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Huff will visit with the Packers later this week. If signed, he would add a veteran presence to a young Green Bay defensive backfield

It is being reported that free agent safety Michael Huff has a visit scheduled with the Green Bay Packers later this week.  Huff has previously spent all of his seven seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders, who selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft (just two spots after the Packers selected linebacker A.J. Hawk).

Huff has already met with the Dallas Cowboys and keep in mind that he grew up in Texas and starred with the Longhorns during his college days.  But Dallas has salary cap issues and can’t sign Huff right now.  He is also scheduled to meet with the defending champion Baltimore Ravens this week.  Huff recently turned 30, which in NFL terms is when players tend to gain the “aging” moniker.  If signed by the Packers, he would bring some experience to a secondary that just got a lot younger with the departure of long-time veteran Charles Woodson.

Currently, the Packers have Morgan Burnett, M.D. Jennings, Jerron McMillian and Sean Richardson as true safeties on their roster.  If you count the 2010 season that Burnett missed most of due to injury, that’s a combined eight years worth of experience.  They certainly have enough men, but do they lack some savvy with such a green group at the safety position?  If so, is Huff the answer?  Read more... (1369 words + 3 images, estimated 5:29 mins reading time)

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Player Information:

Jordan Rodgers, QB Vanderbilt
6-1, 212 pounds
Hometown: Chico, CA

STATS

NFL Combine:

Not invited

News and Notes:

Based on the comments from my previous draft posts, I’d like to point out that this is a prospect profile, not a draft prediction.  I haven’t analyzed a player who I think the Packers will take at 26 and that trend is going to continue; in fact I’m not advocating one way or the other that the Packers should draft/sign Jordan Rodgers at all. With that being said, Jordan Rodgers is an interesting prospect because he’s almost a reflection of what Aaron Rodgers’ story might have been had it not gone as well; Jordan also started at Butte Community College, where he lead the team to it’s first undefeated season in his second year.  He then transfered to a big name football program (Vanderbilt) but ended up redshirting his freshmen year with a shoulder injury.  From there he rode the bench until injuries struck and ended up as the starter, again much like his brother.  However, it took Jordan two years to transfer out of JUCO, then lost a year after getting a medical redshirt and only ended up as the legitimate starter in his senior year.  All in all, Jordan Rodgers will begin his NFL career at 25 while his older brother was only 21, which makes Aaron’s story all that more incredible.  It’s hard to imagine how different Aaron Rodger’s story would be if Jeff Tedford hadn’t come up to Chico to scout a tight end or if Rodgers hadn’t had the chance to start as a junior, but in fact that story might be Jordan Rodgers.  Read more... (1167 words + 1 image, estimated 4:40 mins reading time)

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Surviving Sundays with no Packers Football

Of the many things that make the NFL great, one of my personal favorites is how new trends tend to pop up out of nowhere.  Just when know-it-all types like yours truly think we have it all figured out, some new wrinkle arises that brings us crashing back down to Earth.

For example, we all understand that the NFL is a passing league these days, but it’s probably safe to say that next to nobody saw the read-option and power-running game trend that came on and played such a major factor in the league last season.

Read option? Power running? In today’s NFL? Nah! What coach is stupid enough to try that? Well, thanks to a new breed of quarterback, several coaches gave it a try and it worked. We’ll see if it continues.

In NFL free agency this offseason, thanks to a stagnant salary cap, there are a lot of usable veterans cut by teams and left on the market. In the past, many of these veterans would have signed bloated new deals with new teams on the first day or two of free agency.

These types of deals are still happening, but not quite like they used to.

Is this the new trend in free agency? It appears to be, for this offseason, anyway. More  teams are taking the Packers’ Ted Thompson approach and being patient, either because they think it’s the right thing to do, or because they have no other choice due to the stagnant salary cap.  Read more... (1009 words + 1 image, estimated 4:02 mins reading time)

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Packers GM Ted Thompson reveals his sinister truth in an exclusive interview.

We’re pretty excited here at Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com today. Not only is the excitement of free agency in full swing, but we also managed to secure an exclusive interview with Packers GM Ted Thompson. In a shocking turn of events, he completely opened up about his free agency strategies, as well as revealed a truth we’ve never heard before.

We hope you enjoy reading it . . .

