Obviously, this is great news.

Much is being made about the possibility of Jennings becoming the second highest paid wide receiver in the league. That may seem surprising until you realize that currently numbers two and three on that list belong to Antonio Bryant (via his franchise tag) or T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Armed with that fact, Jennings coming in behind Larry Fitzgerald makes perfect sense. Naturally, the contract will seem quite different when the actual numbers make their way out into the light of day. But at first blush, the Packers have done right both by Jennings and by the club. (Of course, only in Packer Fandom could news this good be  turned into a reason to rip Ted Thompson. Go look at the comment section in the second link above. Just who the hell are these people? Thompson gets untold amounts of grief for never spending any money, and then when he signs arguably the best player on the roster to a contract extension, all these so called fans can summon is bile. The mind boggles…)

Now, of course, comes the next question for Ted Thompson and the Packers. Who’s next?

Obviously, the obvious answer would be Nick Collins. But for some reason, I don’t think we’ll see any movement on Collins’ contract any time soon. Both he and Kampman need to show how they fit into the new scheme before Thompson starts thinking about extending their deals. I would look for some second-tier players such as Daryn Colledge or Will Blackmon to get looked at before either Kampman’s or Collins’ contracts are addressed.

That’s the determination from Ross Tucker over at CNNSI. He makes this point in his latest column and I have to admit, it is something I’ve often thought about in terms of Thompson, Rodgers and the timing of Rodgers’ deal last season.

From Tucker:

Rodgers had proven he was a competent starting quarterback over the first half of the season and eventually finished with 28 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions while throwing for over 4,000 yards…you have to imagine Thompson was hoping he would be able to sign Rodgers to a deal that validates him as the franchise quarterback for the Packers. After the messy Brett Favre divorce, Thompson would have been toast in the minds of the Lambeau faithful if Rodgers had faltered. So Rodgers contract not only establishes him as the quarterback of the future in Green Bay, it also becomes the backbone for Thompson’s reasoning for moving forward without Favre in the first place. In effect, the Rodgers deal validates him and the entire Packers front office.Critics will point out the team was only 6-10 last season and Rodgers showed a chronic inability to find a way to lead his team to a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Lucky for him, it doesn’t matter. Thompson was itching to place the stamp of approval on his Favre decision as soon as possible. So as soon as a new contract for Rodgers was reasonable, he pulled the trigger.

I think this is spot on.

I think most observers were surprised, not by the size of the deal, but the timing of it. I mean, really, what was the rush? What had Rodgers accomplished? And yet Thompson felt compelled to make a statement with Rodgers’ contract. (And make no mistake - that’s exactly what it was - a statement.) Yes, people will say that Thompson got a steal signing Rodgers when he did. After all, if he continues to play at a high level, and really, there’s no reason to think he won’t, then his value surely would have continued to climb. That being the case, the argument is that the Packers got a bargain signing him when they did.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps Thompson was feeling the heat of watching Favre continue to play (and play well) in New York. Don’t forget, before Rodgers signed his contract, Favre was still injury-free and throwing a record six touchdown passes in one game. No, it wasn’t all smooth sailing in New York, even before the injury. (One need look no further than the Monday night game against the Chargers, a game that saw all the good and all the bad Favre still has to offer) But the buzz on Favre was definetly positive at that point. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to learn that Thompson wanted Rodgers’ contract extension to be the final exclamation point in his ushering Favre out the door.

I know it’s early, and there’s absolutely zero reason to panic, but wouldn’t it be nice if, just once, the Packers were AHEAD of the curve in regards to getting their draft class signed to contracts, rather than waiting until the last week of July to have them all done in what appears on the outside as a mad-dash fire drill?

Yes, I realize it matters little, if at all, but one thing that has annoyed me since Thompson took over is the fact that the Bears always get their guys locked in early and the Packers are always seemingly waiting until the last minute. (Hell, this was happening even before Thompson got here - anyone remember the story of Nick Barnett watching the first day of practice from across the street in a gas station parking lot?)

Again, realize ‘when they sign’ isn’t as important as ‘how hey sign’. Just bugs me every offseason and I thought I’d vent…

The one year contract signed by Tramon Williams is the quintessential win-win. Williams is given a sizable raise over the absolute minimum he was set to make and the Packers get another year to see if Williams can improve his overall consistency from scrimmage, not to mention the fact the team gets to see how Williams adapts to the new scheme.

Much is made about Al Harris and what everyone assumes will be his struggles with the switch, but we would be wise to remember that Williams thrived in man to man coverage, especially when he was able to be physical with receivers at the line of scrimmage while at the same time, for whatever reason, when he decided (or was told) to play off his man, he struggled mightily. (The Carolina and Atlanta games in particular were nightmarish in this regard) One of the most often things you see written about Williams is that he needs to ‘prove himself as a starter’ - this is nonsense. The guy thrived as a starter. It was when Harris came back and Williams was relegated back to nickel duty that his struggles really began. Perhaps it was as simple as his losing the ryhtyms of the game while being shuffled in and out over the course of each series. Perhaps he felt the need to press and make plays which caused him to ‘guess’ (most often incorrectly) later in the year which, predictably, led to big plays for the opposing team. Whatever the reason, if Williams can even out his play and show the Packers he can be counted on to deliver on a consistent basis, he’ll be in line for a long-term deal. And with Williams set only to be a restricted free agent next year, the Packers will have several options when it comes to offering him a tender that is in-line with his abilities. Just a great job by Thompson and the Packers and an example of the pay-as-you-go philosophy working to perfection.

