2019 NFL Free Agency/A Busy Day for Green Bay

[HiAndTight]

Nelson never seemed like a guy who was 100% football to me. I don't mean that he didn't work hard or something, just that family was bigger and there was more to his life than football. Just got that sense from interviews over the years that he really was at peace being at home and working with his foundation. I doubted he was interested in relocating again.

 

I got the same idea about him. I think he's one of those guys that will step away from the game, and the only time you'll hear about him is when he's inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, and for various reunions every few years. He's smart enough to be a terrific coach, but also smart enough not to stay far away from coaching, if you know what I mean.

 

 

Would I be correct in assuming you meant smart enough TO stay far away from coaching and the "not" in there was in error?

 

 

I know Jodry's a family man, but I don't remember how many children he has. For some reason I can picture him in a flannel shirt in a family pic with like 5 kids around him. If I'm reading what you wrote correctly, it seems like you're saying he should stay away from coaching so he doesn't have to spend 100 hours a week at the stadium and away from his kids.

 

I'd like to see him maybe be a part time guy on a NFL Network or ESPN show. Some guys are just almost impossible to not like. Jordy was a great reciever in his prime and I don't think he was a product of Rodgers. His body control was amazing and his ability to go and keep those toes in bounds while catching a ball feet out of bounds was something he could do as well as anyone in the NFL.

 

He was also a great deep threat and route runner, and he was all these things without being a diva. AB or Beckham in GB has been discussed, but things really run smoothly when you have stars like Jordy, Driver, Jones, Jennings for 99 pct of his career. Guys who just perform without complaining.

 

 

 

Also, and this is not a call to re-sign him, but he had one of the better SB's for a WR'er all time. 9 catches for 140 yards and that was with two big early drops where he started running before he secured the ball. He could have tacked on another 60 yards. But Rodgers came back to him and he more than made up for any early errors.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I think Jordy has two biological sons and they adopted a baby girl a couple years ago. I think he'd be great on TV, but I have a hard time reconciling that with how much he loves being away from the spotlight on his farm. I think he'll disappear for the most part.

 

Personally I never really bought into any QB "making" anybody. Favre "made" so many guys but he didn't make Robert Ferguson, Derrick Mayes, Terry Mickens, etc. It always seemed like such a disservice to guys who made it at that level.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Nelson never seemed like a guy who was 100% football to me. I don't mean that he didn't work hard or something, just that family was bigger and there was more to his life than football. Just got that sense from interviews over the years that he really was at peace being at home and working with his foundation. I doubted he was interested in relocating again.

 

I got the same idea about him. I think he's one of those guys that will step away from the game, and the only time you'll hear about him is when he's inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, and for various reunions every few years. He's smart enough to be a terrific coach, but also smart enough not to stay far away from coaching, if you know what I mean.

 

 

Would I be correct in assuming you meant smart enough TO stay far away from coaching and the "not" in there was in error?

 

 

I know Jodry's a family man, but I don't remember how many children he has. For some reason I can picture him in a flannel shirt in a family pic with like 5 kids around him. If I'm reading what you wrote correctly, it seems like you're saying he should stay away from coaching so he doesn't have to spend 100 hours a week at the stadium and away from his kids.

 

I'd like to see him maybe be a part time guy on a NFL Network or ESPN show. Some guys are just almost impossible to not like. Jordy was a great reciever in his prime and I don't think he was a product of Rodgers. His body control was amazing and his ability to go and keep those toes in bounds while catching a ball feet out of bounds was something he could do as well as anyone in the NFL.

 

He was also a great deep threat and route runner, and he was all these things without being a diva. AB or Beckham in GB has been discussed, but things really run smoothly when you have stars like Jordy, Driver, Jones, Jennings for 99 pct of his career. Guys who just perform without complaining.

 

 

 

Also, and this is not a call to re-sign him, but he had one of the better SB's for a WR'er all time. 9 catches for 140 yards and that was with two big early drops where he started running before he secured the ball. He could have tacked on another 60 yards. But Rodgers came back to him and he more than made up for any early errors.

