I Feel a Draft In Here

I enjoyed this draft immensely. The junction of college football and pro football (my two favorite spectator sports) is tons of funs to watch. The NFL will soon air the first round on its own night and then show round 2 and 3 the next night. And for good reason, because it's good football fun at the halfway-until-football-comes-back mark.

Now I'm not a paid NFL talent evaluator, but I thought several teams did well. I will start with the ACME Meat Employees.

I wanted Raji a month ago. Of all weakness, I hate to be run on the most. Getting the biggest fattest guy in the draft was my hope. I am glad to have had the choice and I am glad we selected him. Give me D-line depth please. He was the consensus #1 D-Linemen. Ours. Minnesota has led the lead in rushing D for 3 years because they have 2 huge fat guys. It's not even disputed. Glad to have a highly rated fat guy.

When the jingle came on and I heard (of all things!) the Packers traded up I was all aflutter.

The Packers select Clay Matthews

Warrior of Troy

Son of Clay, and Clay before him

Nephew to Bruce Matthews, Master of Durability

Needless to say, I love this pick. He plays like a downhill long jump skier, with a forward lean. We need a blitz/cover OLB and we TRADED up to get him. With our first 2 picks we filled 2 major holes. The defense became so much easier to envision in 2 hours. Matthews as weak OLB, opposite of Kampman playing over the tight end. Hawk and Nick in the middle. Viola. Raji, Pickett, Jenkins, Jolly, Harrell. On the line. I like it.

Then in later rounds we get bigger. Big strong tackle, and then we sneak up and get another big tackle. Big FB to lead Block. Then a D-Line pick.

I also like the Underwood pick. Underwood was on his way to being a stud at Ohio State, but he flunked out. That's what we need is guys who are too dumb to stay at Ohio State. That's talent.

Draftiness

What a wild moment with Michael friggin' Crabtree and BJ Raji still on the board, eh? Fun stuff. I kind of wanted Crabtree, thinking about him on one side and Jennings on the other for the next six years, but Raji makes far more sense. Honestly, I think drafting another wideout would have forced the Packers to make a losing trade of either Driver, Jones or Jordy Nelson, and probably would have ruffled Jennings' feathers in a serious manner-- not good given the team and his agent are in the middle of contract negotiations. Plus, I read somewhere that Jennings and Crabtree have the same agent. What weirdness that would be. Finally, if the team drafted Crabtree and reupped Jennings, that would be devoting a ton of money to the two players at the same position. Kind of a weird scenario.

My main concerns with Raji were (after reading far too many comments from Greg Bedard over at the Journal-Sentinel's Packer blog) (1) I was skeptical that he'd make a good 3-4 nose tackle, and was more suited to be a run stopped in a 4-3 front, and (2) the general fact that defensive tackles have a pretty high bust rate. (Ahem.) But he was the consensus top defensive tackle in the draft, and the Packers d-line totally let them down last season. Plus, that for someone who loathes Notre Dame, that remarkable highlight against the Irish is about the funniest thing ever.

The Clay Matthews pick is fascinating. First, there's just him as a player-- three immediate relatives were great NFL players, a walk-on at USC, redshirting, kicking ass on special teams, growing taller and gaining a ton of good weight, earning a schollie and then turning into a stud in his last season. Yeah, and he graduated with an International Relations degree four months ago. Whoa. His tapes make him look pretty relentless, with fine change of direction, and good ability to flight off blocks-- a big weakness for the team's current crop of linebackers. I suppose he's someone who could eventually supplant Poppinga, or replace Kampman after this next season, if the plan to move him to an LB position doesn't work out. Cool stuff.

My enthusiasm for the pick is tempered by the opinion of a close friend who covers USC football as a beat writer for a SoCal paper. He didn't trust Matthews, in large part, because of his lack of experience (he only started about 80% of one season), and because of his sudden weight gain-- something like 20 pounds of muscle in about a year. Of course, the three top notch USC linebackers were drafted in the exact opposite order of how he thought they should have gone-- since he also thought Cushing was injury prone, dumb, and on a Bill Romanowski like regime of performance-enhancing substances.

