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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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Free Agent Foray?

Sometimes, desperate times call for drastic action and the situation with the Green Bay Packers defense is starting to border on desperate after the unit was shredded in the 37-20 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the NFC playoffs.

Packers GM Ted Thompson knows he needs to fix his defense and fast. He has legend in the making under center in Aaron Rodgers and an offense on the whole that other head coaches would run over their own mothers to get.   The Packers have an open multiple year window to win more Lombardi Trophies to go with the one they won last year in Super Bowl XLV.

That said, until some of the issues are resolved with the defense, it’s going to be difficult to get back to the big game.  You can’t win a championship outscoring you opponent 45-41 every game.  The law of averages will catch up with you as they did with the Packers this season.

So, in order to make the move back to the top of the NFL mountain in 2012, Thompson may have to do something incredibly unorthodox for him.

He may have to make a move (or even more) in free agency.

As my colleague Zach Kruse recently wrote, the obvious move for Thompson would be to perhaps trade up to get a pass rusher that can contribute immediately.  As Zach notes, Thompson did that in 2009 and got Clay Matthews after already selecting BJ Raji in the first round.  It was a move that took both Packer Nation and NFL pundits by complete surprise as such aggressiveness was unusual for Thompson.  Read more... (942 words + 1 image, estimated 3:46 mins reading time)

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