If you’re a Green Bay Packers fan, you probably have a pretty good feel for the way GM Ted Thompson goes about his business.

For starters, he doesn’t overpay for big name free agents. That has frustrated fans in the past, but I think most have come around on this part of his management strategy. Thompson’s other most visible principle is his use of the draft. Very rarely (if ever) does he reach for a player simply because it fits a positional need for the Packers.

Only when the top of Thompson’s draft board meets with a need do you see the Packers making a selection that makes sense in that way. Case in point, Bryan Bulaga last year.  However, there still is an importance in identifying which position the Packers could make an upgrade at.

I use the term “need” loosely here, but if the Packers had such a thing this off season, these positions would most likely fit that profile.

Outside Linebacker : Clay Matthews (17 combined sacks in 2010-2011) is firmly entrenched on the left side, but the Packers could use another play-maker opposite him.  There’d also be nothing wrong with adding more talent and competition for Erik Walden and Frank Zombo. … [visit site to read more]

Green Bay Packers Draft “Needs” A Phrase You Should Use Cautiously - Lombardi Ave - Lombardi Ave - A Green Bay Packers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

There is a popular NFL adage, “On Any Given Sunday”; it’s meaning is that in the NFL there is a very real possibility that any team could prevail in their weekly Sunday match-up. NFL players and their fans, no matter how big an underdog they might be, truly believe that their team can win. It’s what drives the players and their fans.

It is a rare individual that attains the status of a professional NFL player. Only 1696 achieve that distinction each week of the season. The talent and hard work it takes to make it to the elite status, as an NFL player is extraordinary. What is even more unique is the title of a NFL team owner. That exclusive club is limited to a privileged 32 (31 plus the publicly owned Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers). You don’t become an NFL franchise owner without having won battles in the boardroom and the courtroom.

Unfortunately the players and their union officials are in a game (CBA Negotiations) with the owners, in which they are so over matched that in this case “On Any Given Sunday” probably means that the owners will take a large television rights fee deposit to the bank on “Every Given Monday” during a labor lockout.

Just as the players practice, condition and watch film in preparation to wage war between the lines each week, NFL owners have done their version of game preparation in their offices and boardrooms week in and week out for decades. Where players and coaches draw strategies in x’s and o’s, owners strategies are drawn in dollar signs and zeros by attorneys and MBAs. … [visit site to read more]

NFL Labor Relations, “On Any Given Sunday” - Lombardi Ave - Lombardi Ave - A Green Bay Packers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.