M
Mark Eckel
Guest
BY ROB REISCHEL
Mike McCarthy had to be the happiest person inside the Indiana Convention Center Wednesday.
At approximately 10:05 CST, new Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst was asked how he’ll approach free agency when the new league year begins March 14.
Twice in the matter of three sentences Gutekunst used the same word.
“Aggressive.”
Approximately three hours later, McCarthy, the Packers head coach, was asked about Gutekunst’s plan to reshape a mediocre roster that went just 7-9 a year ago.
“Well we like the word aggressive,” McCarthy said.
Rightfully so.
After more than a decade of mostly free agent inactivity, it appears the Packers will attack that period with gusto two weeks from now.
Gutekunst, who was named Green Bay’s general manager in January, made no secret that his philosophy will differ greatly from his former boss, Ted Thompson.
“There’s limits in what you can do, but we’d like to be really aggressive and see (if) we can be in every conversation,” Gutekunst said. “Now whether that leads to us ending up signing a bunch or not, we’ll see.
“Like I said, there’s limitations there. But we’d like to be as aggressive as we can to try to improve our football team.”
Thompson was Green Bay’s general manager from Jan of 2005 through Jan. of 2018. And for the majority of those 13 years, the Packers hibernated during the free agency period.
Thompson signed seven unrestricted free agents during his first two seasons. Then in his final 11 years as GM, he signed just seven more.
Gutekunst, a first time general manager, appears willing to take far more risks than his conservative predecessor did. And that approach has given a jolt to many in the organization — including McCarthy.
“We’ve spent pretty much our 12 years here really focusing on improving from within,” McCarthy said. “But we need outside resources, we’ve determined that. But at the end of the day it’s a market, it’s a market that every team is involved in and we’ll see what happens.”
Thompson’s unadventurous approach was always somewhat mystifying.
Thompson was groomed under Ron Wolf, who signed 30 unrestricted free agents during his nine seasons as Green Bay’s G.M. — an average of 3.33 per year. Other Wolf protégés such as John Dorsey, Reggie McKenzie and John Schneider were all extremely active in free agency after getting their chance to run a team.
For the most part, though, Thompson chose a different path. Even though the Packers hit free agency home runs with cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett, he began avoiding that roster building approach like Barry Sanders once eluded tacklers.
Thompson signed just one UFA per season between 2007-’09. Then between 2010-’16, Thompson’s only trip to free agency came when he signed both washed-up center Jeff Saturday and defensive end Anthony Hargrove in 2012.
The Packers were dormant during free agency between 2013-’16, before he signed tight end Martellus Bennett and guard Jahri Evans in 2017.
Odds are when free agency begins, Gutekunst’s approach will be substantially different than Thompson’s.
“I think right now we’re just trying to improve our team overall,” Gutekunst said. “We have a really good team, some really good players. There’s been a lot of change, the coaching side and obviously the personnel side and stuff like that. But I don’t think we’re very far off.”
Green Bay is expected to have between $16-$19 million of salary cap space when free agency begins. That number could rise substantially if the Packers either release or restructure the contracts of players such as wideouts Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, right tackle Bryan Bulaga and outside linebacker Clay Matthews.
The Packers need a major upgrade on the defensive side of the ball, most notably at outside linebacker and cornerback. Opponents had a passer rating of 102.0 against Green Bay in 2017 — the worst mark in franchise history. And the Packers ranked 17th in sacks with 37.0 as oft-injured Nick Perry and Matthews missed time again.
Offensively, there’s been a gaping hole at tight end since Jermichael Finley suffered a career ending neck injury in 2013. And the wide receiver group could use a major influx of speed.
Gutekunst said Green Bay’s pre-free agency meetings have been more intense than recent seasons. And the Packers hope their aggressive approach will soon fix some of what ails them.
“It’s a smaller market (of players) and it’s a little bit riskier market,” Gutekunst said of free agency. “So I think as my mentor and predecessor (Thompson) would say, you have to be very cautious as you enter that. But I think we’d like to look at every option we can.”
Show him the money: The Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have begun negotiating a new contract.
Rodgers has two years left on the five-year, $110 million extension he signed in 2013, and is now the sixth-highest paid quarterback in football. Green Bay would like to make Rodgers the highest paid quarterback in the game.
Rodgers is scheduled to make $20.9 million in 2018 and $21.1 million in 2019. But the Packers would love to have something done sooner rather than later.
