Green Bay Packers: Offseason Business as Usual
If you’ve come here looking for a detailed breakdown of the Green Bay Packers’ free-agent additions, we will stop you right here.
Sometimes you can sense the frustration in “Titletown, USA.”
Why aren’t the Green Bay Packers, the most successful organization in the history of the NFL in terms of league titles (13) a bigger player when it comes to free agency?
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The answer is amazingly simple.
They don’t have to be.
Perhaps no organization in the NFL relies on the draft and less on the contributions of players from other teams than the club that calls Lambeau Field home. Free agency dates back to 1993 and you can realistically say that this is a club that broke the bank just three times over that span to add a quality player: Defensive end Reggie White, cornerback/safety Charles Woodson and outside linebacker Julius Peppers.
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This is a franchise that likes to retain its own. For instance, nose tackle Letroy Guion and kicker Mason Crosby never hit the free-agent market. Over the last two weeks, the Packers have re-signed outside linebacker Nick Perry and running back James Starks.
Yes, the Packers did lose some talented players this offseason. But as usual, they have been braced for those departures. A year ago, general manager Ted Thompson used his first two picks in the draft to select cornerbacks Damarious Randall (1-Arizona State) and Quinten Rollins (2-Miami, OH).
Randall made 15 appearances, started nine games, totaled 56 tackles, three interceptions and a team-high 14 passes defensed. Rollins was a four-game starter, racked up 27 stops, a pair of picks and one sack while knocking down six passes.
The previous year, Thompson used a sixth-round pick on cornerback Demetri Goodson, who played in 14 games in 2015.
Those moves combined to make four-year pro Casey Hayward expendable this offseason. As expected (via Spotrac), he signed a three-year, $15.3 million deal with the San Diego Chargers.
But could Thompson and the club be getting ready to add a low-cost weapon to aid quarterback Aaron Rodgers?
Ryan Wood of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin tells us that free-agent tight end Jared Cook (released by the Los Angeles Rams this offseason) visited Green Bay. But there’s been no mention of an agreement.
The Packers could use a little help at the position. This past year, Richard Rodgers finished second on the team with 58 catches and tied for the club lead with eight touchdown receptions. But he averaged only 8.8 yards per grab, meaning Cook could be vital as a downfield target (although Rodgers to Rodgers make for a great “Hail Mary” combination).
Andrew Quarless is an unrestricted free agent while Justin Perillo (11 catches for 102 yards and 1 touchdown in 2015) saw action in just nine games this past season.
There are a few other key players that remain unsigned. Pro Bowl fullback John Kuhn is still on the market as is outside linebacker Mike Neal – a second-round pick in 2010. He started a career-high 15 games this past season and has totaled at least four sacks in each of the last four years.
But perhaps the most interesting unsigned free agent is veteran wideout James Jones. In 2015, he tied for the club lead with eight touchdown catches and led the Packers with 890 receiving yards – averaging a brisk 17.8 yards per reception.
Of course, this is a team with Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, promising Ty Montgomery and two-year pros in Jeff Janis and Jared Abbrederis. And of course, there’s former Pro Bowler Jordy Nelson, who missed all of 2015 with a torn ACL. It will be interesting to see where Jones winds up in the next few weeks.
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Yes, perhaps it does get a little boring in the offseason in Green Bay. While the Packers are bringing their own players and being frugal, a lot of the league’s other teams are spending at will.
Then again, Green Bay has spent the past seven seasons in the playoffs – tied with the New England Patriots for the longest active streak in the NFL. Perhaps it’s more about method and far less in terms of madness.