Cheese Curds, 4/8: Packers are ready to start fresh for offseason workouts

Friends, it is a glorious day. We have endured the long night of the offseason, and although training camp and the real football that follows are both still months away, a new era begins today.

The Packers are back in Green Bay.

To say it’s been a tumultuous few months for the Packers is like calling Lake Michigan a pond. Mike McCarthy’s mid-season departure marked the first time since the pre-Lombardi era the Packers had fired a coach in-season, and the subsequent search for a coach and hiring of Matt LaFleur captured headlines around the league for weeks.

Then we got a new dose of drama in the form of Ty Dunne’s Bleacher Report article, the specifics of which are no doubt familiar to you.

Suffice it to say, this is a franchise desperately in need of some new grist for the mill, some actual substance to capture the imagination of beat reporters and fans alike. We get that today with the start of the Packers’ offseason program.

To be sure, there will be plenty of questions about the happenings of the past few months, and Dunne’s article, in particular, will no doubt get plenty of play in and around the locker room.

But with each passing instance of something resembling actual football, the Packers’ drama-laden last few months will fade further into the background. The tide is turning toward the future in Green Bay. At least, that’s the hope.

Five focal points for Packers as Matt LaFleur’s offseason program gets underway | Packers News

Ryan Wood outlines five things on which fans should focus as the Packers get underway today. Not surprisingly, the relationship between Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur tops the list.

Establishing New Culture is LaFleur’s Top Priority | Cheesehead TV

LaFleur’s relationship with Rodgers is important, but it’s just one part of the overall Packers picture.

Expanded replay will be good for the game | Packers.com

Mark Murphy is responding to one of the most controversial developments of this offseason. No, not the Bleacher Report article.

Boston College OL Chris Lindstrom checks all the boxes for Packers | Packers Wire

After all the drama of the offseason so far, you could be forgiven for forgetting all about the NFL Draft. Okay, maybe not quite. But over at Packers Wire, Zach Kruse makes the case that Chris Lindstrom, though not flashy, is the best fit for the Packers in this year’s draft.

Need A Can’t-Miss Wheel Of Cheese? Try Playing It Some Hip-Hop | NPR

If you’re aging some cheese in your basement (and why wouldn’t you?), you may want to consider piping in some very specific tunes.