting another chance.

Multiple sites reported that QB Brett Favre will return for next season. The Packers best
chance next season is Favre, WR Javon Walker, RB Ahman Green, rebuild the offensive line,
let new defensive coordinator Jim Bates improve the defense, and win the NFC North again.
Still some work to do with the offensive line and defense, and the defense wasn't made any
easier by the release of FS Darren Sharper. Just a giant loss.

The only possible good side to Sharper's departure is that Jim Bates never had a top
safety while in Miami. He built the defense around great cornerbacks (it would be a
stretch to say CBs Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain = CBs Al Harris and Ahmad Carroll), a
great linebacker (LB Nick Barnett isn't LB Zack Thomas but not too far apart) and a great
defensive end (DE Jason Taylor is probably one of the top 5 defensive players in the NFL,
but DE KGB is underrated and one of the top 5 defensive ends in the NFL). Maybe Bates can
work around the fact that he is without a safety worthy of starting in the NFL on his
roster.

OG Marco Rivera had back surgery? One week after signing for giant bucks in Dallas he
injures his back on a tread mill. Unbelievable. Hopefully Rivera recovers quickly but
this is why the Packers shouldn't have matched that huge offer; Rivera is going to start
braking down at this point in his career.

The Packers quiet free agent season continues. Jsonline.com reported that the Packers met
with the uninteresting trio of OG Cosey Coleman, OG Floyd Womack, and TE Freddie Jones.
Its unlikely that a majority of GMs in the NFL believe that any of these three players are
starters. Jones has a no block/good catch reputation but might have trouble beating out
TE Ben Steele or TE Sean McHugh on the roster. McHugh is a bit of a mystery; the Packers
were high on him after they claimed him from Tennessee at the start of the season, but he
saw no playing time. Womack would probably be preferred over Coleman, but both players
are the type that a team should develop from a low draft choice (OG Marco Rivera-6th
round, OT Mark Tauscher-7th round).

Minnesota continues its up and down offseason by signing CB Fred Smoot with a $10.8
million signing bonus. Minnesota's defense was awful last season, but adding someone like
Smoot isn't an automatic improvement. Signing CB Antonio Winfield last season, who played
very well against the Packers when his health permitted, didn't help much either.
Minnesota already has the players to make the defense work, its their coaching that is the
problem.

Chicago signed OT Fred Miller with a $6 million signing bonus. What a way to spend money.
Miller has played on some very good St. Louis and Tennessee teams over the last few
seasons. Maybe Chicago is hoping some of their wins will come with Miller from those
teams.

Detroit signed TE Marcus Pollard and SS Kenoy Kennedy. Kennedy only seems to make news
with illegal hits. Pollard is 33 and in the twilight of his career. Neither signing
seems a huge help.

CB Michael Hawthorne was cut according to jsonline.com. Not a big surprise since Hawthorne looked terrible as the starting cornerback last season when given an early opportunity. He didn't have the speed to keep up with NFL wide receivers, and that's the kiss of death for a cornerback. Jsonline.com followed up on the really disappointing release of FS Darren Sharper. The Packers currently have a roster with no starting offensive guards or safeties (unless SS Mark Roman has somehow improved a better player over the last two months) and have the first real big holes in their roster that they have had in a while. The last two times they had such big openings on their roster was two seasons ago when they only had LB Na'il Diggs pencilled in at starting linebacker and in 1999 when they had to draft cornerbacks with their first three picks.

Jsonline.com also reported that OG Mike Wahle didn't receive as big a signing bonus ($8 million instead of $11.5). Not that the Packers had a realistic chance at fitting under the salary cap in either situation. It was pretty interesting that a bidding war began over OG Marco Rivera between Detroit and Dallas, and pushed Rivera's signing bonus over ($9 million) over Wahle's. Wahle should have gotten more (just as good if not better player plus younger, but Rivera has been to a couple of Pro Bowls) but the Packers didn't have a chance at matching the contract demands for either player.

Just a reminder, I only talk about signing bonuses for contracts because that is the only true and guaranteed portion of the contract. Much of the total contract value for many signings is only for show (big $$$ at the end of the contract that the team would never pay).

Jsonline.com reported that Cleveland LB Kevin Bentley would meet with the Packers. At 6'1" 240lbs and a former 4th round selection, he is similar to Diggs but not as tall. Bentley didn't start in 2004, but he was 3rd on Cleveland with 91 tackles in 2003 with 2 pass defenses and 1 interception. Not very impressive stats, but he is only 25 years old so he could still improve. Not very exciting free agent news, but with the Packers cap blues, Bentley is probably the typical free agent the Packers will talk to this offseason.

