I simply cannot stomach the idea of Russ Ball being the General Manager.
It's never a good idea to put a bean counter in charge of anything but counting beans.
The Packers need a real football guy in the GM position and in my humble opinion Eliot Wolf is a young man who fits the bill.

The Packers don't need Ted Thompson 2.0 as GM. If they can nail this draft, they can be right back in the thick of things.

When I heard the rumors about Russ Ball being a possible front runner, I became confused and then angered. This just can not transpire. If the rumors of MM saying he would resign if Ball became GM are true, then I just became a big MM fan.

Simply put, Russ Ball can not be hired as GM of this team. We would be going backwards from TT being GM. I'd rather give a 2019 2nd rd pick to Seattle for John S. then to give the job to Ball.

Some one please give me a positive basis for believing that Ball is the person best placed to capitalize on the last part of Rogers’ career and bring back the Lombardi trophy?

I just do not see this as being an improvement on TT. In fact, I fear it means TT’s legacy is intended to be preserved for another decade and more, but with a less direct link between player assessment and the ultimate roster decision maker.

If true, unless Ball has a stellar off season in terms of roster improvement through the draft AND other means, followed by a very successful season (i’d say super bowl appearance) I believe that it will be Murphy and Ball who may be out before MM (if the BOD still exists in anything but name).

There will be no honeymoon for this choice if true. If we lose Rogers or McCarthy at some point, Murphy will have singlehandedly gutted the organization.

For a team with a future HoF QB in place that beggars the imagination (even if you are a fire McCarthy type). Best way to lose Rogers. Well at least that will reduce salary cap pressure.

Dammit Murphy, show a little nerve and fight for Schneider or take a risk on a more aggressive person while we have Rogers. I assume this is a comfort thing for you, but that is the worst reason in the world in these circumstances and, actually, the most likely to backfire on you.

Chris, I lost you after your remark: " If Thompson had kept Micah Hyde and Casey Hayward, Green Bay would be better at corner. Hitting on Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins would have helped too."

Do you ever consider Salary Cap and future needs of the team when you explicite request containing one or more player(s)...

So far, fans darlings for FA signing showed nothing but failure wherever they signed. I do not read one request to sign FA who was later picked by Belichik, but still fans request to sign like Belichik do... Also, can you honestly say how much is Tom Brady salary and what is his salary positioon in Patriots salary cap?

I will go no further... This article is more knee jerk reaction from you, than well prepared job...

Sorry, but this is my opinion on subject...

All true. Absolutely.... the only bone to pick here is even mentioning Alvin Kamara "what if".
I personally drafted him in my auction league as I knew the guy was talented & I knew Sean Payton & Drew Brees knew how to showcase a RB with WR skills & quickness like that.
Aaron Jones can do the same stuff as Kamara!
And Jamaal Williams is Larry Johnson version2 out there. Those were 2 great draft picks.

As bad as TTs drafting has been, the biggest problem has been the physicality (or lack thereof) of the defenses. They're soft. They have mental breakdowns all the time. How many times have you seen our DBs come in for a tackle & end up hurt? We never deliver pain. We always end up in pain, & out if the game.

From Shields concussing himself vs Dallas when he had a free shot on a Cowboy to pummel him on the sideline 3 years ago, and he ended up concussing himself.
Rollins, Randall (hoop & baseball guys) and House hurt themselves on half their tackles. Morgan Burnett is always hurt.
Haha avoids physical contact if possible.....

Is it drafting nice guys? Avoiding character risks & picking too many choir boys?
Is it a strength & conditioning issue?
Was it because Capers is soft, old, half asleep?

I don't know what it is, but I know I would be thrilled to see a Packers defense as physical & fast as the Falcons last night under former Packer Marquand Manuel.

The ripple effect of this hire will effect this team for the next 7 to 10 seasons at least, Mark Murphy's decision will tells us whether it's a positive or negative ripple.

Since the Packers don't seem to do anything quickly, hiring Ball would be at a minimum a 4 or 5 year mistake, and that's just to get him out of the GM position. Maybe I'm taking a bit of a dramatic approach to this but it sure FEELS like Murphy is going to screw this up. Thompson was FIRED as the Packers GM. Fired, moved aside, whatever you want to call it, he SHOULDN'T have any input whatsoever over who the Packers hire. Yet it seems he's still driving the car even though his licence should have been taken away years ago!

