The Packers Could Sign RT Mark Tauscher

Thanks for explaining your views. Very well thought out.

Kampman adds another issue. In addition to being an unrestricted free agent after this year, he is being asked to take his premier, pro-bowl skills and move them to a different position. The guy is as good as gone, and I don’t blame him because he essentially has been shown the door.

I also am disappointed with the way that we are utilizing Kampman’s skills and I also wouldn’t be shocked if he left at the end of the year. But should we not switch to a new defensive system (a change of some kind was needed, you can argue for or against the 3-4 but the same defensive system could not be used again this year with no changes) simply because one guy who will be affected is a nice guy? That doesn’t make much sense to me. I love Kampman and think that he is a great player but he isn’t quite the type of defender that you build a defense around. I do wish we could use his skills better but I’m not ready to say that Kampman is evidence that Green Bay wrongs players intentionally to push them out the door.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the greatness of Ron Wolf and the effect that he had on the Packers. He and Holmgren made such an impact on the franchise that it cannot be understated. Does that mean that any GM that is not an exact clone of Ron Wolf is bad? Not in my opinion.

I submit that his job is to continue the good will and success that Wolf created. Unfortunately, at this point I am concerned that he just isn’t doing the job.

Completely reasonable opinion.

Some accuse him of sabotaging the first year on purpose to get rid of Sherman as his head coach (Adrian Klemm and Will Whittaker being the guards on the roster leads some credence to this conspiracy theory), resulting in a 4 – 12 season (in fairness, this was the year Sherman’s salary cap bill came due).

In my opinion, completely unreasonable opinion. There is simply no way that a GM would intentionally sabotage a season just to fire a head coach. The fact that guards who did not pan out were the starters going into a season is just not evidence of “throwing” a season just so you can fire a coach. Were Klemm and Whittaker bums? Absolutely. Does that automatically lead to a GM sabotaging a season? No.

But right now, I see a bad offensive line despite four years to replace the guards that left.

Agreed. I don’t think finding good offensive lineman is as easy as some arm-chair GM’s make it out to be, but I can’t argue against this at all.

I see curious personnel decisions (cutting the perfectly serviceable punter without a viable backup plan).

Again, couldn’t agree with you more. I personally find this more egregious of a crime than most of the other “offenses” since it was blatantly obvious last year just how much it hurt us.

I see players not being treated respectfully (Collins, Kampman).

Here is where I disagree. I’ve already covered my opinions on the Kampman thing, I don’t think its disrespectful to a player to change a system. I respect Collins wanting to get a bigger contract after a great year because the NFL is not like baseball or basketball with guaranteed contracts and in the NFL you can be cut at any time regardless of your contract. The player has every right to look of out for themselves. But it is not the GM’s job to simply give in to every player who feels they deserve a better contract. Javon Walker wanted big money after 1 and half great seasons. Thompson didn’t cave in to his demands and it certainly worked in our favor as Walker has bombed horribly since he left the Pack. Its not being disrespectful to a player, its running the franchise.

I fully expect that Mitchell and Brandon will ban me now for being too negative, but hopefully they will allow this post to remain as my legacy.

Being a little melodramatic here. First of all, this post is not very negative, imo. You clearly explained your reasons for your opinions. What more can anyone ask than that? We may not agree on everything but I can certainly respect someone’s opinion when it is backed up with reasons. Second of all, no one has any problem with differing opinions or negative viewpoints. Who would want to read a blog filled with nothing but Pollyanna “everything is perfect” viewpoints when there are issues that can be dealt with? Not trying to speak for Brandon and Mitchell (who do a terrific job of running this blog), but it’s when the comments become personal attacks on others who have different viewpoints than yourself that it becomes an issue. Calling someone Hinckley because they aren’t a fan of Favre anymore would be an example of this. I would hate to see you leave because your contributions have been very insightful at times and I enjoy discussion because it can open my eyes to viewpoints I may not have explored before. So…thanks :)

but like I said earlier, you make it seem as though the Packers are the only team that does this with it’s players. Besides, regardless of how we treat our players, Green Bay will very rarely be a place where high caliber free agents want to go because it’s cold and many of these players are probably younger and would prefer a more exciting city than Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I’ve already said how I felt about Collins, he was still set to make a very good paycheck this year, and sure it’s hard for him not to try and look ahead past this but as he’s seen with Jennings and Rodgers, Thompson will play players who have earned it. I feel this is the way business should be handled but maybe with this tough economy I just have a real hard time feeling sorry for a guy who is making 3 million this year wanting more money.

As for Kampman, I agree that it is unfair that he was asked to change positions in a contract year, and I hope he is compensated because he is a classy all around good guy and has been a great contributor to the team. Although I don’t think they made him switch just to show him the door, he had to switch because that’s where he fits in the 3-4. He still looks uncomfortable out there, so if this is going to be our new defense I hope they trade him to a team that can utilize him.

Now, I’ve only been a fan since the early 90’s so I can’t say I remember the bad teams of the 70’s and 80’s. But I do remember the Wolf era and how great of a GM he was. I also remember the Sherman era and how we were put in salary cap hell because of it. I disagree with your assessment of Thompson sabotaging Sherman by getting rid of Wahle and Rivera, they were both due big money we didn’t have and they both went on to very little after leaving here.

Now as for Thompson, I don’t think he is perfect by any means. One thing, almost all of his lineman he has drafted have been awful. He has had his fair share of early busts like Harrell and Brohm. He has been stingy when it comes to pulling the trigger on trades for high profile players that could help the team (Moss and Gonzalez), and he has completely shied away from any sort of big name aquisiton (Like Reggie White with Wolf) But a lot of his detractors miss some positives he has done like a some good free agent signings and trades (Pickett, Woodson, Chillar) He has had some good players drafted (Jennings, Collins, Tramon Williams, Rodgers). Now all in all, I’m not completely sold on Thompson being the guy to take us to the next level, but I’d like to at least see where it’s going for a year or two more before calling for his head. Wolf won the Superbowl in his fifth year if I’m not mistaken and this is Thompson’s fourth year, but like how Aaron Rodgers is not Brett Favre, Thompson is not Ron Wolf, I’d like to see him at least get a chance to establish his own legacy.

Anyways, although we disagree on some things, I’ve always seen you as a respectful poster who puts up well though out arguments, I highly doubt you’ll get banned.