 

Yes, good catch. Typo on my part. He's smart enough not to get into coaching. I think Jordy would have had a solid, long NFL career regardless of what team he ended up with. I don't know if he would have ever been a Pro Bowl type without the Packers and Rodgers, though. But I totally agree that they guy brought terrific athleticism and awareness in his prime, which helped him easily make up for average speed for a WR. He was also an incredibly smart player who worked his butt off and led by example. He was never a transcendent star, but a team stacked with Jordy Nelson types would be a Super Bowl contender every year.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

TJ Lang hangs it up. Sitton probably not far behind him.

[HiAndTight]

TJ Lang hangs it up. Sitton probably not far behind him.

 

 

I could see both Lang and Nelson as guys who the Packers call should problems arise.

 

But more importantly, they were both good players, really solid team guys from the sound of it and just hard-nosed players who drastically out-performed expectations.

 

 

As for Jordy, I think it helps to have a great QB, but he had such good speed, was such a great route runner, and his body control was so amazing, I believe he'd have been a very good WR'er wherever he went.

 

 

He was a unique physical specimen. Kinda like the Murphy who hurt his neck returning a kick in the final pre-season game the year the Packers drafted Rodgers and Collins IIRC. A 6'2 guy with great speed. Jordy was a bit taller, a bit slower.

 

One of my favorite Packers though. Happy to see him hang it up while he can still play. Never like watching a guy trying to hang around too long when they were as good as Jordy.

 

Lang, on the other hand, may have been a much better signing than Billy Turner. That one is still a head scratcher to me...though from the sounds of it, the Packers have rebuilt their personnel department and it's again one of the best in the league, stealing away top guys from the Ravens and other well run front offices. So....maybe Turner is better than his resume suggests.

[PeaveyFury]

I think Nelson and Lang's retirement (and probably Sitton as well) reiterates that the Packers have done a really good job of identifying when a player doesn't have enough left in the tank to justify another contract. Other than Casey Hayward (which was a colossal mistake), they haven't really let a guy go that has had even modest success elsewhere and they typically play a year or two and hang it up. I'd say that Cobb and Matthews are probably going to end up playing out in a similar manner.

 

Of course, the problem has been that they weren't able to backfil the all of the holes left by those free agents that departed in TT's later years.

[OldHeidelberg]

I think Nelson and Lang's retirement (and probably Sitton as well) reiterates that the Packers have done a really good job of identifying when a player doesn't have enough left in the tank to justify another contract. Other than Casey Hayward (which was a colossal mistake), they haven't really let a guy go that has had even modest success elsewhere and they typically play a year or two and hang it up. I'd say that Cobb and Matthews are probably going to end up playing out in a similar manner.

 

Of course, the problem has been that they weren't able to backfil the all of the holes left by those free agents that departed in TT's later years.

 

Hyde was pretty good the year after he left. I was actually sort of mad they let Lang go, they replaced him with an older vet playing out the string like Jeff Saturday and the OL had a bad year. But you make a good point, the only guys in the TT era(other than QB or K) they gave large third contracts to that I remember were Jordy and Woodson(not the Packers 3rd but an aging star), Jordy promptly blew out his knee and then had one decent year before declining. Woodson was good for awhile but then they dumped him at the first sign of aging. Maybe they flushed some money down the toilet with Clifton at the end.

 

Clay may surprise you, I think he is still a pretty good player but it was time to move on.

[homer]

Lang is done. He's been hurt a ton and has 5, 6 concussions (that we know of). I doubt he'd play more than 8 games next year.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Hyde was pretty good when the Packers let him go. They just had him doing a bunch of out of position stuff, but he made a huge INT on a great read in Dallas in the playoffs.

 

The thing with Hayward is that he never would have been as good in GB. San Diego at the time had two of the best edge rushers in football and he was playing a totally different scheme that suited him really well. Obviously, it was a big time mistake, but I think GB was holding him back.

[OnTheBlack]

Hyde was pretty good when the Packers let him go. They just had him doing a bunch of out of position stuff, but he made a huge INT on a great read in Dallas in the playoffs.

 

The thing with Hayward is that he never would have been as good in GB. San Diego at the time had two of the best edge rushers in football and he was playing a totally different scheme that suited him really well. Obviously, it was a big time mistake, but I think GB was holding him back.

