The Packers backfield looks a little empty these days without RB Ahman Green in it, but signing older players to big contracts can be bad.
When GM Ted Thompson took over in 2005, his first two moves were to let Gs Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle go. Back when I was still slumming on my old Blogspot site, I thought Rivera would be lightly pursued due to his injury histories and his age. Then Dallas blew me away by giving him a $9 million signing bonus. Apparently when offensive linemen with multiple Pro Bowl appearances on their resume enter free agency, teams ignore things like health and age. After Dallas made the most awful signing this offseason (so far) by signing T Leonard Davis, I heard that they were considering playing Davis at Rivera's position. Only two seasons removed from leaving the Packers, Rivera is scheduled for his second back surgery in three seasons. It looks like he will be released and his career could be over. I don't think any Packer fan wanted to see Rivera's career to end so soon after leaving, but no one wants to see the Packers overpaying for Davis either. Letting Rivera go turned out to be the right move.
However I really didn't want to see Wahle go. At the time, the Packers would have had to made some serious cuts to have enough cap room to resign him so it was understandable why he was let go. Although Wahle is younger and had no serious injury problems when he was a Packer, he was a shadow of his former self in 2006 when he played through a bad shoulder. He could rebound in 2007, but sometimes a great player, like T Tony Boselli, is never the same after shoulder surgery. He should enter the 2007 as a question mark. Plus his signing is one of the reasons Carolina has no room under the cap this offseason.
Sometimes letting a player go is for the best.