Then there's the cost of the Matthews pick-- both third round picks and the team's second rounder. Pretty damn steep. And when you hear it's the Pats on the other side-- well, you have to think your guys have been hood-winked. Hell, even Thompson said the way things worked out on the draft value chart weren't "great." But two things make me okay with it. First off, Thompson (and some other folks) seem to believe that the Packers have a pretty solid core, and don't have a ton of holes. (Whether this is an accurate view is something to be debated.) Second, there was the cacophony of opinions that this was a historically weak draft. If that's the case, and Matthews, as Thompson said, was a guy they had been talking about for weeks and thinking of ways to acquire, then I applaud their decision. Seriously. When confronted with a weak draft, moving up and sacrificing quantity for quality makes sense. What good are three picks in a crappy draft? How do they compare to one pick for a guy that you viewed as a legitimate talent and have been targeting and thinking about for weeks? Makes good sense to me. Of course, history will be the ultimate judge. It's quite likely some guys taken after Matthews or when the Packers would have picked in the second and third round will turn out to be excellent players.

But in defense of my theory, this morning, after taking a hard look at the guys available, the Pats went out and traded away two of their third round picks, for two second round picks next year. Maybe this draft is weak, and the Matthews trade did make sense, eh?

Hope against Hope

I am holding out hope, my fingers tightly crossed, that the Packers will be in position to use the ninth overall pick to draft this guy:


I'm not joking.

Draft in the Attic

Momentous events, like the signing of ex-Steeler safety Anthony Smith, the tendering of Atari "Sega" Bigby, and, yes, the blockbuster trade of triple J, aka JJ Jansen Golden Domer long-snapper extraordinaire, have passed without comment on this website. For that, I apologize fecitiously. I do somewhat regret letting the UW Spring Game and the build up to the NFL Draft (the best "watch while lifting weights" sporting event ever) go by without comment. But, what can you do? Life jumps up on you like a drooling, overeager Neapolitan Mastiff, and certain things fall by the wayside.

Anyhow, I'll try to make up for the hiatus by starting some discussion on the Spring Game, the general state of the UW football program and the NFL Draft over the next few weeks. I suppose I'll begin by being lazy and sharing what I'm reading and enjoying, these days.

To begin, I found this "scout's take" on the Packers and their draft needs, as related by Bob McGinn, to be quite fascinating. Whoever McGinn talked to didn't see a lot of holes in the team, which is encouraging. But at the same time, although this might not have been what McGinn asked him to do, he didn't ladle out strong praise for any Packer players. That seems to be the problem with this team. Solid, but lacking in the star/difference-maker department. Or maybe I'm wrong and Woodson, Collins, and Jennings are all legitimate stars, and A-Rodg is on his way? Hmmm.

I also stumbled across this fascinating piece in Football Outsiders, doing a full-on rehashing of the '03 draft, six years down the road. That was the draft where the Packers tabbed Nick Barnett at the end of the first round. Although they misstate Barnett's accomplishments slightly (he was not a Pro Bowl alternate this past season), they seem to think that the choice was a solid one. They also liked the Javon Walker pick in the '02 draft. I guess Sherman's picks weren't always so bad, eh? Anyhow, the analysis suffers a bit by only doing comparisons of picks within each position-- thus concluding that Barnett was a good pick for '03 linebackers, and Walker was the best of the '02 receiver class. A more critical look might redo the entire draft based on actual contributions, or, more harshly, show which players your team could have had at their spots instead of the guys they took. For example, instead of Barnett, Sherman could have drafted the league's current top corner Nnamdi Asomugha, current top tight end Jason Witten, or the agitating but fabulous wideout Anquan Boldin. Or, hell, even repeat Pro Bowl LB Lance "Rance" Briggs. (It looks like FO thinks Barnett's career has topped Rance's. I don't buy that one.)

Designated Drivers

Seriously, get one. This type of crap is getting really tired. And who flees from the cops? They should show the entire UW football team the internet footage of that guy trying to steal the Krispy Kreme delivery truck from the Freedom on Old University. Madison is just not a big enough city where you're going to be able to escape from the cops.

Plus, you'd think that during some intense physical training regimine would not be the time to go out on random benders, but rather eat really well and get a lot of sleep. Just straight dumb, my friend. And he seemed like such a nice, jolly kid. He has a great smile. Sigh. Can you say undrafted? If so, you've said it all.

And so it ends...

The Packers just traded away their final pick, a 7th round draft choice, number 237, in exchange for the New Orleans Saints 6th round draft pick next year. Not a bad swap, and it brings Packer fans to the end of the road, draft-wise. (Though it'll be interesting to see what free agents the team signs in the next few days.)

