2018 Free Agency - Prospects for GB

[sgtcheezwiz]

 

2 hours ago, cannondale said:

Rumor has it Melvin is asking for $10m per. Yikes

That's crazy talk!! Wow.

 

 

Here are my thoughts on the team before the panic sets in, some of them are hopefully lucid lol. 

 

How do people feel about having Graham and Will vs if we had signed Trumane Johnson? Personally I feel like the money is better spent on those two players than on Johnson. I feel like Graham can take us back to the golden days of offensive packer football while Wilkerson is a safe risk (albeit still a risk) who can pay off in both pass and rush defense.

I can understand seeing Wilkerson a wild card and not valuing him so much in all this, as HZ has done. So in that case, I get maybe you would take Johnson over Graham or Graham + Melvin.Taking Johnson probably forgoes Wilkerson or a second player.  And if a CB like Melvin goes for 10 mil, then the Graham + Melvin scenario probably isn't going happen. So if you wanted a second player like Wilkerson or at his price, who are you chosing between Graham and Melvin? Now this of course assumes they don't free up more cap space to pursue Melvin or other big players - which I think is fair since it is a response to critics that seem to assume the same. I'm not too sure how much of a factor Jordy Nelson is here. If we signed Johnson and cut Jordy, I'm not sure what the reaction would would have been but it is an interesting thought. Or sign Melvin and Keep Jordy? Is that better than Graham and Wilkerson? ?

 

Perhaps you are on board with the current moves, buuuuuttt you think that the roster would look better if we still had Randall, and I agree, think we would all be a little less anxious. Maybe Gut underestimated the CB market? Maybe Randall was that bad an influence (seems doubtful but still plausible). Maybe he planned on drafting a couple all along or is still going to look at some vets in FA. Maybe they think King is great, Randall  wasnt that great, or who knows lol, we don't sit in on the meetings. We also still don't know the full compensation of that trade since we haven't traded the draft picks and the draft hasn't happenes.

So you still have the corner fever and can't shake it, 'all this is good and all but it doesn't solve the corners'.  A quick look at some of Pettine's defenses shows that he doesn't need 4 all pro cornerbacks, looks like he has had plenty of success with some less than stellar talent at the position. Obviously with the Jets he had Revis and Cro, but look at his other teams. The talent looks pretty weak. We might be alright with King and some rookies, add in House and/or a similar vet FA and might even end up with better corners than some of those teams. Some might argue other pieces of his defenses were far better or something, fair enough I guess but would be interesting debate - especially after the draft. Also definitely possible I undervalued some of the corners on his teams. 

I'm no draft guru, but I will be looking at mocks that have us go into the draft with a House type CB FA and then diligently assess and address the edge and corner needs. I think that is realistic expectations heading into the draft. Looks like Corner should be need #1 but could be edge if there is a second round corner or maybe they trade back up into the first. TBH I like the dual 1st rounders scenario the best. I think for a team that drafts so often at the end, Ted Thompson set an excellent precedent when traded up for Clay after drafting Raji. 

Will be interesting to see where Melvin lands and for how much ofc lol. 

 

[JBURGE]

50 minutes ago, MNPackfan32 said:

Am I the only one who would cut Cobb this very second if it meant we could get Honey Badger?

I certainly wouldn't. We are in a position where we need to add a player to that WR group. Cutting Cobb to get Mathieu would fix our star position, but would mean we now need to find production at 2 WR spots, and still need an outside corner, and still need depth at EDGE and DBs.

I would much rather just finally have the Cousins crap over with so we can extend Rodgers, restructure Bulaga, extend Cobb or whatever, Will free up a ton of cap. Someone posted a page that showed what we would save for each player under restructure/cut/extend and I can't find it

[Leader]

2 minutes ago, vegas492 said:

I dig him.  He's never had opportunity.  Should be a low risk kind of player, cost wise and has upside.

I'd argue, though, that it went Zeke, Dez, Witten, Beasley, Williams in the pecking order in Dallas.  Prior to Zeke, it was Murray.  They are a run-first team with good skill players.  It was tough sledding over there for even Williams to get the ball.