 

 

I don't think we were holding him back. He had a huge rookie year for us and we still had Peppers and Matthews when we traded him. But coming off that year, it looked like we had a good secondary. We still had our #1 in Shields, both Rollins and Randall looked really solid considering that they were both rookies who started their careers playing different sports and Randall...which is now more obvious, but at the time had moved from safety to CB and it appeared as though he could play there.

 

Same with Hyde. We had two relatively young safeties and nowhere to start him. That one I thought we made a little mistake on at the time, but not as big as it has turned out.

 

Heyward meanwhile had a great year his first year for the Chargers, a really good 2nd and an awful year this year.

 

Also, anyone see him being able to play outside? I did not think he could hold up outside. I thought he was exclusively a slot corner.

 

I think he should probably move to FS. Let James play SS there, Heyward can play zone and be the ball hawk he is.

 

 

 

A lot of the moves turned out really bad, but moreso in retrospect than at the time.

[JosephC]

I thought Rollins was bad from day one. Looked OK in the pre-season games, but it was obvious he couldn't run when the real games started. Combine numbers in the 40 were 4.67 and 4.58 and he was officially credited with a 4.57. That amazes me now because the eye-test would have put him at 4.8-plus when watching him on the field. I can especially remember one game against the Lions where it seemed like receiver after receiver just ran right by him...he didn't have a chance against those guys.

 

Green Bay did a horrible job with Heyward. I can remember the year him and House split time depending on who they were playing. If the other team had big receivers, then House was the one that played. To think that House ever received playing time over Heyward is pretty much mind-boggling, because House was really mediocre the first time he was with the Packers, was beyond awful in Jacksonville and was bad, bad, bad when he returned to Green Bay. The fact that the Packers gave him a second year on his second go-around in Green Bay just shows how messed up and pitiful the defensive secondary became under Thompson. At least Gutenkunst looks like he got himself a good one in Alexander.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

McCarthy did a long sit-down interview with espn.com. Nothing really mindblowing in it, typical MM stuff. But he is clearly razzed by how he was fired.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

McCarthy did a long sit-down interview with espn.com. Nothing really mindblowing in it, typical MM stuff. But he is clearly razzed by how he was fired.

 

Yep, when Demovsky put it out last night that he has a sit-down, I was expecting McCarthy to be full of bitterness. Demovsky took the one thing MM said, though (It couldn't have been handled any worse) that sounded bitter, and ran with it. I think MM actually came off pretty well in the interview, and it isn't going to hurt his chances of getting a job next season. This certainly makes Murphy look like a tool, though. I tell ya, the more he does, the less I like him.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I thought it was interesting how MM has spent a lot of time talking about taking the emotion out of things and approaching things with a level head. I remember a clip of him after the playoff loss to AZ in 2009 and he dropped to the sidelines in agony. He later talked about how embarrassing that was and how "unemotional" he is. Yet he is upset at the lack of emotion in getting fired.

 

I get it, if you're him, you want a hero's send off. I think, honestly, Murphy was probably cold because the two were friends, for the most part, and it was easier to be direct and matter-of-fact about it. I'd prefer it that way myself if I were getting fired. Just get the message out and send me on the way.

[xisxisxis]

McCarthy did a long sit-down interview with espn.com. Nothing really mindblowing in it, typical MM stuff. But he is clearly razzed by how he was fired.

 

Yep, when Demovsky put it out last night that he has a sit-down, I was expecting McCarthy to be full of bitterness. Demovsky took the one thing MM said, though (It couldn't have been handled any worse) that sounded bitter, and ran with it. I think MM actually came off pretty well in the interview, and it isn't going to hurt his chances of getting a job next season. This certainly makes Murphy look like a tool, though. I tell ya, the more he does, the less I like him.

I don't like Murphy and while you might be right, there is nothing in that article that really stands out. What alpha male is ever going to take a firing well? None. I don't want to rehash the whole McCarthy era, but there was plenty of reason to make a move SOONER, but they didn't. If they let him finish the season and he wins-out, it makes it almost impossible to fire him then. So I think the timing had everything to do with Murphy waited too long to pull the plug and he took the first opportunity to do it and that happened to be the Cardinal loss.

