Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy (left) talks with president Mark Murphy (center) and general manager Ted Thompson (right) – the triumvirate that makes the bulk of football-related decisions for the Packers – have their hands full in trying to improve the team.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The offseason isn’t the time to sleep for National Football League teams, including the Green Bay Packers. It’s hump day and time for Packers officials to get to work.

First on the agenda is welcoming former New York Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty to town on a free agent visit that’s expected to last through Thursday. Included in the visit will be a physical examination, a tour of the facility and, of course, meetings with team officials including Ted Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy.

Chris Canty

Canty has already had visits with the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs and it’s reported that the Titans have already presented him with an offer. There were also reports earlier this week that Canty was prepared to give the Carolina Panthers a “reduced hometown discount” to play there in his home state. However, there haven’t been any followup reports on whether that might come to fruition.

The Packers had an interest in Canty in 2008 when he was a free agent leaving the Dallas Cowboys, but he bypassed the Packers and went straight to New York where he found a quick home and a satisfactory contract. It’s unclear whether the Packers will offer a contract to Canty during his stay here, but if they are serious about landing him, they most likely will. It’s been reported that Canty will want to have a contract and new home by the “unofficial” start of the free agency period this weekend when agents can start negotiating openly with teams before the “official” start of free agency on Tuesday, March 12.

That’s just one of the things on the Packers’ list today. There are also several college pro days occurring across the country, including the University of Wisconsin’s day in Madison. Because of the close proximity of the campus, there are always Packers coaches and scouts at that particular event and Thompson has been known to attend himself.

However, with Canty in town, it’s unclear whether Thompson will find the time to do both – most likely he will, considering Canty will be in Green Bay for two days.

Other pro days, as reported by Cheeseheadtv are Alabama A&M, Duquesne, Eastern Washington, Kent State, Mississippi State, North Alabama, Northern Arizona, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Texas Tech and West Texas A&M.

Everybody gets excited during the season, but you know, folks, this is the time of year that makes or breaks National Football League teams. This is the time of year when all the important work gets done.

We here at Lombardiave.com will continue to try to stay on top of all the developments each day – whether it’s free agency, the draft, pro days or whether Ted Thompson had dinner at Red Lobster the night before – well, maybe not that in-depth, but we’ll continue to do our best … keep stopping back for the latest.

And don’t forget to like Lombardiave.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Anthony Shadid, the Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent who died Thursday in Syria, was a huge Packers fan. He loved celebrating the success of Greg Jennings, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

We’ve all heard about Packers fans going great lengths to watch the team, or who make the long trek to Lambeau Field – but there is none who have had more of a love of the team than Anthony Shadid.

The 43-year-old journalist died Thursday in Syria of an apparent asthma attack. The foreign correspondent was doing what he did best, covering the war torn area of the world that defined “Night Draws Near,”  the book that earned him the 2004 Pulitzer Prize.

But no matter how far away Shadid roamed from the United States and especially the state of Wisconsin where he earned his degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Shadid was never far from the Green Bay Packers.

He described in a story he wrote last year for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the lengths he has gone to either listen to or watch Packers games over the years, demonstrating his love for a team that has captured the hearts and imaginations of so many across the globe.

Here is how he described his efforts: “In 1995, I was sent to Cairo as a foreign correspondent. The only satellite phones then were the size of steamer trunks, and I couldn’t manage to take that home with me. So any time the Packers played a night game – those games, for some reason, broadcast on expensive satellite channels available in five-star hotels in the Middle East – I plopped down a few hundred dollars for a room at the Marriott. It was still too little Packers for me.”

As Packers fans, we mourn his loss and pray for his family.

This past week, Mark Tauscher, the consummate Wisconsin farm boy, made a point to thank his fans – his Wisconsin fans who have loved him from his days as a Future Farmer of America in Auburndale, his days of toiling on a monster offensive line that cleared the way for Ron Dayne at the University of Wisconsin, and of course his long and illustrious career with the Green Bay Packers.

The paid ad that he had published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said it all and said it from his heart. He loves the state of Wisconsin and what a charmed life he has had. Who else has been selected honorable mention All-State in high school, walked on at UW, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and played more than a decade as an offensive lineman while suffering injuries and continually coming back as an anchor who

protected the likes of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Who else can say that he was a member of teams that won both the Rose Bowl and the Super Bowl in his home state – the state where he was born and bred and never left through his entire career? Nobody that I know.

He’s a rare one – needless to say, Wisconsin won’t see another like him for quite some time.

So, here’s to Mark Tauscher – one of a kind – a champions, a fighter, a true class act.