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Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is the NFC North's, and probably the NFL's, best draft choice since 2005.Introduction

Introduction
As Packers fans, we hear a lot about building through the draft and developing young players. I thought it would be interesting to examine each team in the NFC North to get a better idea of how drafted players impact current rosters.

So as baseball season gets underway, I decided to celebrate by writing over 2,000 words about the NFL draft.

I came up with a baseball theme (sort of) to accomplish this task. I break down each team’s drafts from 2005-11 by putting draftees in the below categories. I chose 2005-11 because it encompasses Ted Thompson’s time as Packers general manager. Here are the categories and an explanation of each:

Current Starters
This one should be obvious. Which players drafted from 2005-11 are current-day starters with the team that drafted them?

Home Runs
Players who have turned into pro-bowl caliber players or superstars.

Strikeouts
Players drafted in the first or second round that never did much of anything. I limited this category to absolute busts. For example, Justin Harrell was a wasted pick. He’s a strikeout. A.J. Hawk, while failing to meet expectations, remains a starter, wasn’t a complete bust, and shouldn’t be considered a strikeout. In baseball terms, Hawk is probably a walk. Walks are useful and better than striking out, but nothing to get too excited about.  Read more... (2235 words + 1 image, estimated 8:56 mins reading time)

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Possibly the worst photoshop job on a NFL player ever

So who thinks Matt Flynn should have been franchised now?  I will be the first to admit that in my heart, I desperately wanted Flynn to be tagged and traded, and maybe while I’m dreaming some idiot team like the Raiders would offer a first rounder.  My head of course said otherwise, sure the potential reward is high, but so was the risk; what would happen if the Packers were stuck with a $14 million guaranteed check?

In the end, general manager Ted Thompson was right in letting Flynn go without a fight and Flynn signed a very conservative 3-year $26 million deal with $10 million guaranteed with the Seattle Seahawks.  More money that you or I will probably make in a lifetime, but loose change in comparison to the 5-year $90 million contract Peyton Manning just signed, or even the 5-year $60 million contract that Kevin Kolb signed last year.

My question is why fan perception of a player so different from a NFL GM?  Even the media, which presumably has a better idea of what NFL GMs are thinking are still more like fans when it comes to predicting player value (although this might have to do with the fact that the media caters to fans and not to NFL GMs, so they could be deliberately doing this).  Answer, the endowment effect.  Read more... (832 words + 1 image, estimated 3:20 mins reading time)

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Tebowmania in Wisconsin? Let's hope not.

If you are following me on Twitter, you know I’m a Tim Tebow guy.  I love the intangibles he brings to a team and the unique skill set he has.  Nothing makes me happier than someone going against the grain and succeed in doing so all while driving his detractors absolutely nuts.  He’s a great story, really.

That said, Tim Tebow has absolutely no business being on the Green Bay Packers roster.  Adam Schefter has tweeted a couple times about the Packers being a possible destination for Tebow now that the Denver Broncos have signed Peyton Manning.  I would implore GM Ted Thompson, however, to not even sniff around the former Gator star.

Why, you ask?

First off is the baggage that comes with Tebow.  Normally when someone talks about “baggage” in regards to a professional athlete, they’re talking about a checkered past or other skeletons in a guy’s closet.  This isn’t the case with Tebow.  Instead his “baggage” is an army of millions of blindly devoted Tebowmaniacs.

Who are these “Tebowmaniacs?” These are people ranging from fans to actual paid members of the mainstream sports media (I’m looking at you, Skip Bayless).  These people would descend upon Green Bay as well as Packer sites all over the internet.  The media coverage would be so intense it would border on making the Favre fiasco in 2008 look like a walk in the park.  Read more... (789 words + 1 image, estimated 3:09 mins reading time)

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Boise State QB Kellen Moore: Matt Flynn's replacement?