OG Marco Rivera signed with Dallas for a $9 million signing bonus according to AP. Wow. The Packers had no chance at matching that offer. To have matched that offer, the Packers would have to release at least the contracts of FS Darren Sharper and the contract offer to TE Bubba Franks, plus probably at least one other player. That would have been the end of the Packers offseason. Rivera won't be easily replaced, but the Packers had to let him go at that price.

OG Mike Wahle signed for an $11.5 million signing bonus to play in Carolina according to jsonline.com. That is bigger than Rivera's signing bonus, but it was expected that Wahle would get that much money and play tackle. It is surprising that Carolina signed him to play right instead of left tackle, but they already have a good left tackle in OT Jordan Gross. The Packers never had a chance of fitting Wahle under the salary cap.

San Diego signed S Bhawoh Jue on the first day? Jue was quoted by AP "I can't tell you why a starting position never came my way." It was because Jue was beyond awful in 2003 and improved to almost average in 2004. Plus, playing next to an injured Sharper and struggling SS Mark Roman made his play look better. It would be surprising if Jue ever becomes a full time starter in San Diego.

At least the rest of the NFC North isn't looking much better in free agency, so far. Minnesota traded WR Randy Moss for LB Napoleon Harris and the #7 pick, while signing DT Pat Williams to plug up the middle ala NT Grady Jackson. Williams has been playing very well for the past few seasons in Buffalo, but he is on the wrong side of 30. Harris could be an upgrade over lost LB Chris Claiborne to St. Louis and who knows what they do with the #7 pick. Minnesota's offense was good without Moss last season, but that was only for a few weeks and not a good sample size. Minnesota has to be considered a big net loss so far without Moss. Chicago signed WR Muhsin Muhammad (while forgetting that Muhammad too is on the wrong side of 30 and was useless until he perked up in the 2003 playoffs and carried it forward for all of 2004). Muhammad can't throw the ball to himself, so this wasn't an inspired signing. Detroit hasn't done anything in free agency yet and doesn't seem rumored to do anything other than sign a veteran to backup (excuse me, push) mediocre QB Joey Harrington.

I didn't know about the lack of distinction between offensive guards/center/tackles for franchise tags. It probably explains why I can't remember a single guard or center ever being tagged. That doesn't make any sense because they are paid at greatly different levels, but I don't think anyone in the NFL has any interest in correcting that oversight.

I really have no idea what Ted Thompson will do with the offensive line. I've given up addressing it after Rivera and Wahle. Now Ruegamer is cut and Kevin Barry is given a low ball contract offer, leaving only Scott Wells for depth. I'm still not sure Mike Flanagan will come back from his injuries. He was out last season due to complications from the horrible leg injury he suffered in the mid-90s. Flanagan can play anywhere on the line so his return would be huge, but I'm not counting on it until I see it. Flanagan at guard and Wells at center makes a lot of sense too. The Packers were high on Steve Morley when they signed him, but I suspect they weren't high on him after they saw him in camp. There has been past talk about moving Tauscher to guard and start Barry at right tackle too. Right now, other than Clifton at left tackle, anything could happen.

Free agency is beginning...

After reading various articles on espn.com and jsonline.com, it doesn't seem likely that either OG Mike Wahle or OG Marco Rivera will be retained. Wahle is no surprise departure; his salary cap figure was insane high (>$11 million) and he deserves a big free agent contract to start at left
tackle for some other team. Rivera's age and history of injuries (to Rivera's huge credit, injuries
which he has usually played through) might make him lightly pursued in free agency. ESPN reported that Dallas might want Rivera, so that might end Rivera's career as a Packer.

The all restricted free agents were all given the lowest tender contract offers according to
jsonline.com. It seems unlikely that any team would hotly pursue QB Craig Nall or J.T. O'Sullivan. It wasn't good to see DE Aaron Kampman given the lowest tender offer. If some team wanted to sign Kampman, it would only cost them a 5th round pick. Kampman was solid again in 2004, he was the Packers best defensive player in the win at Minnesota that clinched the division championship, and it would be a step down at defensive end to replace him with anyone else currently on the roster. On the other hand, Kampman isn't the most gifted athlete and might not draw much interest. RB Najeh Davenport is probably going to sign somewhere else now that his new team would only have to surrender a 4th round pick to sign him. Davenport is a great talent and would be missed, but he has had problems staying healthy for years and isn't as young (27) as you would think.