His drafts have put this team in a deep hole because the talent just isn't there. No longer do we have a top WR group. We still don't have a TE and now we need a whole right side to the O-Line. The defense is still a mess and he's been using all the Packers top picks on that for YEARS! How anybody has continued to support Thompson when all you have to do is look at his drafts is just shocking to me. But if you still insist on supporting him, then just look at the Packers after Rodgers injury. Been saying it for years, the Packers are a 2-14 or 4-12 team without AR.

The Packers have the PERFECT man already in place to take over as GM and that's Wolf. This team has mucked up the draft so badly over the last 5 years for the most part they NEED a guy who knows personnel. I highly doubt Ball goes anywhere if Wolf is named GM so you still have your "Cap Guru". But if Ball is named GM then everybody bails and what do you have left? You have Thompson and Ball. The SAME jackasses who put the Packers in this position in the first place.

Great article Chris,
We've needed those difference makers for a while, and leaders, another "Charles Woodson type".
However, what you might have missed is that the Murphy loyal to Thompson, Thompson loyal to McCarthy thing is still a big part of all this.
Maybe more scary is what seems to be a Murphy/Thompson loyalty to Russ Ball when others within the organization seem to (according to reports) feel otherwise. To me it almost looks like Ball is their security blanket of sorts, a "guard the money at all costs" kinda' guy, whereas McCarthy and Rodgers, who we hope are more interested in WINNING have expressed their preference to go in a different direction. Hmmm!
I certainly don't want a GM that buries the Pack in 'Salary Cap Hell', but A GM that can (unlike Thompson) use all the tools, i.e., the draft, free agency, and trades to build a winner is a necessity.
I think it takes a 'football/personnel guy' to do that, and not a bean counter!

Ball is a TT, but without any scouting experience. Go outside for GM. Tired of this loyalty BS. It's about winning. Also, go after J. Graham, 31, but a solid buy for Rodgers. Keep R. Rodgers. Release Kendricks. Reduce contracts for Matthews, Cobb, Nelson if they wish to stay. Number one priority is a fierce pass rusher or two!! Fresh legs and pressure will improve our secondary, as will a new defensive coordinator. In drafting look at skill set, but also look at desire, brain training, motors and HEART!

Croat, this isn’t about specific free agents. All teams miss on recruitment. Rather it is about the culture of the team.

Appointing Ball, a strength and conditioning man who spent 95% of his career as an accountant sets a tone for the whole organization in terms of approach and what drives decisions: football or financials.

We’re the packers in financial distress their might be a valid reason for building such a culture. They are not. Were the Rogers era to have ended without a successor, this might also have some logic.

However, we have perhaps the best QB to have played. It is obvious that, over the last 5 years, the TT approach has not worked out. It is not just a coaching thing, we haven’t been able to put together a strong enough roster (pre injuries) to really justify a credible Super Bowl claim unless solely because of Rogers’ presence.

GB has a few more years of Rogers to climb the Super Bowl Mountain. We need a GM committed to doing so and at least trying to put us over the edge talent wise.

Managing the cap now is secondary. Once Rogers’ career ends the cap will open up considerably simply by his departure. That assumes he will stay to the end if not given the tools or a coach he is comfortable with.

Once Rogers goes, the chances are massively stacked on us being a completely different team. Lightning struck for us getting Rogers to replace Favre. Look at the struggles other teams have to find a decent QB and how few good ones there really are. Look at the period before Favre. Look at where we might be if Wolf had played it safe rather than tossing a first rounder for Favre.

Right now, of all times, a finance led culture is an anathema. IF Murphy chooses to go that way, we are building the wrong culture for our current reality.

..

TT drafted 36 defensive players in the first 4 rounds of the draft (the meat of the draft) with that he found 2 pro bowl picks - Matthews(overhill now) and Dix.