Jared Allen, of all people, makes an excellent point when questioned about all the Favre nonsense:

Our offseason goals don’t change…No one expected this, or counted on this. We won the NFC North last year, without him, and we plan on doing it again…

I think Packer fans, over the course of an offseason that has been consumed by a schematic change on the defensive side of the ball and then the specter of Favre coming out of retirement, may have forgotten the admittadly annoying fact that the Vikings did indeed win the NFC North last year. Not only that, but they pretty much embarrassed the Packers the second time the teams faced each other, a game where only a smattering of big plays by Blackmon, Woodson and Collins even kept things competitive. But if you watch that game again, and believe me, it’s hard to do, you’ll see an offense that simply can not move the ball and a defense that consistently gets pushed around. It’s not a pretty picture. Yes, the Packers beat the Vikes up in Lambeau on opening weekend. But any astute observer of the NFL knows that the first few weeks of the season are never a true reflection of what kind of teams have been assembled during an offseason.

The fact remains that the Vikings won 10 games last year while the Packers won six. And the Vikings have not gotten appreciably worse over the offseason. Yes, they are still coached by Brad Childress, possibly the worst head coach in the NFL. But what Childress has  are two dominating lines, both offensive and defensive. The offensive line in particular helps Childress’ hapless offense look better than it is. (Indeed, Mike Lombardi lets it be known that in league circles the Vikings offense is known as “Day One Install” - in other words, the most basic version of the West Coast Offense). Childress can get away with a limited amount of creativity on the offensive side of the ball because his line can push people around and because he has one of the best backs in football. When you’re getting 4 to 6 yards on first down, you don’t need to get cute on 2nd or 3rd down. You just keep pounding your way down the field.

Now, have the Packers made the requisite improvements to take the North from the Vikings? I know a lot of you don’t think so. I think they have. The combination of Dom Capers and his scheme, the continued maturation of the players already on the roster along with a draft class that, unlike most Thompson drafts, should provide immediate help, especially on defense, will make the Packers a much improved team over what we saw in 2008.

No, no announcement of a Jennings extension. But there IS word from Packer Report (sorry, sub required) that Kevin Carter’s agent, Harold Lewis, and the Packers’ Director of Pro Personnel Reggie McKenzie have been keeping in touch and that their is still definite interest on both sides.  (As regular readers know, I’ve been calling for the signing of Carter since the beginning of Free Agency)

Come on Ted, pull the trigger. :) 

On a side note, kudos to Packer Report’s Bill Huber for getting the exclusive from Carter’s agent. I met Bill at Fan Fest and he was incredibly gracious and even went so far as to admit that he’d heard of Cheesehead TV. I was on Cloud Nine…

Please sign Greg Jennings to a contract extension.

Thank you very much.

Aaron Nagler
Cheesehead TV

It’s been a week since this broadcast last Monday after the draft. But you know what? You gotta save the good stuff for weeks like this. I just started diving into the WDUZ Sportsline broadcast from the day after the draft when Ted Thompson doubter extraordinaire Harry Sydney said this about his initial Packers draft grade:

I look at initial grade in the sense of Ted Thompson resisted a lot of different things, he resisted going to get - You know he could have gotten Michael Crabtree, Aaron Maybin all those different things. There’s a lot of ways he could have gone - and everything fell perfectly for him to get that one guy in my opinion … that one guy that can change the face of the team and that’s that defensive nose-guard..B.J. and he went and got him. And I was impressed with that move. That kind of fell in his lap, but I was really impressed with Ted when he went up and got Clay Matthews the 3rd.. because we had talked about the USC linebackers and having to get a linebacker … in my opinion what he did not only did he make the Packers, put them in position if these guys play through. But guess what? Their history is of making plays. He got the guys - not the guys that - oh the safe pick - he got the guys that can make this team better Right Now. I applaud him. You wanna give him a grade? He’s got an A+ in my book.

You can listen to Sportsline at the WDUZ website or at Packernet.com which has mp3 versions the day after each broadcast.

At his press conference Sunday, Mike McCarthy had the following to say about the defensive line:

So we’re trying to, if you recall two years ago we had an excellent rotation we felt in the defensive line, and we’re trying to get back to that.

It’s a little thing, but it’s incredibly important. The game of football is won from the inside out. Many of you have, correctly, pointed to the collapse of the defensive line as the biggest reason for the Packers’ defensive struggles last season. I was constant in my criticism of Thompson last offseason for not keeping the cupboard stocked, as it were, on the defensive line and I think I was proven correct by the turn of events over the course of the 2008 season. 

So now we have the above from McCarthy, which would indicate that he and Thompson have taken the painful lessons of last season to heart. But have they? I mean, I’m as excited as the next guy about the addition of B.J. Raji, but is he really the lone addition that the defensive line needs? Obviously, I’m not so sure. I do like that they are playing him both at the nose and at end. The prospect of Raji and Pickett on the line together is exciting, especially in base personnel. The trouble I see is at the other end. Who do you play? Do you put in Jenkins? You may as well put up a ‘Run the Ball To This Side’ sign for opposing quarterbacks, so that they can switch any run calls they have away from Pickett/Raji. Do you play Johnny Jolly? Possibly, but then you have Jenkins, your best defensive lineman last season before his injury, on the bench. 

OK, so it’s a fun problem to have and it’s one that, no doubt, will be sorted out over the coming months. And it is good to see McCarthy address what was a glaring issue last season with some semblance of sense. I just hope he and Thompson have not oversold themselves on their defensive line’s true talent level.