The headline pick today is obviously a second quarterback-- LSU's national championship winning Matt Flynn. Sure, two QBs in one class is odd, but hell, why not take him? Flynn fails on both of the readily available predictive stats (completion percentage and games started), but he's made some nice throws, was an excellent college player and a good runner. Now at least the Packers can release those two random dudes who are taking up space on the team's roster, pretending to be NFL quarterbacks. (My apologies to Dalton Bell and Jerry Babb; it's nothing personal.) He was a seventh round pick. That late in the draft, why not take flyers on guys with some potential, but a high chance of doing nothing? It's just a seventh round draft pick, after all.

That's also my opinion of Brett Swain, the Packers' other 7th rounder. He's another Caucasian wide receiver, this time from San Diego State. Who knows if he'll turn out, but he's big and fast. Might as well give him a shot.

What's more serious and probably more important for the team in the long run, are the additions in the earlier rounds. The team addressed areas that need competition and improvement, like offensive line, tight end, and defensive end, with guys that look like they have a lot of potential.

There's the hilariously named Jermichael Finley, who looks like a very solid prospect out of Texas. Finley left after three years, and had a bunch of big games last year, including over 100 yards receiving against Oklahoma. He's 6'4", 240, has soft hands, and can move. Good stuff. Plus, since he's from Texas, you know he has natural ability. True enough, according to Rivals, Finley was the number 6 tight end prospect out of high school his senior year. That kid is raw, but he reeks of potential. As Kiper said, had he stayed another year and gotten more consistent, he would have been a first rounder. It's great that we're getting a guy with that kind of ceiling, especially at a position where we have a solid starter in Donald Lee.

Then there's Jeremy Thompson, brother of Packer back-up tackle Orrin Thompson--a big fast, mobile, smart, physical end from Wake Forest. Not much in the way of sack stats, but Wake Forest plays a funky defensive scheme. And the kid had a 60+ yard interception return for a touchdown-- as a d-lineman. Sounds good to me. Sign him up. The more athletic and sizeable defensive linemen the better. Put some pressure on KGB and Cullen Jenkins to get better.
And then the offensive linemen started rolling in. A tackle from Central Florida, Josh Sitton, who's expected to jump right into the guard competition, and an enormous (6'7" 300#) long-term right tackle prospect in the Massachusetts-by-way-of-Brazil Breno Giacomini from Louisville-- another talented athlete who needs more seasoning. Great. Tauscher probably has another couple decent years left. I like it. Bring it on.

This Packers draft reeks of long-term thinking, promoting competition, and the mixture of commitment to the BPA (best player available) with a realistic balancing of needs. For a mostly young team, I love it. This is a thinking man's draft. Competition at guard, end, and receiver, possible successors at corner and tackle, legitimately talented back-ups to A-Rodg. I'm into all of it. Congratulations to Ted and the scouting staff. Now get em' signed and coach em' up, McCarthy!

Another Awesome Jordy Nelson Story

The hits just keep on coming with this young man. See here. Goodness, do I hope he turns into a good NFL receiver.

Well, Harumph

I was hoping I could find some quote from the Dolphins' personnel people about how they were disappointed that the Packers drafted Brohm, and thus forced them to draft Michigan's Chad Henne. (Miami picked Henne immediately after the Packers picked Brohm.) My motivation was not just to feel better about Brohm, but also to have some ammunition against my Dolphins fan friend. Alas, it was not to be.

Asked about the Packers' pick and its effect on their decision, Miami's Jeff Ireland said "We took a deep breath when (the Packers) took a quarterback who wasn't the one we coveted." Face.

TT, of course, felt the other way, though he seemed reluctant to put down Henne, saying "I think they're both. . . obviously, they went back-to-back there. It was close. We liked both those guys. But the way we went through the process, we had Brohm in a position where we'd take him first."

Bob McGinn Remains Prescient

Bob McGinn, one of the veteran Packer specialists at the Journal-Sentinel's Packer Insider website, is a heck of a sportswriter. He's one of those guys that does a tremendous amount of legwork with scouts all year round, and provides great previews and evaluations of opposing teams. He was also perhaps the only print writer out there to pick the Packers to win the division last year, believing that their young talent would jell. And he's done it again this year-- in an article put up on Friday, he accurately predicted that Ted Thompson would be confronted with several guys of equal talent at the end of the first round, and would trade down slightly. Ding, ding, ding! McGinn is right again. He's a modern-day NFL Nostradamus. (I overstate the case for Bob's predictive ability a tad-- he did predict the Packers would take that Tennessee receiver, Meacham, in the first round last year.) I'm happy to have you covering my team, Mr. McGinn. Keep up the excellent work.