"leaving McCarthy to make decision whether he wants to continue coaching #Packers or not." So this is the big McGinn comment that a lot of people are basing their idea that MM doesn't like RB?! Really, ANY GM that Murphy hires would require MM to decide if he prefers to work for them. Since it's McGinn (my personal opinion based on reading him for years is that he is biased against Packer management) there's some innuendo that MM would want to leave but this is much ado about nothing. Personally I prefer a scout/personnel guy to be the GM, but I'm not going to say that RB (if he ends up being the guy) is doomed to failure as a GM. The one article I read about him a year or so ago painted him as a hard working, driven man who is well respected by agents who have to deal with him across the league and he wants to succeed. That doesn't strike me as attributes of someone who will automatically fail if given a chance. I like Eliot, the blood line is there and he is by all accounts as much of a personnel/scout as his father (he wrote his first scouting report at age 14). If he were to be the new Packers GM and I would be happy, but there's no more certainty that he would succeed than that Ball would fail. Let's see where this all goes before people tie themselves in knots over a decision we're not having any input in anyways. Go Packers!

Maybe its just me,
But from what I read ALL the other teams searching for new GM's are concentrating their efforts on Personnel Guys while those same articles list Ball as Murphy's front runner.
But then Murphy seems more interested in the bottom line than in winning. The Green Bay Packers are a Football Organization!

I wish I knew what to look for in a good GM. I don't. The problem as I see it (and I think it's 100% correct, but you decide) is Green Bay hasn't been able to keep up with the needed talent to keep themselves in the playoffs. Now if we use the NO example, Lattimore was a great prospect and went very early in the draft. Green Bay doesn't pick there...they pick late almost all the time. Lattimore and players like him aren't at Green Bays slot when drafted (there are exceptions but maybe one out of every three drafts). Kamara is another good player. If TT had used a 1st round pick on that guy, every poster on this board would have murdered him in print especially considering how he picked up RBs in the later round.
So now we have a guy whose father was a great GM...does that mean he's a great GM? We have two other guys internally that seem to be able to handle the GM position but nobody knows for sure but generally people want a scout verses a money guy. I would too, except those guys are hard to get and maybe the ones easy to get aren't good enough.
If TT had a fault it was with FA and not enough impact players. He didn't want to take a chance on an impact guy if he had an injury issue. Lawson from Auburn is the perfect example. He could have had him, but passed along with many others for more steady players that seemed to be healthy. Did TT know King's and Biegel's injuries were as bad as they were? I don't know, but before we dismiss King and Biegel as no impact guys give them a few years.
If they come on strong and the draft produce another playmaker...we all might be hailing the new GM.

I've read a couple times that Ted has been grooming Ball on player evaluation and that Ball has been more involved in personnel decisions the last couple years.

Haven't the last 2 drafts been better? Didn't we sign a bunch of mid tier free agents this past off-season?

Perhaps that is Ball's influence. Perhaps not. But I've seen no one mention or even consider that possibility. But if it is.. we might not be as bad off as the majority of posters here seem to think we'll be

None of us, or any authors at Cheeseheadtv know enough about Ball, Wolf and Gutenkust to say for sure whether they be successful or not. We don't know who pushed to draft all of the busts they drafted since 2010 and we don't know who didn't want to sign any free agents.

It could be Ball said, "well we have X mil to spend on free agents right now", and TT ssid no way. It could be that TT didn't want Carl Bradford and those two guys convinced him.

Too many people around here are acting like absolutists about things when they couldn't possibly know enough details.

This is on Murphy. He wants HIS MAN. The outside the organization, is BS. It's between Wolf and Ball. Murphy wants Ball. The fans want Wolf. (If Wolfs old man can bring back the Packers, He can.) TT and Murphy only want to pad their pockets. The winning is not the top priority. With Wolf it would be, and they know it. MM knows it. The talk of A-rod's input ended with the hiring of Phibin. I doubt wolfs input was used in everyone of TTs drafts. Especially with Boyd, Trotter and Hayward leaving. (Thats money) It's on Ball and TT. Wolf wanted to leave and so did others. There being blocked and all know it. Someone is to big for these guys wanting to stay. And thats TT. Wolf is going to do whats right. Ball will not. Money will go to flash in the pans and let the bread and butter guys leave. I said TT has sabotaged this team from winning. Murphy is sabotaging WOLF.

I am more concerned with who will be the next defensive coordinator. This is where we need success .