[JosephC]

Murphy is no Bob Harlan, that's for sure. We really got spoiled with Harlan running the show for so many years.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

McCarthy did a long sit-down interview with espn.com. Nothing really mindblowing in it, typical MM stuff. But he is clearly razzed by how he was fired.

 

Yep, when Demovsky put it out last night that he has a sit-down, I was expecting McCarthy to be full of bitterness. Demovsky took the one thing MM said, though (It couldn't have been handled any worse) that sounded bitter, and ran with it. I think MM actually came off pretty well in the interview, and it isn't going to hurt his chances of getting a job next season. This certainly makes Murphy look like a tool, though. I tell ya, the more he does, the less I like him.

I don't like Murphy and while you might be right, there is nothing in that article that really stands out. What alpha male is ever going to take a firing well? None. I don't want to rehash the whole McCarthy era, but there was plenty of reason to make a move SOONER, but they didn't. If they let him finish the season and he wins-out, it makes it almost impossible to fire him then. So I think the timing had everything to do with Murphy waited too long to pull the plug and he took the first opportunity to do it and that happened to be the Cardinal loss.

 

Definitely a catch-22. In hindsight, it should have been done last offseason, but then the wolves would have been at the door because the Rodgers injury took the blame for the poor 2017 season. Instead they took the opposite path, and gave MM MORE power instead of doing the intelligent thing and handing the football operation to Gute. That triumvirate power structure has already come back to bite them.

[xisxisxis]

Definitely a catch-22. In hindsight, it should have been done last offseason, but then the wolves would have been at the door because the Rodgers injury took the blame for the poor 2017 season. Instead they took the opposite path, and gave MM MORE power instead of doing the intelligent thing and handing the football operation to Gute. That triumvirate power structure has already come back to bite them.

oh absolutely. I wonder how much of Murphy's weird decision making had to do with the mass exodus of GM "hopefuls" at the time Gute was selected vs. just leaving because they weren't chosen. The assumption is that they just left because they didn't get the job, but not always - depends on the organization and it appears Murphy has created a bad environment. The Triumvirate was just bad leadership...

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Murphy is an ex-player, and a good one at that, Harlan was not. One had the life experience of corporate schmoozing and a career in SID, one did not. It should not come as any surprise that Murphy is weak in an area Harlan was very strong. The cold, brash firing is what I'd expect from a professional athlete.

[FVBrewerFan]

I dont like Murphy, but what is the right way to fire someone exactly? I dont get what else he could have done. After the firing Murphy talked about how MM was a good coach, good man, etc. Not sure what else hes supposed to do.

[homer]

I dont like Murphy, but what is the right way to fire someone exactly? I dont get what else he could have done. After the firing Murphy talked about how MM was a good coach, good man, etc. Not sure what else hes supposed to do.

 

I think right after the game is a little harsh. Do it the next morning.

 

But otherwise unless Murphy made fun of McCarthy's body weight or something then I don't see how he could have been unprofessional about it.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2828649-what-happened-in-green-bay?fbclid=IwAR3VjvvsAXgSMlBMaq-UyJbuCeuCqETdDp-sQv4_4DR2ODMaRJ7ZNNLvHLs

 

In contrast to the McCarthy interview...this one is...quite explosive.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2828649-what-happened-in-green-bay?fbclid=IwAR3VjvvsAXgSMlBMaq-UyJbuCeuCqETdDp-sQv4_4DR2ODMaRJ7ZNNLvHLs

 

In contrast to the McCarthy interview...this one is...quite explosive.

 

I just read it as well. Only one word can describe it ... WOW!

[OldHeidelberg]

Pretty interesting article. Adds a lot to what we all knew or suspected, McCarthy was a gameday meathead whose offense was too simple and grew stale, his teams were soft. Rodgers is a smart guy who looks down on those less bright, we knew that going back to his feud with Favre. But that article sure fills in a heck of a lot more. The players did quit when Rodgers went down.

 

It just adds a lot to how crappy a job Murphy has done overseeing things.

[FVBrewerFan]

WOW is right. Typically I don't automatically believe articles like this, but for some reason I believe every word of this. On record going back years, wanted him fired after Seattle playoff game- would have saved several years of stuck in neutral.