I don't view Butler in the same way I viewed Watkins, Richardson or Robinson, but I do view him as a great option to add to the depth chart.  At the right price, of course!

Cant disagree. I was only commenting that he'd not shown any explosiveness (or stat spikes) with two teams now. Outside of "Hey, that guy looks quick" thoughts - whats gained him starting WR consideration? Perhaps it hasnt - perhaps he's just be complimentary with us as well - in which case Allison and Davis better tune up their engines (especially cause I think Butlers can do return work as well??? Not sure exactly). A talent to be considered at this point.

[CWood21]

The amusing part about this whole process is those who complained that the Packers weren't active enough in FA are the same ones who are complaining that the Packers didn't sign the right FA.  I hate burst your bubble, but you can't have both ways.

Let's take a look at the cornerback market.  Trumaine Johnson was considered the best CB available on the market, and he got somewhere between $15M-$16M per year.  That makes him the highest paid CB, does anyone truly believe that Trumaine Johnson is going to play like the best CB on the market?  Probably not.  Add in the fact that you've got two similar offers, one comes from New York and one comes from Green Bay, which one is Trumaine Johnson going to take?  New York most likely.  There's no real motivation for Trumaine Johnson to pick Green Bay over New York.  The only thing that Green Bay has over the Jets is that they're a bigger title contender than New York, but aside from that New  York has the better offer, which means the Packers would have to overpay.

Richard Sherman clearly wanted to stay on the West Coast, which is why San Francisco was the only team he visited before he signed.  Nothing we can do about that.  Prince Amukamara re-signed with Chicago, so it seems like he was intent on returning to Chicago.  Then you have the Aaron Colvin, Bashaud Breeland, and Travis Carrie in that ~$8M range.  We're not done with that market.  When that market dries up, I'll start to panic.

[Green19]

I get the feeling GB will just roll with Davon House for another year and draft a secondary player high.

As much as fans don’t like it Whit was high on Hawkins and Pipkins. They could be banking on a new scheme to maximize their abilities. I mean Melvin himself was an undrafted CB like those guys.

Same with WR, I think GB drafts one and are excited to see what Clark and Yancey can do in their second season.

[Packerraymond]

Anyone else find it weird we haven't announced any of these moves yet?

Like Damarious Randall is on the Browns roster and ours on the team sites haha.

[cannondale]

15 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

The amusing part about this whole process is those who complained that the Packers weren't active enough in FA are the same ones who are complaining that the Packers didn't sign the right FA.  I hate burst your bubble, but you can't have both ways.

Let's take a look at the cornerback market.  Trumaine Johnson was considered the best CB available on the market, and he got somewhere between $15M-$16M per year.  That makes him the highest paid CB, does anyone truly believe that Trumaine Johnson is going to play like the best CB on the market?  Probably not.  Add in the fact that you've got two similar offers, one comes from New York and one comes from Green Bay, which one is Trumaine Johnson going to take?  New York most likely.  There's no real motivation for Trumaine Johnson to pick Green Bay over New York.  The only thing that Green Bay has over the Jets is that they're a bigger title contender than New York, but aside from that New  York has the better offer, which means the Packers would have to overpay.

Richard Sherman clearly wanted to stay on the West Coast, which is why San Francisco was the only team he visited before he signed.  Nothing we can do about that.  Prince Amukamara re-signed with Chicago, so it seems like he was intent on returning to Chicago.  Then you have the Aaron Colvin, Bashaud Breeland, and Travis Carrie in that ~$8M range.  We're not done with that market.  When that market dries up, I'll start to panic.

I don't think it's hindsight to ask this: Do you want Graham or Colvin ?

[CWood21]

Just now, cannondale said:

I don't think it's hindsight to ask this: Do you want Graham or Colvin ?

Given that I'm not sure about how Colvin fits outside of the slot, I'd take Graham.  His fit is pretty damn clear for me.  He's the better player, and he's a better fit for what we want to do.  If the question was would I rather have Trumaine Johnson or Jimmy Graham in a vacuum, the answer would be Johnson pretty clearly.  But this isn't a vacuum.

