Cheese Curds, 1/2: The Packers’ offseason of change is upon us

New Year’s Day was one of the most eventful and newsworthy days in recent history for the Green Bay Packers. Now the team moves forward with more questions than at any point since 2005.

Monday saw the Packers fire their defensive coordinator, a move that was long-expected after the poor performance by the team’s defense this season. However, much more shocking was the reassignment of general manager Ted Thompson, which leaves a bit of a power vacuum in the personnel department.

As we see in today’s curds, that decision was not Thompson’s alone, either. According to one report, team president Mark Murphy made the final decision, which will be a stunning shakeup for a team that prides itself on consistency and continuity.

The ball is now squarely in Murphy’s court for filling the vacant GM job, while head coach Mike McCarthy — who appears to be in no danger of losing his job for the time being — conducts the search for the new coordinator. All told, this will be quite the change in Green Bay, and the next few days will be fascinating to watch.

Packers' GM job viewed as plum because of the perks and the QB - ESPN
One NFL agent tells Rob Demovsky that the GM job in Green Bay is the "best job in the NFL" because of the team's ownership structure and because of Aaron Rodgers. Of course, one of the GM's biggest tasks in his first year will be to negotiate a new contract with the two-time MVP.

Packers president made final call on Ted Thompson’s future | Packers Wire
According to one report, Mark Murphy was indeed the one who made the final call in this situation, which comes as a bit of a surprise.

Shake-up puts Packers on path to new era | Packersnews.com
The next week or so should be quite a whirlwind, as the Packers look to fill the defensive coordinator job as well as the GM position. One can’t help but wonder how Mike McCarthy feels in all this, knowing that he has just one year left on his contract with a new boss coming into the organization shortly.

Packers family remembers its 2017 losses | Packers.com
Team historian Cliff Christl looks back at all the individuals who passed away in 2017 who were associated with the Packers.

Bears extend GM Ryan Pace's contract through 2021 - NFL.com
While Thompson is stepping back, the Bears are locking up their GM. Pace will be searching for a new head coach in the next week or two after firing John Fox.

2018 NFL mock draft: What happens if Josh Rosen says no to the Browns? - SBNation.com
Once again, Boston College pass rusher Harold Landry is the pick for the Packers, who are now locked into the 14th pick in the draft.