The Green Bay Packers, the NFL Draft and a Few Other Thoughts

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson (left) talks with head coach Mike McCarthy during training camp at Ray Nitschke Field.

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

As the pre-season before the pre-season drags on and we wait with anticipation for the Green Bay Packers to do something, I want to take a moment to reflect on a few things.

The first is that no matter how much you like to speculate and read tea leaves, there is no way that we will be able to pry open the lock on Ted Thompson’s mind to determine what he is thinking when it comes to the Packers draft picks.  Everyone (including my Grandma) has an opinion on what the needs of the team are and what direction we need to take.  Offense or defense?  Running Back or Defensive Back?  Fast or slow, thin or fat, bald or mullet?  The list goes on and on.

I however, having insider knowledge, I do know what the Packers are going to do. They are going to draft a college player who plays football.  I know, hold your excitement, but it is true.  I do not see Ted Thompson going on out on a limb this year and drafting a shooting guard or a left handed pitcher.  They do not fit any of the current needs or wants on the team.  For a second I thought Ted might look to pick up a good goaltender with the pick, but I decided against it, we really do not have a need for a good goalie this year.

Now who that player may be, I have no clue, I leave that to the professionals to figure out.  I just like to point out the obvious facts that seem to get lost with all the mock drafts and analysis of this and that.  Let’s keep it simple, draft for needs and we need a football player.

The second thing I wanted to touch on was all the Ted bashing when Charles Woodson was released.  Why is it that everyone with an opinion felt that it was the wrong move?  That we were letting a good player get away.  Well now that free agency is done with for the most part, Charles is unemployed.

He claims it is his age that is holding him back from getting picked up by another team.  I am guessing that Ted and the rest of the brain trust saw what the fans did not see.  A player who no longer could deliver; a player that had suffered a broken collar bone twice and was risking further injury; and a guy that had lost a step and was surpassed on the depth chart by younger players.

So for all of you who felt it was a bad move, how come no other NFL team has grabbed Woodson and brought him in to complete their secondary?  Is it that the rest of the NFL also realizes that Charles, though a great player who (in my opinion) undoubtedly belongs on the Hall of Fame, just is not the same player he was three years ago.

Finally, when all you doubting-Ted-Thompsons out there decide that he needs to be replaced, just think a moment, he has been right more than he has been wrong and his overall record is definitely better than most other NFL executives.  So why is it that we feel the need to replace him when he has done nothing but win?

I truly believe that Ted represents the Packers well.  He is not flamboyant like Rex Ryan and the Jets – look at the mess that they are.  He is not ego-driven like Jerry Jones – and they are a mess, too.  What we have is a man with a businesslike approach who is confident and steady, just like our team.  We may not win the Super Bowl every year, but we are successful and consistent and I would rather have that than relive the gory years of the 1970s and 1980s.

GO PACK GO!