“I don’t know if there’s pressure,” Gutekunst said. “I think we certainly would like to get it done sooner rather than later. When you have the best player in the National Football League, it’s not going to be inexpensive, you know what I mean? Obviously Aaron is a high priority, he’s a great player and I think that should take care of itself at some point.”
Looking for a home: Ty Montgomery continues to be a player without a position and could play both wide receiver and running back in 2018.
Montgomery, a third round draft choice in 2015, began his career as a wide receiver. But Montgomery moved to running back when injuries decimated the Packers’ backfield in 2016 and led Green Bay with 457 rushing yards.
Montgomery was penciled in as Green Bay’s top running back prior to the 2017 season. But Montgomery suffered rib and wrist injuries and played just 26.2% of the time.
In his stead, rookies Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones ran with their opportunities and were clearly more natural running backs than Montgomery ever was.
Now, with Montgomery entering the final season of his rookie contract, the Packers have to figure out how he fits their offense — or if he fits at all.
“Ty is a very, very versatile player,” Gutekunst said. “He can do a lot of things. I think having a guy like that (means) we can kind of plug him in where we need him.
“I thought he was an outstanding running back. Making that transition is not an easy one, and I thought he did it fairly quickly. I think we’re big on trying to acquire as many versatile players — whether it be on offense or defense — as we can, and Ty is one of those guys. So I think he can do a multitude of things. I don’t think you have to pigeon hole him in one thing.”
In three seasons, Montgomery has played in just 29 of 48 games (60.4%). And McCarthy admitted that availability, more than anything, has held Montgomery back.
“First thing, Jamaal and Aaron did a lot of good things and probably the most important statistic for me in evaluating players as we move forward to the next season is availability,” McCarthy said. “I have a depth chart board in my office and it has their picture, their original tag, their number, and it has a tag of their play time.
“Play time is really the reflection of availability. None of our running backs this year were available for the whole season. So that’s the first hurdle, the first challenge that they need to meet. In Ty’s particular case, his availability the last three years has been his challenge. But he’s a multi-positional player. So he’s a running back, to answer your question, but he gives us great flexibility to use him so many different ways. That won’t change.”
King of the castle: McCarthy said that cornerback Kevin King, whose rookie season was cut short after labrum surgery on Dec. 12, is progressing well.
King, a second round draft choice whose left arm gave him fits throughout the year, looked like a No. 1 cornerback at times a year ago. If King can make it back from injury, he could be the lockdown corner Green Bay has been missing since Sam Shields’ career ended in 2016.
“He’s what we thought he was when we drafted him,” McCarthy said of King. “I really like the way he plays with his length. The game comes, some guys it just kind of comes easier to than others. So that speaks a lot to his experience, his instincts, his awareness. He’s very comfortable out there playing on the island.
“So he knows his body type and he does a great job playing to it. Has a good understanding. You know, the exciting part is he’s young, he’s raw as far as where he is in his development physically. And I think now that he’s got the shoulder surgery that he’ll really be able to build off of what he did accomplish last year.”
The great mistake: Former Packers tight end Martellus Bennett will count $4.2 million against the salary cap in 2018.
Bennett signed a three-year, $21 million contract with a $6.3 million signing bonus last March. The Packers released Bennett on Nov. 8 with a failure to disclose an injury designation.
The Packers filed a grievance against Bennett to recoup some of that signing bonus, but an arbitrator for the NFL dismissed that complaint Tuesday.
“It doesn’t change the course of what we were going to try and do,” Gutekunst said. “That was a legal thing that we were kind of hoping turned out a different way, but at the same time it won’t affect how we’re going to go about our business moving forward.
No Ted: Ted Thompson, Green Bay’s senior advisor to football operations, will not attend the Combine. Previous reports said he would.
Around the NFC North: Minnesota’s three quarterbacks — Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater — could all become unrestricted free agents in two weeks. And Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said no decisions have been made as to who the Vikings will be bringing back. “We’ll try to make sure we’re finding the best fit for the Minnesota Vikings. Just to make clear, there have been no decisions made – I know it’s been a thousand reports out there on how we’re going to move forward. We will continue to evolve this process.” … The Chicago Bears released guard Josh Sitton — a Green Bay Packer from 2008-’15 — last week. “Every year we sit down with the staff, we evaluate our entire roster,” Bears general manager Ryan Pace said. “Every player is carefully analyzed, and as we went through it we just had a decision to make — if we were going to exercise the option in his contract and we decided against that.”
The post Combine notes: Packers will be aggressive in free agency appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
Continue reading...
