Reports emerged yesterday that the Green Bay Packers are likely to move on from long-time stalwart fullback John Kuhn and the reactions came pouring in from around Packers nation.  The Packers have had their share of folk heroes over their long and storied history and Kuhn certainly fits that bill.  In his nine seasons with the Packers, Kuhn scored 15 touchdowns and is credited with nearly 100 first downs, with each of them followed by the classic "Kuuuuuuuuuhn!" chant.  It appears that we have heard that for the last time with Kuhn as an active member of the Packers roster.

Kuhn joins other notable veterans that the Packers have moved on from recently, many of whom helped the team win its latest Super Bowl in 2010.  James Jones, Donald Driver, Charles Woodson, Ryan Pickett and Tramon Williams come to mind.  Jones may find a team to latch onto this season and is still active as is Williams with the Cleveland Browns.  Woodson just retired and spent his final three seasons in Oakland after the Packers chose to go in another direction.  Green Bay has been known for being one of the younger teams in the league for most of general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy's tenure.  Let a player go a year too soon before letting him stick around a year too long, is the mantra.

Despite having less experience than the bulk of teams out there, the Packers continue to churn out winning records and maintain success.  Some will argue that success is only signified by Super Bowl trophies in the case and while that isn't technically invalid, it's hard to say that the Packers have sorely held themselves back by stocking up on younger players.  I have said many times that no team has ever won a championship who didn't first qualify for the postseason.  There have been many discussion about how much better a team's odds are of winning playoff games when they have more experienced players on the roster.  I'm sure there are stats to back that up as well.  Last year's champions, the Denver Broncos, had important contributions from veterans such as Peyton Manning, DeMarcus Ware and Aqib Talib.  Manning has retired and the Broncos will now look to groom his replacement.  Good thing they won one before Manning retired after they opted to bring him in three years ago instead of bringing in a quarterback of the future.  The Broncos now find themselves with uncertainty at the most important position in the game and their fans may quickly see how things can turn in the NFL.

Some will say it's worth it to go "all in" for one year and win it all, even if it changes the complexion of the team the following year.  Fans especially seem to often be in "win now" mode and want to see their team bring in the best and most experienced guys to bolster their roster.  Others clamor for "one more year" for their beloved veterans and want to see them go out on their terms, riding off into the sunset.  By now, we understand that the Packers are sentimental only to a point.  They have long deferred to youth to build and maintain their roster and that's not changing anytime soon.  It helps that they have had major stability at the quarterback position for so long, which has surely been able to cover up some of the shortcomings that come along with having a lot of inexperience on the field.  Sometimes that inexperience is what undoes a team.  Take last year's overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals when rookie cornerback Damarious Randall lost track of Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald on a crossing route.  75 yards and one play later, the Packers' season was over.  The year prior, safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix horribly played a two-point conversion attempt against the Seattle Seahawks, allowing them to tie a game they should have never had a chance in in the first place.  So why do the Packers continue to defer to players who still have growing and developing to do?

First of all, the NFL is a young man's sport.  More than in most other sports, reaching the age of 30 usually signals the beginning of the end of most careers, especially on the financial side.  We're starting to see a trend of players leaving the game early to save their bodies and health as well.  Teams may soon find that Green Bay's model is the most viable way to operate and maintain continuity with any type of longevity.  Another reason is that younger players generally carry smaller salaries.  With the rookie pay scale, teams aren't having to invest as much in their draft classes and have quite a bit more control over a player's first four seasons.  This is one of the reasons the Seahawks were able to keep such a potent roster together.  Quarterback Russell Wilson played at a near-elite level on a third-round draft pick salary for his first three seasons.  When most teams were paying north of $20 million per season for their passer, the Seahawks were getting the deal of a lifetime.  And lastly, as I mentioned before, the Packers keep winning.  If it's working, why not stick with it?  Bovada agrees that what Green Bay is doing is working.  They have given the Packers the third-best odds to win Super Bowl XLI.  Only the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks have better odds.  This with the Packers fielding the ninth-youngest team in the league at 26.84.  The Los Angeles Rams are the youngest team at 26.05 years old, on average.

Holding over from the 2010 Super Bowl team are Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, Bryan Bulaga, James Starks, Clay Matthews, Sam Shields, Morgan Burnett, Mason Crosby and Tim Masthay.  Those players will comprise 20.7% of this year's roster.  If the Packers do win it all in 2016, they'll do it with a much different team than the one that did so just six seasons ago.  Many of the early power rankings and projections have the Packers in the mix to make a deep playoff run despite so many players with very few years in the league.  Fairly and perhaps most of that has to do with the longest-tenured Packer of them all: Rodgers and his still playing at a high level.  But we also can't totally discount the effort needed from the other guys on the field and the Packers are counting on their latest youth movement to achieve their goal of winning another Lombardi trophy.