[cannondale]

Just now, CWood21 said:

Given that I'm not sure about how Colvin fits outside of the slot, I'd take Graham.  His fit is pretty damn clear for me.  He's the better player, and he's a better fit for what we want to do.  If the question was would I rather have Trumaine Johnson or Jimmy Graham in a vacuum, the answer would be Johnson pretty clearly.  But this isn't a vacuum.

Why is it not ? I have to assume Gute knew what the interests and numbers were going to be

[SSG]

Just now, cannondale said:

I don't think it's hindsight to ask this: Do you want Graham or Colvin ?

Colvin without a second thought.  One is 26 and his career is trending in the right direction.   Graham is 31 and looked old and broken down last year.  Its pretty clear that he's regressed substantially since leaving New Orleans.  Whether its the laundry list of injuries or his age, he's not the same player he was.  Also, I'd argue that CB is a substantially bigger position of need.  I'd rather have to start a rookie TE in our offense than 1 or 2 rookie CBs in our secondary.  The TE has Aaron Rodgers to lean on while our secondary is completely void of any quality experienced leadership.

[Packerraymond]

2 minutes ago, SSG said:

Colvin without a second thought.  One is 26 and his career is trending in the right direction.   Graham is 31 and looked old and broken down last year.  Its pretty clear that he's regressed substantially since leaving New Orleans.  Whether its the laundry list of injuries or his age, he's not the same player he was.  Also, I'd argue that CB is a substantially bigger position of need.  I'd rather have to start a rookie TE in our offense than 1 or 2 rookie CBs in our secondary.  The TE has Aaron Rodgers to lean on while our secondary is completely void of any quality experienced leadership.

Charles Woodson won DPOY at 33 after being called the exact same thing when we signed him. Hadn't played a 16 game season since 2001 yet played in every game but 3 for us in his first 6 years. The human body doesn't break down at 30, I don't care what Madden tells you. Graham is a freak, and is still a freak. You need to utilize players properly to have them succeed. You can't keep spewing that Jordy is still the same guy but Hundley held him back and then turn around and say that Graham is old and broken, it's a total contradiction. 

[HighCalebR]

Just now, SSG said:

Colvin without a second thought.  One is 26 and his career is trending in the right direction.   Graham is 31 and looked old and broken down last year.  Its pretty clear that he's regressed substantially since leaving New Orleans.  Whether its the laundry list of injuries or his age, he's not the same player he was.  Also, I'd argue that CB is a substantially bigger position of need.  I'd rather have to start a rookie TE in our offense than 1 or 2 rookie CBs in our secondary.  The TE has Aaron Rodgers to lean on while our secondary is completely void of any quality experienced leadership.

Did you watch many SEA games? Wilson's first read every play was, "who's the free rusher?". Pretty hard to judge any of their offensive pieces off of that, especially when Russ' first move is to scramble not the dump off. His value held in the RZ though where he was quite productive.  He's a clear upgrade to our TE room to what we've had the past bunch of years. Having a rookie starting at TE is basically out of the equation, name many rookies who have came in and produced at the position. CB, while definitely being the bigger need is a little easier to throw rookies into. 

[Packerraymond]

Anyone else surprised that there hasn't been any talk on the two guys the Bears have tendered for no compensation? I figured Fuller and Meredith would see a hot market. If Sherman can get 13 and Johnson almost 16, Fuller at 14 is right in line with market value. Meredith had the ACL but he was a good looking receiving prospect in 2016 and his Pro Day numbers are impressive. I like both of those two a lot. The Bears added Robinson and Gabriel and still have Kevin White so I think they might let Meredith go. Fuller you'd probably have to poison pill. Throw this clause in there "If Fuller resides in the state of Illinois by Aug 1st of 2018, the Bears must sign Jay Cutler to a 5 year contract."

[jleisher]

1 hour ago, CWood21 said:

Sounds like the Packers weren't as interested in keeping him around as Gute indicated they were.

I guess so with the $1.1m offer.  

[jleisher]

1 hour ago, deltarich87 said:

Crabtree expected to be cut

 

Are we implying signing Crabtree?