First Day Aftermath

So I think, as a Packer fan, you have to like what happened, although the order in which things happened was a little off-putting. I mean, trading down again? I thought we had decent depth finally and didn't need to stockpile picks? And a receiver with our first pick? With the emergence of James Jones, it looked like receiver was the most stocked position on the team.

But then you look around for K-State highlights, and Jordy Nelson seems like a serious stud-- a guy who carried his team's offense, a high school sprint champion, big, strong, great hands, fast enough, big plays against other good opponents. And then you remember that Jennings missed several games with his hamstring problem last year, and that Driver is getting pretty darn long in the tooth, and you start to feel better about the pick. Especially when you think about how Thompson's other receiver picks have turned out-- those are Jennings and Jones, folks.

Then Brian Brohm-- again, not instinctively a position of need, but A-Rodg hasn't proven he can stay healthy and the team hasn't signed a decent veteran back up. And Brohm was a stud in college when not injured-- precise, accurate, savy. The commander of a Louisville offense that just annihilated opposing defenses. Plus, Brohm excels in the two college stats that are the most reliable predictors of NFL success-- number of starts and completion percentage. Brohm has been playing since he was a true freshman, and he completed two-thirds of his passes. Accuracy, durability and experience; attributes that can't be taught, folks. Now it's true he's been, you might say, in an odd type of coddling bubble since he was a high-schooler-- he's from Louisville, was coached by his dad, treated along with Michael Bush like a local celebrity for years, and most worrying of all got Louisville to agree to hire his brother as a coach. But he's a smart kid, and has been a great QB. The only rap on him is he doesn't operate that well when pressured, and that he's not that mobile. Well, that's certainly a big change from Favre, for sure. But Favre spoiled us for his entire career with his uncanny ability to avoid pressure and still make big plays. That's a rare attribute for a QB. Also, the West Coast offense, with short drops and quick throws, is designed to reduce pressure. Brohm will be a fascinating guy to watch, and you have to feel good about McCarthy having another talented guy to develop at that position.

And wrapping up the first day, Patrick Lee-- finally the corner everyone was waiting for. Lee is a physical specimen (over six feet, under a 4.4 forty), is used to playing physical man on man coverage, and was great last fall for Auburn. The only worry is that he just started one and a half seasons. But sometimes it takes a while for the light to come on. He should be a good addition to the understudies for Al and Woodson.

So a corner, a legitimate QB prospect, and a dynamic wideout-- all in the first two rounds. At the end of the day, I approve. But, as a fan, the order threw you off. Memo to TT-- "quit playing games with my heart."

Most Amusing Mock Draft

Is, unsurprisingly, put out by Football Outsiders. See here. I highly recommend the commentary that accompanies the first round picks of the Chiefs, Broncos and Lions. Certain fans of certain doobie smoking Kansas Jayhawks should also be pleased.

Jack Ikegwuonu, Free at Last?

The Journal-Sentinel has relayed a report that former Badger starting cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu has finally, at long last, reached a plea deal with the DeKalb County State's Attorney's office to dispose of his residential burglary charges. If you're a Badger football fan, you remember the situation-- he and his wacky twin, Bill, apparently got busted for breaking into someone's apartment in DeKalb, Illinois, allegedly in effort to snatch an Xbox. (Little did they know that system would be obsolete in less than a year!) Here's the pertinent quote:

"According to profootballtalk.com, which cited a source close to the situation, Ikegwuonu will be on probation for 24 months and must perform 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass. A felony charge of residential burglary was dismissed."

This makes you wonder-- is the plea part of the reason Jack left UW early? What would have happened if he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor while still being a scholarship athlete at UW? Would he have been kicked off the team? Suspended? Maybe the plea deal wasn't reached until after the college season was over because Jack knew he'd get suspended from the team had he pled guilty during the season? Weird stuff.

The rest of the article covers how Jackie I's devastating knee injury (suffered while going through private pre-draft training) has hurt his draft status. While it contains some odd tidbits (one scout describes him as a "con man"), it also relays the excellent news that Jack kicked ass on the Wonderlic, scoring a 29. In comparison, the top rated cornerbacks in the draft (McKelvin from Troy, Rodgers-Cromartie from Tennessee State, Jenkins from South Florida, and Camp Lambeau favorite Aqib Talib) scored 13, 19, 16, and 17, respectively. Your cornerbacks may be more ethical and, umm, better, but our cornerbacks are evil geniuses! Take that, world.