Murphy knows he has to get this right, but I can't help but think Thompson is sitting in his bat cave pulling the puppet strings on this one. The Packers need to:
*Shuffle Thompson out the door and change the locks.
*Tell Big Mike to stay out of it or Pack his bags and move his substantial Azz out the door.
*Wait until the playoffs are over and hire the BEST personal man available no matter how long it takes.
*Keep Russ Ball doing what he does best, negotiating contracts.
*Hire a completely new training staff, there were way too many hamstring and groin injuries this past season, those can be minimized with proper hydration, training and stretching.
*This will be Murphy's legacy (other than the sledding hill) he doesn't want to screw this one up, well he already has by allowing Thompson to lurk in the dark shadows of Lambeau and giving Big Mike a say-so in who the next GM will be. Note to Mike: your a coach dude, so coach and shut the hell up.

I agree that the new GM should have a scouting background, but what I am not hearing anything about is what new scouts they are looking to hire or promote. Has anyone heard anything on this? Does anyone have the knowledge of our scouting department and its structure to write an article on this topic?

Hiring Ball is a business move. Hiring Wolf is a championship move. #GPG

A couple of quick things...

First, to the guy hammering the guy for not spelling, "Rodgers", correctly. I smiled as you hammered someone for their spelling, while your moniker misspells "Ivory"...It's "ivery".

Second, anyone who questions the idea that MM might walk "because it's McGinn"...and "he hates the Packers"...Jason Wilde said he'd heard the same thing but was "maybe, too chicken" to write it and maybe "didn't have the guts". So, the idea MM would walk if it's ball has merit. We just have milquetoast media outside of McGinn who is the only one who gives us a real peek behind the veil at 1265.

Further, Wilde also said that Aaron Rodgers is not on board with Russ Ball. WIlde and Aaron used to do a show together. Anyone want to guess who Wilde's source was on that little nugget?

So, you have MM willing to walk and Rodgers not happy if it's ball. One might quit, in MM, the other may refuse an extension and or create another Favre like situation as he surely realizes his time is short, especially after coming off an injury wasted season.

I question the intelligence, sorry to say in such harsh terms, of anyone who thinks this search is anything but a sham. It was decided a long long time ago that it would be Russ Ball. As Wilde said, there's an aura of overconfidence at 1265 that they can just plug in whomever and things will just keep in Murphy's words "humming along".

Ted has been health impaired for a long long time....seeing him on SNF when he became the subject of national ridicule was the last straw. Operation Hide Ted went full steam ahead.

Also, why did MM receive a silent extension? We didn't hear of it until Ted was pushed out of the public eye. There is something in that that needs exploring. I'm not sure why MM would've signed it knowing it was Russ coming down the pike? Maybe, it was intended as a golden parachute of sorts or to buy his silence to not rock the boat. If that was the case, him going off on the front office not doing enough to win championships seems to nix that idea.

In the end, what i've learned through all of this is what I believed for years. The Packers organization has always been more about financial stability than it ever was about SuperBowls. Ted said something shortly after he arrived here that always bothered me. Something to the effect of we're gong to strive to be competitive every year and if we get one (a Super Bowl) all the better. This is exactly what Ted did. Did less with more due to craving sameness year after year. It was about just enough product on the field to keep the money rolling in. Never too much, never too little. Just right. We had Goldilocks running things looking for just the right balance year after year never going for the brass ring. Now, the goal is to keep the financial stability with the belief that Russ can keep it going because we have Aaron Rodgers. It really doesn't matter who runs it, the money will flow with 12 and we'll win just enough for fans to brag to their buddies that we're competitive and a playoff team.

I can't wait to see the books when they come out for last season. I want to see how much the org suffered due to Rodgers injury. Want to see if this may have been an impetus for the change beyond just wanting to hide Ted from public view as it's all about the benjamins in Packerland. Shoot, sickening residents try charging fans 40 bucks to park their car for a preseason game. Green Bay has become way too corporate.

My only hope is Mark Murphy who claimed he didn't care what the fans had to say but was more than aware Ted was a lightning rod among other things, reads the disgust with what he's about to do and changes course and hires Schneider. That is a win win compromise for him and the org. Schneider gets hired and Murphy is the hero for brining the local boy home and McCarthy stays to work with his buddy who introduced him to his wife and we win because Schneider is not us playing Buddy Ball.