Green Bay Packers draft prospect profile: Kellen Moore

Player information:

Kellen Moore QB, Boise State

6’0”, 197 lbs

Hometown: Prosser, WA

NFL Combine:

40 yard dash:  4.94

Vertical jump:  27”

Broad jump: 8’3”

20 yard shuttle: 4.56

3-cone drill: 7.41

News and Notes:

Finished fourth in the Heisman voting in 2010.  Holds the NCAA Division I record for career wins by quarterback with 50.  Played on a Boise State team that many thought deserved to have a shot at the national title despite playing in a weaker conference, which could be why some are projecting Moore to be drafted in the sixth or seventh round.  Finished his college career with a 69.8% completion rating throwing for 14,667 yards and 142 touchdowns to just 28 interceptions.  Named by Sporting News as the top player in the nation, ahead of likely number one overall pick Andrew Luck. Won one BCS bowl in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, beating TCU 17-10

What they’re saying about him:

Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com: “With such an impressive collegiate resume, Moore will get his shot at the next level, but, as he showed Tuesday in practice, he has an uphill battle because of his size and arm limitations. Moore has very good touch and anticipation on this passes, but, to little surprise, his lack of arm strength was exposed on several pro-style passes and scouts have been discouraged with his unorthodox mechanics. There is a place in the NFL for a brilliant offensive mind like Moore, but he hasn’t shown anything in practice to warrant a pick in the top five rounds.”  Read more... (684 words + 1 image, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)

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Matt Flynn will hit the open market March 13th.

The deadline for franchising players has come and gone without the Packers tagging Matt Flynn. While Ted Thompson may have worked hard to complete a trade that would provide a team with exclusive negotiating rights to Flynn, it appears that Robert Griffin III and Peyton Manning ultimately killed the market for Flynn.

The four most likely suitors for Flynn’s services are the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks. All four have also been mentioned as potential landing spots for both Griffin and Manning.

With Manning probably set to be cut later this week and the Rams officially auctioning off the second pick in the NFL Draft, it is likely that these teams were reluctant to commit trading for Flynn with decent shots at what they may consider better options. By agreeing to a trade with the Packers, the team that did so would be eliminating themselves from RGIII and Manning sweepstakes too prematurely.

It will be interesting to see which team decides to “settle” for Flynn and at what cost. Those four teams are the most quarterback-needy behind the Indianapolis Colts who will be drafting Andrew Luck with the first pick of the draft. The four teams are likely competing for the three quarterbacks, Flynn, Manning, Griffin. The market for these quarterbacks will get wild as soon as the first team makes their move, whether it be signing Manning or Flynn, or impressing the Rams enough to work out a deal pre-draft.  Read more... (537 words + 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

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The Packers decided against franchise-tagging Matt Flynn Monday.

Packers quarterback Matt Flynn will be free to sign with whichever team he so chooses this spring after the NFL’s franchise tag deadline passed Monday without GM Ted Thompson slapping the $14.4 million tender on the 27-year-old backup.

Instead of taking the risk of tagging Flynn and then trading him to a quarterback-needy team, the Packers have decided to play it safe and let Flynn become an unrestricted free agent on March 13. Depending on how a number of factors play out, the Packers could receive a third-round compensatory pick in next year’s draft for letting Flynn walk.

Early opinions following the re-signing of tight end Jermichael Finley to kickoff the NFL Combine were that the Packers would tag Flynn and find a trade partner, which potentially could have landed a first- or second-round pick in exchange. As the process wore on, however, it appeared less and less likely that the Packers would go down that route.

The Packers certainly did their due diligence to investigate whether the tag-and-trade route would benefit the franchise, but the risk of getting stuck with a $14.4 million backup outweighed the potential of acquiring a top pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers makes more than $6 million less than the quarterback franchise tender.  Read more... (483 words + 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

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1. Release LT Chad Clifton: The writing is on the wall.  Even Chad Clifton knew that it was unlikely that he would ever finish his 3 year and had most of the money guaranteed up front (which was helped by the cap-less season before the lockout).  Clifton has had issues staying healthy in the twilight of his career and this year was no different with Clifton being out for the majority of the season.  Added to that a $5.5 million salary in 2012, ascending player in Bryan Bulaga, 1^st round draft choice Derek Sherrod and up and at least a serviceable backup in Marshall Newhouse and the Packers have set themselves well for life after Clifton.
2. Renegotiate Charles Woodson and Donald Driver contracts:
   1. Charles Woodson: Woodson has undeniably lost a step and his high-risk high-reward style of play backfired a couple times last season.  Woodson currently leads the Packers roster with a salary of $11.5 million, some of which was a bonus for a NFL defensive player of the year award in 2009.  But what Woodson is still capable of is shutting down the new breed of tight end, like Jermichael Finley.  For instance, Woodson is still quick enough and physical enough to handle a Jimmy Graham, and I’m not sure who else on the defense could.  Unfortunately Woodson will turn 36 next season and at some point he’s going to have to realize that aging veterans start getting marginalized.  Hopefully Woodson doesn’t let his fiery attitude get in the way of business.

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