NFL Rookie Salary Limits

I was listening to ESPN radio's Mike and Mike on the way into work this morning, and they had the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on. The two hosts advocated for a predictable rookie salary structure, like the NBA has, and asked Goodell what he thought. To my surprise, he totally agreed with it. Like the hosts, he thought that a structured system (that would, essentially, take money away from the top picks) would be good for the NFL because it would mean more salary cap room would be spent on veterans salaries, instead of handing it off in huge amounts to unproven players.

As a fan, I totally support the idea because (A) the huge salaries top draft picks command can make a bad team even worse if the player is a bust and the draft should be about helping bad teams get better, and (B) I'm tired of holdouts. Holdouts can ruin rookie seasons and limit a player's development. And they piss fans off. (I think that's a big reason why Packer fans turned on so quickly Terrell Buckley-- because he was a high pick who had a lengthy holdout. His relationship with the team started off terribly.)

So I'm tired of this crap. The draft is fun. Talking about the draft is fun. Researching and evaluating the guys your team picks is fun. Waiting forever for players that you were excited to see play sign a contract is the farthest thing from fun. Anything that puts an end to holdouts and gets the salaries of the first ten or so picks under control is alright with me. I know the owners want it. So do the older, lower drafted players. Do it already, NFLPA.

21st Century Badger and Packer Draft Busts

This article at Football Outsiders has some interesting info. It analyzes the drafts from 2000 to 2003 and tries determines which players were stars or busts. It's method is comparing the salary of the player to the average salary a player who is drafted at that slot makes in his career. The article explains it in full.

Anyhow, the list of top busts is a straight bummer for Packer/Badger fans. Check it out:

Top 20 Busts, 2000-2003
Pick	Player	Team	Position
2	Charles Rogers	Lions	WR
10	Jamal Reynolds	Packers	DE
12	Wendell Bryant	Cardinals	DT
23	Rashard Anderson	Panthers	CB
21	Sylvester Morris	Chiefs	WR
29	R. Jay Soward	Jaguars	WR
22	Chris McIntosh	Seahawks	T

Poor Wendell. I have such fond memories of him. And McIntosh's career was derailed by injuries. Reynolds was just a straight bust, and the first harbinger that the Sherman as GM era was going to be problematic. Redeeming this somewhat is that KGB, Kampman and Tauscher are all rated as "Second Day Steals."

Draft Needs

Right, so the conventionally correct mantra in the draft is to always "take the best player available". And I certainly approve of that strategy. Success in the NFL is mostly having great players and exploiting them. So I encourage the Packers to take whoever they think might turn into a great player. But we're not scouts and thus are generally unaware of which players are best suited for the NFL. I certainly have no idea whom the best player available at pick 30 will be. So, since that's generally beyond us, let's talk about the conventional sports fan's approach to evaluating a draft-- filling needs.

Even with Brett retiring, the Packers look to be a pretty solid team, especially if guys come back relatively healthy from various injuries (like Jolly at DT, Wynn at RB and Blackmon at CB). But the Packers losses last season exposed their weaknesses and lack of depth and/or talent in some areas. Those should be obvious to most of us-- cornerback, offensive line, and pass rushers. The cornerback situation should be pretty obvious to all of us-- Al Harris got torched repeatedly in big games last season, specifically against Burress in Ice Bowl II and against TO in Dallas. He no longer can hold up against great wide receivers. The fact that the team doesn't feel comfortable even playing Woodson against these guys, instead of Al, should indicate that he's in trouble as well. Charles still has excellent ball skills, but he just can't compete physically with the top guys because of all his chronic injuries. And the back-ups there have some talent, but they're all unheralded guys, and either haven't been consistent (Bush, Trammon Williams) or healthy (Blackmon). An influx of talent that created more competition there, even for a starting spot, would be a good thing.

The offensive line is an enigma. There are games like the Seattle playoff game, when Brett got good time and the running game looked unstoppable. And then there are games like IBII (Ice Bowl II) and the last Bear game, where it looks plain awful. I think Wells (the center) and Sptiz are adequate. But Clifton's best days are behind him, Tauscher's getting there, and Colledge is hit or miss. Especially without Brett out there scaring other teams and keeping the sack rate down with his shiftiness, the team needs a more dominant line.