AllGreenBayPackers.com: Good afternoon. The start of free agency kicked off this week with teams scrambling to make deals and update their rosters. How busy have the Green Bay offices been these past few days?

Ted Thompson: You know, our philosophy with free agency has always been a “wait and see” approach. There’s no point in making crazy 24-hour or 48-hour offers, because then you just end up overpaying for guys. In fact, most of our front office staff is given time off this week, so it’s just me and a couple other guys in there right now.

ALLGBP: Wow. How do you manage everything so short-handed?

Thompson: Oh, it’s pretty easy, really. I take these days to sleep in and recuperate from our recent scouting travels. We don’t even open the offices until noon. My usual routine when I get there is to have some lunch, read the funny papers, and check Twitter for any updates on free agency. Pro Football Focus also has this really neat utility that tracks all the free agents – we love using it here.  Read more... (1012 words + 1 image, estimated 4:03 mins reading time)

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It’s back, one of the best NFL Draft Guide values out there and the only one geared to Packers fans. Brought to you by the fine folks at CheeseheadTV, with contributions from yours truly and other more talented writers and draftniks, this Packers-centric guide to the 2013 NFL Draft is a must-have for any Packers fan.

You’ll get 100 pages of feature articles, interviews, predictions and most importantly, player profiles and rankings. Even better, it’s all catered to Packers fans and how each player would fit into Green Bay’s schemes, including their 3-4 defense. We also have a Packers-specific mock draft (note who predicted Nick Perry as the Packers’ first pick) and a breakdown of every position on the roster.

But don’t take my word for it, check out the 2012 guide in it’s entirety below.

Pretty cool, huh? Can you believe it’s only $5.99 if you pre-order order now? Just visit the  Cheesehead TV shop to order and ensure your copy gets delivered to your inbox by March 29 and you don’t have to pay full price after our release date.

Here’s what the cover of the 2013 Guide looks like:

PACKERS NFL DRAFT GUIDE

On Sale Here – Only $5.99

Follow Jersey Al:

          Follow @JerseyAlGBP           Add to Circleson

Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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Pollard could provide a big boost to Green Bay’s secondary both in his play and leadership

The Baltimore Ravens continued their house cleaning today by releasing veteran safety Bernard Pollard.  He had spent the last two seasons with the Ravens and was a vital part of the team’s success during each playoff run.

Pollard was a second round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2006 draft.  In fact, he was chosen just two spots after the Green Bay Packers selected receiver Greg Jennings.  Pollard played three seasons with the Chiefs before joining the Houston Texans for two years and then on to Baltimore.

In his seven seasons, Pollard has seen a lot of quality football and has shown no signs of diminishing skills yet.  He was a veteran of the Ravens defense and played alongside of some of the better defenders in the NFL in that of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs.  He knows how to win and he’s a proven leader.

Pollard is a player the Packers should take a look at.  With Green Bay picking 26^th in the first round, it’s unlikely that they will find a starting caliber safety in this year’s draft.  The incumbents opposite Morgan Burnett are M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian and neither are without some doubts that they can be effective in a starting role.  When Charles Woodson was hurt last season, both M.D. and McMillian had to platoon at safety as neither stepped up and took hold of the starting position.  Replacing Woodson is tough.  Replacing him with either of these two  young players is asking the impossible.  Pollard, at a reasonable price tag, could be a solution and a very effective one for the Packers.  Read more... (794 words + 3 images, estimated 3:11 mins reading time)

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Thompson appears to have made another tough but good decision in letting Greg Jennings test the free agent market

After the 2010 season, Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones was not offered a new contract and became a free agent.  Having just come off of a Super Bowl win, it was widely speculated that Jones would see some decent demand throughout the league.  Jones was looking for something in the neighborhood of $5 million/year.  Not a single offer came his way.

Packers GM Ted Thompson emerged and offered Jones a three year deal worth $9.4 million.  Jones signed that deal and he was back in Green Bay.  This past season, Jones led the NFL in touchdown catches with 14.  For $3 million, that type of production was a very good return on investment when you consider that the team was without two of their top receivers in that of Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson for much of the season.  You need only remember that several higher-paid receivers were not nearly as productive as Jones, and many of them also had good quarterbacks.  Thompson clearly came out on top on the Jones decision.  Read more... (1019 words + 3 images, estimated 4:05 mins reading time)

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