Mike McCarthy had to be the happiest person inside the Indiana Convention Center Wednesday.
At approximately 10:05 CST, new Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst was asked how he’ll approach free agency when the new league year begins March 14.
Twice in the matter of three sentences Gutekunst used the same word.
“Aggressive.”
Approximately three hours later, McCarthy, the Packers head coach, was asked about Gutekunst’s plan to reshape a mediocre roster that went just 7-9 a year ago.
“Well we like the word aggressive,” McCarthy said.
Rightfully so.
After more than a decade of mostly free agent inactivity, it appears the Packers will attack that period with gusto two weeks from now.
Gutekunst, who was named Green Bay’s general manager in January, made no secret that his philosophy will differ greatly from his former boss, Ted Thompson.
“There’s limits in what you can do, but we’d like to be really aggressive and see (if) we can be in every conversation,” Gutekunst said. “Now whether that leads to us ending up signing a bunch or not, we’ll see.
“Like I said, there’s limitations there. But we’d like to be as aggressive as we can to try to improve our football team.”
Thompson was Green Bay’s general manager from Jan of 2005 through Jan. of 2018. And for the majority of those 13 years, the Packers hibernated during the free agency period.
Thompson signed seven unrestricted free agents during his first two seasons. Then in his final 11 years as GM, he signed just seven more.
Gutekunst, a first time general manager, appears willing to take far more risks than his conservative predecessor did. And that approach has given a jolt to many in the organization — including McCarthy.
“We’ve spent pretty much our 12 years here really focusing on improving from within,” McCarthy said. “But we need outside resources, we’ve determined that. But at the end of the day it’s a market, it’s a market that every team is involved in and we’ll see what happens.”
Thompson’s unadventurous approach was always somewhat mystifying.
Thompson was groomed under Ron Wolf, who signed 30 unrestricted free agents during his nine seasons as Green Bay’s G.M. — an average of 3.33 per year. Other Wolf protégés such as John Dorsey, Reggie McKenzie and John Schneider were all extremely active in free agency after getting their chance to run a team.
For the most part, though, Thompson chose a different path. Even though the Packers hit free agency home runs with cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett, he began avoiding that roster building approach like Barry Sanders once eluded tacklers.
Thompson signed just one UFA per season between 2007-’09. Then between 2010-’16, Thompson’s only trip to free agency came when he signed both washed-up center Jeff Saturday and defensive end Anthony Hargrove in 2012.
The Packers were dormant during free agency between 2013-’16, before he signed tight end Martellus Bennett and guard Jahri Evans in 2017.
Odds are when free agency begins, Gutekunst’s approach will be substantially different than Thompson’s.
“I think right now we’re just trying to improve our team overall,” Gutekunst said. “We have a really good team, some really good players. There’s been a lot of change, the coaching side and obviously the personnel side and stuff like that. But I don’t think we’re very far off.”
Green Bay is expected to have between $16-$19 million of salary cap space when free agency begins. That number could rise substantially if the Packers either release or restructure the contracts of players such as wideouts Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, right tackle Bryan Bulaga and outside linebacker Clay Matthews.
The Packers need a major upgrade on the defensive side of the ball, most notably at outside linebacker and cornerback. Opponents had a passer rating of 102.0 against Green Bay in 2017 — the worst mark in franchise history. And the Packers ranked 17th in sacks with 37.0 as oft-injured Nick Perry and Matthews missed time again.
Offensively, there’s been a gaping hole at tight end since Jermichael Finley suffered a career ending neck injury in 2013. And the wide receiver group could use a major influx of speed.
Gutekunst said Green Bay’s pre-free agency meetings have been more intense than recent seasons. And the Packers hope their aggressive approach will soon fix some of what ails them.
“It’s a smaller market (of players) and it’s a little bit riskier market,” Gutekunst said of free agency. “So I think as my mentor and predecessor (Thompson) would say, you have to be very cautious as you enter that. But I think we’d like to look at every option we can.”
Show him the money: The Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have begun negotiating a new contract.
Rodgers has two years left on the five-year, $110 million extension he signed in 2013, and is now the sixth-highest paid quarterback in football. Green Bay would like to make Rodgers the highest paid quarterback in the game.
Rodgers is scheduled to make $20.9 million in 2018 and $21.1 million in 2019. But the Packers would love to have something done sooner rather than later.