I still consider it losing a bit if MM stays but we can't have everything...we're on the verge of nothing.

OK, there are not any Russ Ball fans I see from reading the comments. From what I've seen, the Packers are interested in keeping EW too. He did his official interview last Thursday, why he needs to interview I don't know. Just a formality I guess. Everyone in the Packer organization should have taken notice after this disgusting season. If "rumors" are true that MM would walk if Ball were signed, would AR be far behind? I don't base much on rumors, until I hear a direct quote from MM or AR, I'll take it with a grain of salt. If AR takes a stand and we ended up losing him then the dark ages would be back upon us. But no matter how bad this team plays, the stadium will sell out every game. The only thing we as a fan could look forward to is cheap tickets.

Watched the ATL game last night. Now that was some top shelf secondary play. Wish we had corners and safeties like the Falcons. Wish we had a defensive scheme like the Falcons.

Just made me realize GB is not competitive on D with the top level teams.

BTW, Aaron Donald is Reggie White reincarnated.

It looks like Joe Philbin is coming back as OC. I like it.

We shall see if "Sock puppet" McGinn is right or not, but nothing can get announced until minority candidate interview, and it will be hard for them to interview anyone given that an internal candidate is most likely.

As far as Ball goes as GM, he was my least favorite choice, but I don't know how any of these guys would perform or how good they really are. Just like my impression of Wolf is that it would reek of nepotism and name recognition more than merit.

The thing that amuses me the most is that a lot posters here fail to realize that drafting and scouting is all probability based. Many base their views on being right on a couple personnel calls in the past and using hindsight. Then saying how stupid the packers are for not getting it right because they could predict 1 or 2 cases, ignoring how they failed to predict the 95% of the other decisions.

Hayward was not an ascending player when let go. It was the right decision letting him go. Sometimes getting released light a fire under a player. Hyde getting released is more on MM's stubbornness to not get rid of Capers. TT was basically being told that this guy is too slow for Capers defense. Remember the mantra, "we need to get faster", and that's what the draft was about.

As far as I am concerned, the DC is the most important decision to make, as I think the GM will be competent. MM needs to make a good decision, and not simply pick a buddy.

Whoever is ultimately hired as the Packers GM; Ball, Wolf, even Schneider, we have no idea if they will be an effective GM or not. There are no guarantees with any individual. Yes, there are better choices “on paper” but there are also better teams on paper as well.

When Vince Lombardi was hired by the Packers in 1959 no one knew or expected they had hired the greatest coach of all time.

Quite frankly, we will be very fortunate if our next GM does as well as TT. I’m not saying that TT made all the right moves, he didn’t. But his team made the playoffs in 9 out of 13 seasons as GM with an SB win. Now either TT did a great job building a team or the head coach he hired (MM) did a great job of coaching all of TT’s draft mistakes, or a combination of both.

If we knew who could become the Packers next GM and repeat TTs record, especially with another SB and 8 consecutive playoff appearances, I for one would sign up for that right now. Even Schneider, who has done a great job in Seattle has not equaled TTs record, at least not yet.

So whoever is hired, we should give them a chance (even the apparently dreaded Russ Ball). If we approach the new GM with pre-conceived ideas of how they will perform our expectations will unlikely be met either positively or negatively. Keep an open mind, a positive attitude, and manage your expectations. We're along for the ride regardless of how it plays out. Thanks, Since '61

Nostradunus comment to "...Hire a completely new training staff, there were way too many hamstring and groin injuries this past season, those can be minimized with proper hydration, training and stretching..." is on target. I believe only the Bears had similar soft tissue injuries last season and as a result, at a recent presser, they pledged to "complete re-examine their training philosophy, policy, process and adjust as necessary". This is a must for PACK for 2018, irrespective of whoever is named the new GM...has anyone in organization commented on looking at this as priority?

I am a little confused as to why people (McGinn and others) would be penciling Gutekunst in as the EXEC VP of ops and assistant GM? Word is the Texans are high on him. If they offer the GM position I think he is gone. If we elevate Ball, Wolf will likely be gone as well, sooner than later. Maybe McCarthy also? Not Ideal. Maybe Belichik would like to work with Aaron Rodgers?? Haha

TT and the Packers got away from best player available. They had to keep drafting for need because of players let go and picks that didn't pan out.

