Green Bay Packers: Winning the NFC North once again – this time with free agency
With Aaron Rodgers as the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, a championship is possible every season. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports photograph
With the first wave of the NFL’s annual meat market known as free agency frenzy having come to an end, we take a look specifically here at how the Green Bay Packers and those other three teams of the NFC North – the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears – have fared so far and how these recent changes will help.
And while there have been a couple of splashes made by those other teams over the course of the past few days, we will state right here and right now that it’s been the steady Teddy Thompson, general manager of the Green Bay Packers, who once again has positioned his team for a championship run.
And he’s done it by once again rewarding those players he’s drafted and developed – Randall Cobb and Bryan Bulaga come to mind.
Instead of having to go out into the marketplace to complete his roster, Thompson continues to keep his best and let those who haven’t met his standards walk away.
Here is how Sports Rants graded the Packers as the NFC North team with the biggest upside after the first week of Free agency:
"With the Lions dealing Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh, the Bears dealing Brandon Marshall and the Vikings still unsure what to do with Adrian Peterson, the Green Bay Packers look like the early favorites to win the NFC North again in 2015. And it doesn’t look like it’ll be down to the wire like last year. The Packers were able to re-sign two of their biggest assets in WR Randall Cobb and OT Bryan Bulaga. A healthy Aaron Rodgers has the capability to lead the Packers deep into the playoffs, but my only concern is their defense. With A.J. Hawk departing to Cincinnati, their linebackers and secondary could use a boost in 2015."
But let’s take a closer look at what’s transpired over the past few days among the NFC North teams. There’s been some noise and some serious work by those Packers rivals in attempts to overthrow the four-time division champion Packers.
Next: Chicago Bears improve offense and defense