Finally, the pass rush. You never really got to see it operating at full speed, since KGB got hurt right when Cullen Jenkins was starting to get healthy. But certainly, despite Kampman's solid stats, none of the ends are dominant, and the team has no dynamic interior rusher. The NFL is a passing league, and better pass rushers are needed to keep the Packers competitive.

So that's this fan's wish list for Saturday and Sunday-- cornerback, offensive line, and pass rushers.

Trading Favre

So Favre apparently reacted to the Packers' inability to acquire Randy Moss in the same way as many Packer fans and some posters to this website--with seething anger at Ted Thompson. In fact, Fox Sports reported that Favre was so upset that Moss ended up in New England that shortly after the draft his agent called the Packers and demanded a trade. Then, McCarthy tried to call Favre for a week and Favre dodged his calls. Finally, they spoke and Favre was talked off the ledge, as it were, and dropped his trade demands. But he remains pissed about the Pack not trading for Randy. In fact, he made various comments about how the team may be rebuilding, and how he's not sure if they're planning to "win now" and ponders whether the team is trying to tell him to retire.

Some Packer fans might react to this story with horror-- the best player in franchise history wants out because he thinks the team stinks! Others might view this as verification of their already dismissive opinion of the team's general manager, Ted Thompson. (E.g., "We've got lots of salary cap money, so where are the free agents?" "Why wouldn't he give a third or second round pick for Moss?" "Why the hell didn't we draft [insert high profile offensive skill position player]?") Personally, I find this really funny and a little bit sad. Funny because of the absurdity of the request and his behavior, and sad because it seems that Brett places his own interests above the teams'. I guess this kind of thing happens at the end of someone's career.

First, there's absolutely no way, at this point, that the Packers would trade Favre. In their minds, I'm quite sure that last year was supposed to be the rebuilding year (massive personnel turnover, offensive line revamp, new coaching staff), and now they may actually be eyeing a playoff spot. So if there was any time when they would have considered trading him, it would have been after the 4-12 season. Such a move would have signaled a full on, and perhaps necessary, rebuilding effort. But now they seem to think they can create a team that will be competitive for a long period of time without going through an ugly transitional period. Having Favre at the helm is a key portion of this "rebuilding while maintaining some decency" plan. He'll keep the team's offense somewhat afloat while the brass builds a strong defense, finds new stars to take over on offense, and grooms (or finds) his successor at quarterback.

Second, Brett's reactions to the team's decisions are hilarious. Calling and demanding a trade after a personnel move falls through is like what I used to do in grade school. When I was over at a friend's house and everyone would decide to play a game I didn't like, I'd just say "ok, then I'm leaving," go get my stuff and start to walk away. More often than not, my friends would cave and we'd end up doing something I liked better. Brett's second move, dodging Coach McCarthy's calls, is more Mean Girls-esque. It has a very high school feel-- I don't want someone to tell me why I'm being irrational so I'm just not going to talk to them! What is this, the Breakfast Club? Is Ted Thompson a modern day Dick Vernon? Talk about being spoiled. It looks like ESPN's constant hero-worshiping has sunk in a little too far.

But third, he's probably right about the team valuing sustainable long term success more than short term success. Why else wouldn't Thompson be willing to give up a third round draft pick for Randy Moss? They know that Moss would be a short term loan. He'd be looking to come into a decent offensive system, catch a bunch of bombs, resuscitate his reputation, and sign some T.O. like free agent deal with a better team. That was apparently one of the sticking points--he only wanted a one-year deal, but the Packers wanted two years. It's clear that management would rather develop a potential replacement at left tackle or find a new starting safety or wide receiver than borrow a talented, petulant and under-performing wideout for one season. Can anyone really blame them?

Fourth and finally, Brett doesn't seem to realize that these moves may make more sense for the team. Not overpaying iffy free agents, not reaching for offensive skill position players, and not giving away a solid draft pick for a one-year gamble are decisions that make long term sense. They may not make more sense to him, personally. But maybe he's forgotten, maybe we've all forgotten, that he isn't the team. That it's not all about going 10-6 his last season, or getting him back to the playoffs, or him breaking Elway's record for career wins. It's about the team being consistently successful, even after he's gone. He seems to have forgotten that, and it looks like many fans have forgotten as well. Maybe it's time we all start to remember.