One final unpopular quip...

Ted and his method failed not just Ted. Any method that doesn't rely on every avenue to win a SB is a failed method.

The Patriots are not only the standard but most similar situation. Both have transcendent QBs. One org has 7 SB appearances and 5 rings, the other one and one. One is clearly not like the other.

Keep in mind draft and develop is like saying water is wet. EVERY team in the NFL drafts...every team develops. Always made me shake my head when some would brag dogmatically about how smart we were as a draft and develop organization. Not one of 32 that ain't.

The gold standard, New England, drafts and develops, trades, and uses FA and has 4 more rings and 6 more appearances. You tell me if we should be hailing draft and develop?

Speculation alert! I believe that a lot of the hate for Murphy comes from those who don't like the modernization of the Packers business operations. Specifically, they don't like the Packers buying property around Lambeau and the plans for developing that land.

We've had the same complaints in Louisville regarding Churchill Downs following a similar plan. For some unknown reason people prefer that the surrounding area continue to consist of dilapidated or abandoned housing.

Gutekunst is gone if not the GM in GB. If I were the league, I would grab all of GB's personnel experts as my GMs to handicap the Packers and set myself up.

Schneider was never a go in GB. Murphy knew it by how they structured his contract this time around. The supposed 'wide net' is nothing but a joke. Only people they are interviewing are their own guys. I don't think anyone wants the job from the outside with Ted still in the building.

BREAKING NEWS: Packers hire Brian Gutekunst as next GM. Google it

Here it is on PFR.com...

https://www.profootballrumors.com/2018/01/brian-gutekunst-to-remain-with...

Finally! Not that this process has dragged out too long (it's been LESS THAN A WEEK), but rather because now we can move on to talk about things that are more concrete.

I'm pleased with this hire, but would have been pleased with Gutekunst or Wolf among the internal guys. All of them are unknowns in the GMs chair. Frankly, I was less scared by Ball than others here have been for that reason. Still, it's a starting point.

Now, let's go get a good DC!

Those of us who don't follow college football but check the mock drafts for months before the draft are generally uniformed about the second tier talent. But there's a general consensus on the first tier. The point made about Datone Jones was a good one. Same with Perry. I saw many SC games and was shocked that Perry was our pick. He was good, but stiff, and I never, never thought of him as a 1st rounder. Same with Datone. Mock drafts are mock drafts, but there's an awful lot of film out there today on the first tier. To me it's clear TT has drafted for need in the 1st more than BPA. We have to get away from that. Draft the best player on the board! You can't predict where your need will be in a year or two but you'll have a good player, which is most important.

I agree but in the Packers case draft the best defensive player on the board . A true position player not a hybrid or experiment please.

I'll repost it here. Supposedly Gutekunst flew to Houston to interview yesterday, but never actually met with Texans officials (he pulled out).

profootballrumors.com/2018/01/brian-gutekunst-to-remain-with-packers-2

Rumor has it that Wolf and Gutekunst like working together well enough that this particular move would allow the Packers to keep ALL 3 of Ball, Gutekunst, and Wolf for 2018.

There's little doubt that Wolf will still garner GM consideration in the future, but the 2018 off-season and player acquisition periods look far more stable at this point.

Now the question: do Gutekunst and MM get along?

Every team that wishes to remain healthy and annually competitive must "win on draft day". It's not just the Packers. TTs desire to shy away from FA made it more of a priority in GB than in other places, but every team needs to have a constant supply of young, cheap talent on rookie contracts to help support a small number of productive vets that consume the majority of the cap.

Every team is looking to unearth UDFA talent for these reasons, too. The Packers situation (minimal external FA acquisitions) made it so that those UDFA players became increasingly important on game day.

The wait is over....

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/07/report-brian-gutekunst-s...

MM apparently thought he knocked his interview “out of the park.” That is a good sign that they share some common vision.

NBCSports reporting at 1:47 ET that the job is Gutekunst's "ALONE".
What happens with Ball and Wolf remains unknown, but rumors are that Gutekunst and Wolf get along well enough to work together.