Packer Perspective: Draft and develop? More like draft and replace
Draft. Develop. Sign to a new contract. That’s the formula the Green Bay Packers like to follow, except it hasn’t gone this way in recent years.
Ted Thompson’s reluctance to spend big in free agency doesn’t come without its criticism from Packers fans. Some fair, some not.
Take away personal opinions and you are presented with a single fact. If your roster is built almost exclusively through the draft, then you best hit more often than you miss. That’s not easy to do.
Even more important is when you hit, you don’t let that talent leave the building. Under a week into free agency, then, a question is worth asking.
Is draft-and-develop working as it should?
The signings of Martellus Bennett and Lance Kendricks were smart. Neither breaks the bank, and the pair solidifies the tight end position in Mike McCarthy’s offense.
The same can be said of Davon House, who returns to Green Bay on a one-year deal after spending the previous two seasons in Jacksonville. It’s a shrewd piece of business that helps a position of need at a low cost.
But these moves are the exception, not the rule to Thompson’s strict draft-and-develop manta. The Packers don’t often overpay, unless it’s for their own players.
Yet while Thompson has added some talent through free agency, as well as paying Nick Perry, there are a number of question marks.
You can only really judge a draft class after four years when their rookie contracts expire. Let’s look back at the Packers’ 2013 draft class. Players still on the roster are highlighted in bold.
Packers 2013 draft class
DE Datone Jones (Currently a free agent)
RB Eddie Lacy (Signed with the Seahawks)
LT David Bakhtiari
OL JC Tretter (Signed with the Browns)
RB Johnathan Franklin (Forced to retire due to injury)
DB Micah Hyde (Signed with the Bills)
DE Josh Boyd (Released in 2016)
LB Nate Palmer (Released in 2016)
WR Charles Johnson (Signed by the Browns in 2013)
WR Kevin Dorsey (Released in 2015)
LB Sam Barrington (Released in 2016)
The Packers had 11 draft picks that year, yet only one remains on the team four years later. For a draft-and-develop team, that’s concerning. Datone Jones might still come back, which would take the total to two.
But it’s not as though the group is filled with busts. JC Tretter got paid starters money by Cleveland. Micah Hyde will become a key piece to Buffalo’s secondary. Eddie Lacy is the new starting running back in Seattle.
The Packers developed these players only for other teams to reap the benefits.
Hyde is the perfect example. A safety by name, but also a cornerback and return man, the Packers oversaw his play steadily improve throughout his four-year stay. Some of his most impressive work came late in 2016 when the defense counted on him.
Now he’ll take those talents to Buffalo. The Packers didn’t even make him an offer.
Rewind to 2012. In the second round Thompson selected Casey Hayward. Hayward never developed into a star in Green Bay, but he became one of the league’s best slot corners. After four years of development, he walked and became a Pro Bowler in San Diego, all the while the Packers’ pass defense fell to No. 31.
The Packers rarely bring in outside free agents. Only five members of the current roster have played for another team and one of those is the punter.
This strict philosophy means the Packers need to hit early and often in the draft. And when they do, re-signing those players has to be the top priority.
Over the past year, that hasn’t happened nearly enough.
Draft. Develop. Re-sign. That’s the intention. Nowadays, Thompson’s model is more “draft, develop, replace”.
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