Hopefully the Packers quit talking to FS Darren Sharper about a pay cut and rework his deal for the salary cap. He can't be replaced with anyone currently on the roster, and the depth chart at safety would be topped with two players (S Bhawoh Jue and S Mark Roman) who both could be cut. The only reason to keep either Jue or Roman is that they can play cornerback too and neither player costs much. Neither one of them should be starting next season. Sharper would draw interest as a free agent and probably would be lost.

After reading Tom Silverstein's article at jsonline.com, I see I was mistaken with OG Mike Wahle's free agency. His contract isn't expiring, but his cap number is $11 million next season, which is far too high and intended to force the Packers to release him. It doesn't seem possible that the Packers could use their franchise tag on Wahle. That's too bad, because it would really surprise me if Wahle doesn't sign a contract with a signing bonus over $10 million next season to start at left tackle for some other team.

The rest of Silverstein's article is very good too and does a great job of setting up the next four weeks for the Packers front office. Silverstein does put too much emphasis on retaining LB Hannibal Navies, who rarely made plays last season, and took a big step back from his solid 2003 season. OG Marco Rivera is a priority for next season, but how many seasons will he play at a Pro Bowl level? His knees have taken a pounding over the last few seasons and he didn't seem to play as well in 2004 as past seasons. If his contract demands are to be paid like as one of the highest paid offensive guards in the NFL, which they should be, then the Packers might be better off in the long run to let him go. Although it would be harder to convince QB Brett Favre to return without Rivera and Wahle back on the offensive line. Rivera's return is a not an easy decision.

TE Bubba Franks was tagged as the Packers franchise player, as multiple sources reported. It makes some sense to let Franks go out and price himself in the marketplace, then if some team offers Franks a reasonable contract, the Packers can easily match it. It probably depends on whether a team with cap space really wants to upgrade their tight end position this offseason; it would easy to write a contract that the Packers can't afford to match and they have to let Franks go for no compensation.

If the Packers think FS Darren Sharper would accept a pay cut, then they must be crazy. Unless Sharper's loyalty to the Packers is beyond my imagination, if Sharper is a free agent this offseason, then he would find a team willing to pay him a multi-million dollar signing bonus on a long term contract. If the Packers want to reduce Sharper's salary cap figure and keep him, then they have to offer him some guaranteed money and an extension. This can often lead to salary cap jail in the future if you do this with too many players, but Sharper can still play at a high level for a few more seasons and be worth the dollars in future seasons.

Overall this is a tough first offseason for Ted Thompson. It would be more difficult to rebound next season with the losses of Rivera, Wahle, Franks, and Sharper (assuming Favre returns). Favre's departure would change every other decision in the offseason.

Its been a quiet past couple of Packer weeks.

There has been speculation on QB Brett Favre's retirement, but nothing is really known at this point (maybe Favre himself doesn't know what he wants to do).

Further speculation has been whether FS Darren Sharper will remain a Packer. Hopefully he stays but his 2005 cap number is too big. Sharper has lost a step over the last two seasons, but he still makes big plays, he is just turning 30, and he isn't too old or slow to remain a top NFL safety for the next few seasons. The Packers will probably have to guarantee him some money now to spread out his salary over the next few seasons.

Will some Packer get the franchise tag? I've read about TE Bubba Franks being tagged, but that seems unlikely after Franks's average past couple of seasons. Maybe OG Mike Wahle or OG Marco Rivera will be tagged. The salary cap value to tag either player would be less than other players because offensive guards are generally lesser paid players. Rivera would probably receive a franchise tag to keep him a Packer, but Wahle might get tagged and traded to a team that would play him at left tackle (and pay him bigger left tackle bucks). ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli had an article about teams using the franchise tag to obtain compensation for free agent departures a week ago, so it is possible that the Packers might decide to do the same. Remember that the Packers are currently over the salary cap so they won't be quick to place the franchise tag on any player (they would have to restructure contracts or release players to make it possible) and players are more likely to leave than to stay at this point.

If Wahle and/or Rivera leave this offseason, its likely that OG Steve Morley is at the front of the line, along with C Grey Ruegamer or C Scott Wells depending on whether C Mike Flanagan can return from his injuries. Morley was just sent to NFL Europe to get some more experience. OT Kevin Barry could return and start at right tackle, with RT Mark Tauscher switching to guard too. Morley was probably the Packer with only legitimate chance of starting or making the roster who was sent to NFL Europe, although bust P B.J. Sander was sent too.

If the current roster is left intact and new defensive coordinator can Jim Bates turn the defense into a NFL average unit, then the Packers are better than any team in the NFC except Philadelphia and have a great shot at making the Super Bowl. That should be the goal for this offseason.