With the NFL draft coverage having been churned and churned over and over, I'm going the route of a though-provoking topic and taking a page from ESPN Milwaukee's Green & Gold Today.  Jason Wilde and Brian Dee often integrate the news of the day with a Packers spin.  So with yesterday's news that mega-star recording artist Prince passed away at the all-too-young age of 57, it got me thinking about Green Bay Packers players who have left us too soon.  Who are the biggest names that come to mind when thinking about players we wish would have stuck around a while longer?

I'm almost positive that at least 90% of you are already thinking Reggie White right now.  So to make this more of a discussion, I want to keep the discussion to players who left the Packers and played elsewhere or retired, whether by choice or due to injury.  While there may have been some in the team's nearly 100-year history, I can't think of any players who passed away while actively playing for the team so we'll keep it to the previously mentioned scenarios.  I'll start with my top five and let everyone carry it on in the comments.

5.  Bryce Paup - the old-school linebacker spent his first five seasons with the Packers in the early 1990's and was there through the transition from the doldrums to the arrival of Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren and the many key players who would lead the Packers back to a Super Bowl a few years later.  Paup played another six seasons and was effective through most of them, spending time with the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings (they were even scavenging former Packers players way back then!).  In fact, Paup was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1995, his first year away from Green Bay.  The Packers ran a 4-3 defense and had plenty of talent in their front seven while Paup was always more of a 3-4 outside linebacker.  It's still fun to think about what Paup could have added to that 1995 team that was less than a quarter away from a Super Bowl appearance.

4.  James Lofton - Lofton played nine seasons with the Packers and was the team's leader in receiving yardage until that mark was surpassed by Donald Driver many years later.  Lofton spent another seven in the league after spending time with the Los Angeles Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles.  Lofton was a key piece of the Bills teams who appeared in the first two of four-straight Super Bowls.  He obviously had plenty of tread left on the tires and given what the Packers teams were in the years after Lofton left Green Bay, he would have been a nice running mate to Sterling Sharpe, who was drafted just a few years later.

3.  Nick Collins - Packers fans still shake their head when they hear Collins' name mentioned.  After his big pick six in Super Bowl XLV, he returned to help the Packers to a thrilling opening-day win to start off the 2011 season but was lost the following week when he suffered a career-ending neck injury on a tackle attempt.  Collins had already cemented himself as one of the NFL's top safeties and one of the best in the Packers' storied history and his loss is one that the team struggled to recover from for years.  It's a lot to ask to replace a talent like Collins and what made matters worse was what the Packers had and chose to work with for the next few seasons until they drafted Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in 2014.  Collins struggled with his injury and made it known that he wanted to play football again.  His many tweets to anyone that would listen indicated that he wasn't ready to give up the game, despite the heavy risk of returning from that injury.  Collins eventually retired but he surely would have had a few more productive years in the Packers defensive backfield.

2.  Sterling Sharpe - Sharpe only played seven seasons for the Packers, but made the most of his time.  595 catches for over 8,000 receiving yards and 65 touchdowns.  The arrival of Brett Favre bolstered Sharpe's career and numbers, as he racked up over 100 catches in each of 1992 and 1993.  It was Sharpe who caught the game-winning touchdown to beat the Detroit Lions in the 1993 playoffs and give the Packers their first playoff win in nearly a decade.  Many argue that Sharpe was a shoe-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame had a neck injury in 1994 not shortened his career.  Not since James Lofton had the Packers had a true go-to receiver and it was Sharpe who often gave Packers fans one of the only things to cheer about through the late 1980's and early 1990's.

1.  Brett Favre - This story is well-known to modern-day Packers fans and there is no shortage of opinions on it.  Favre retired following the 2007 season and a gut-wrenching loss to the Giants in the NFC Championship game in which he threw an interception to end the Packers' chances of making a Super Bowl appearance.  A few months later, Favre would unretire and force the most awkward summer that the team will probably ever see again.  Favre was eventually traded to the New York Jets and spent the 2008 season there before retiring again.  Once again, Favre decided he wasn't ready to hang up the cleats and spent two seasons with the Vikings, nearly leading them to a Super Bowl in 2009.  It's easy now to say that Favre shouldn't be on this list and while Favre's departure paved the way for Aaron Rodgers to become the Packers starter and what he is today, at the time, there were many who were ready to burn Lambeau Field to the ground over the loss of old #4.  

A few others who may be on some others' lists:  Ryan Longwell, Jermichael Finley, Cullen Jenkins, Vonta Leach and Darren Sharper.  Some might say running back Ahman Green is also a candidate, having left the Packers in 2007 before returning in 2009 but Green's contributions to the Houston Texans were very minimal as he headed towards the end of his career.  And what about receiver Terrence Murphy? Another in the way-too-long line of former Packers players who had to retire following a neck injury.  

Who else would you add to this list?