AllGreenBayPackers.Com

Seattle Seahawk QB Matt Flynn

While not exactly Packers news, I don’t think there are many readers of AllGreenBayPackers.com who aren’t at least a little bit interested in one Matt Flynn, who parlayed a couple solid games (including a spectacular week 17 game against Detroit) into a stepping stone to a NFL starting quarterback.  Most fans were sad to see Flynn go, who might have been the best backup quarterback in the league, but with the demand for quarterbacks as high as it is in the NFL, many fans were happy with the compensatory pick that Flynn would likely net the Packers.

Fast forward a couple months, and the story is quite different; Flynn was signed to a lucrative contract, but nothing remotely close the deal many were expecting; I was the first to assume that Flynn would get something in the ball park of Kevin Kolb, another backup with lots of potential but not a lot of tape, who had received a 6-year $65 million contract, but Flynn got a 3 year, $19.5 million deal instead.

Also inexplicably, the Seahawks front office has decided the best way for Flynn to get used to his new team is to throw him into a quarterback competition with Tavaris Jackson (who realistically is first trying to make the team) and 3^rd round rookie Russell Wilson (also signing Terrell Owens and Braylon Edwards makes little sense to me either).  To me this means that Seattle isn’t all too confident in Flynn’s abilities, which is understandable considering Flynn played with some of the best offensive talent in the NFL and didn’t play all that much to boot (then again Seattle did pretty well with another Packers backup in a similar situation named Matt Hassellbeck).  Read more... (938 words + 1 image, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

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The Bears traded two third-round picks for WR Brandon Marshall.

It’s 11:30 p.m. central time on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. I’m going to read a few pages in my book and go to bed. By the time this publishes around 7 a.m. central time on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, a bunch of other stuff might have happened and the news contained in this post might feel like it’s 10 years old.

Welcome to the start of NFL free agency.

A lot went down on Tuesday when 532 NFL players hit the open market. Let’s take a look at the developments that concern the Green Bay Packers:  Read more... (525 words + 1 image, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

• Packers center Scott Wells is as good as gone according Packer Report. I was a big advocate for bringing Wells back, even if it meant overspending a little. Maybe it’s me accepting the fact that Wells is probably leaving, but I started changing my mind a couple days ago. Is it wise to overspend for a 31-year-old center that’s undersized and isn’t that great of a run blocker? Probably not, especially when there’s extensions for Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings and Clay Matthews coming up in the near future. The Packers will miss Wells’s pass blocking. They’ll miss his command of the pre-snap calls just as much. But it’s not a devastating loss…I don’t think.
• And who knows? Maybe the Packers are treating Wells like they treated Clifton a few years ago, letting him explore the market to see what sort of offers are out there and hoping for an opportunity to match.

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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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The month of July;  it means so many different things for people that live in this great country we call the United States.

For most of the population, the seventh month on the calendar is typically filled with fireworks, hot weather, heading to the cabin or beach, and grilling out. For me, that also includes a birthday (the 25th), but you know what I’m talking about—July is full of normal summer activities.

And slowly but surely, it’s become the annual start to the Brett Favre will-he-or-won’t-he come back to the NFL discussion. Yes, Brett Favre is now a regular contributor to your July NFL news.

To be fair, the first round of Favre discussion started this June when he told the Biloxi Sun Herald that he “can still throw the ball as well as I ever have.” By now, we all should know that everything Brett says to the national media has a purpose, even if he also told the Herald that he’s “been beat up enough.” But whether he wanted the press to eat up that first comment is beyond the point.

If Brett Lorenzo Favre wants to play a 21st NFL season in 2011, he’ll likely have options to do just that.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves with that statement, let’s be reminded that Brett’s family is on record saying he will stay retired. Scott, Brett’s brother, said  ”there was less than a 1% chance (he would return),” and Favre’s mother, Bonita, said “he is crazy if he does (return).”  Read more... (1392 words + 1 image, estimated 5:34 mins reading time)

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There are still 10 teams mathematically alive in the NFC playoff race. If the season ended today, the Green Bay Packers would not make the playoffs. But that does not stop me from putting them No. 3 in my latest NFC power rankings.

Here’s how the playoff picture looks at the moment:

1. Atlanta Falcons (10-2)
2. Chicago Bears (9-3)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-4)
4. St. Louis Rams (6-6)
5. New Orleans Saints (9-3)
6. New York Giants (8-4)
7. Green Bay Packers (8-4)
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5)
9. Seattle Seahawks (6-6)
10. Minnesota Vikings (5-7)

Here’s how I would rank the remaining playoff eligible teams in the NFC.

1. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons are kind of the anti-Packers. They’ve trailed or have been tied in the fourth quarter six times this season, and they’ve won every game. The Falcons are good because they win those close games.

However, I had to force myself to put the Falcons in the top spot. The Falcons deserve to be No. 1, but if you gave me a choice of playing the Eagles or the Falcons right now, I’m not sure who I would choose.

2. Philadelphia Eagles
LeSean McCoy is turning into the second coming of Brian Westbrook. McCoy has 1,357 yards from scrimmage, including over 120 in each of the last two games. You would think McCoy will see his role expand in the final month as Michael Vick continues to take hits and battle nagging injuries.  Read more... (818 words + 1 image, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)

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