“I don’t know if there’s pressure,” Gutekunst said. “I think we certainly would like to get it done sooner rather than later. When you have the best player in the National Football League, it’s not going to be inexpensive, you know what I mean? Obviously Aaron is a high priority, he’s a great player and I think that should take care of itself at some point.”
Looking for a home: Ty Montgomery continues to be a player without a position and could play both wide receiver and running back in 2018.
Montgomery, a third round draft choice in 2015, began his career as a wide receiver. But Montgomery moved to running back when injuries decimated the Packers’ backfield in 2016 and led Green Bay with 457 rushing yards.
Montgomery was penciled in as Green Bay’s top running back prior to the 2017 season. But Montgomery suffered rib and wrist injuries and played just 26.2% of the time.
In his stead, rookies Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones ran with their opportunities and were clearly more natural running backs than Montgomery ever was.
Now, with Montgomery entering the final season of his rookie contract, the Packers have to figure out how he fits their offense — or if he fits at all.
“Ty is a very, very versatile player,” Gutekunst said. “He can do a lot of things. I think having a guy like that (means) we can kind of plug him in where we need him.
“I thought he was an outstanding running back. Making that transition is not an easy one, and I thought he did it fairly quickly. I think we’re big on trying to acquire as many versatile players — whether it be on offense or defense — as we can, and Ty is one of those guys. So I think he can do a multitude of things. I don’t think you have to pigeon hole him in one thing.”
In three seasons, Montgomery has played in just 29 of 48 games (60.4%). And McCarthy admitted that availability, more than anything, has held Montgomery back.
“First thing, Jamaal and Aaron did a lot of good things and probably the most important statistic for me in evaluating players as we move forward to the next season is availability,” McCarthy said. “I have a depth chart board in my office and it has their picture, their original tag, their number, and it has a tag of their play time.
“Play time is really the reflection of availability. None of our running backs this year were available for the whole season. So that’s the first hurdle, the first challenge that they need to meet. In Ty’s particular case, his availability the last three years has been his challenge. But he’s a multi-positional player. So he’s a running back, to answer your question, but he gives us great flexibility to use him so many different ways. That won’t change.”
King of the castle: McCarthy said that cornerback Kevin King, whose rookie season was cut short after labrum surgery on Dec. 12, is progressing well.
King, a second round draft choice whose left arm gave him fits throughout the year, looked like a No. 1 cornerback at times a year ago. If King can make it back from injury, he could be the lockdown corner Green Bay has been missing since Sam Shields’ career ended in 2016.
“He’s what we thought he was when we drafted him,” McCarthy said of King. “I really like the way he plays with his length. The game comes, some guys it just kind of comes easier to than others. So that speaks a lot to his experience, his instincts, his awareness. He’s very comfortable out there playing on the island.
“So he knows his body type and he does a great job playing to it. Has a good understanding. You know, the exciting part is he’s young, he’s raw as far as where he is in his development physically. And I think now that he’s got the shoulder surgery that he’ll really be able to build off of what he did accomplish last year.”
The great mistake: Former Packers tight end Martellus Bennett will count $4.2 million against the salary cap in 2018.
Bennett signed a three-year, $21 million contract with a $6.3 million signing bonus last March. The Packers released Bennett on Nov. 8 with a failure to disclose an injury designation.
The Packers filed a grievance against Bennett to recoup some of that signing bonus, but an arbitrator for the NFL dismissed that complaint Tuesday.
“It doesn’t change the course of what we were going to try and do,” Gutekunst said. “That was a legal thing that we were kind of hoping turned out a different way, but at the same time it won’t affect how we’re going to go about our business moving forward.
No Ted: Ted Thompson, Green Bay’s senior advisor to football operations, will not attend the Combine. Previous reports said he would.
Around the NFC North: Minnesota’s three quarterbacks — Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater — could all become unrestricted free agents in two weeks. And Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said no decisions have been made as to who the Vikings will be bringing back. “We’ll try to make sure we’re finding the best fit for the Minnesota Vikings. Just to make clear, there have been no decisions made – I know it’s been a thousand reports out there on how we’re going to move forward. We will continue to evolve this process.” … The Chicago Bears released guard Josh Sitton — a Green Bay Packer from 2008-’15 — last week. “Every year we sit down with the staff, we evaluate our entire roster,” Bears general manager Ryan Pace said. “Every player is carefully analyzed, and as we went through it we just had a decision to make — if we were going to exercise the option in his contract and we decided against that.”
The post Combine notes: Packers will be aggressive in free agency appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
Continue reading...
