WR Picture Clearing Up

From jsonline:

Around 5 p.m., about 90 minutes before the team took the field for its final night practice of the summer, Ferguson was informed by coach Mike McCarthy that an attempt was being made to trade him to another team. If a trade can't be made, then he will in all likelihood be released.

"Robert will no longer be a Packer," McCarthy said after the night practice. "We're going to go in another direction. We're just moving on with the other guys and that's where it stands right now. I'll have more definitive information for you tomorrow."

So the WR picture is clearing up. First, that means that they are going to keep Carlyle Holiday because he would replace Ferg on special teams. We know they are keeping Jones, Driver and Jennings. The final spot is likely a battle between Ruvell Martin, Shaun Bodiford and the rookie 5th round pick David Clowney. Look for Martin to win that battle. Clowney or Bodiford probably have to become the KR to make the team based on how others performed or the team has to decide they want to keep 6 WRs. I wonder if a guy like Clowney would be able to be stashed on the pratcie squad or if he would get scooped up. My guess is that Packers are wondering the same thing.

Driver, Jennings, Jones, Martin and Holiday is not exactly making other teams shiver, but it seems like there is some upside with the young guys there, which I can handle.

"a lot of 13-10 games"

Mike Vandermause has taken the lead on straight, unhyped analysis of the Packers. Witness this comment from his latest chat:

I think the defense will be solid, especially with the depth on the line. That will take pressure off the secondary, which probably has the weakest link at safety. Marquand Manuel needs to improve over his performance in 2006. A nickel cornerback also must emerge to solidify the unit. I fully expect to watch a lot of 13-10 games this season. The offense's job will be to simply not make any killer mistakes, and get within Mason Crosby's field goal range (55 yards and in). If Brett Favre can hold up his end of the bargain, maybe the defense can carry the Packers to the playoffs this season.

I think that pretty much sums up their chances. Can the defense be great? Will the running game come around? I don't think anyone can answer those questions at this point. (And obviously he's very high on Crosby).

When I said it, you didn't believe me

But what if The Man made the same comparison?

From Rotoworld:

Brett Favre was the latest player to lavish praise on Rotoworld's favorite keeper league rookie sleeper James Jones, who he compared to Sterling Sharpe …

Packer's Practice Tidbits

LOL, from Packersnews.com:

Newly signed tight end Joe Werner, who hasn't played football since high school, had a rough time in the night practice. The former UW-La Crosse basketball star was stripped in a routine ball-security drill, dropped three consecutive balls from a Jugs machine and couldn't handle an Aaron Rodgers pass during a rare appearance in a team drill. …

Night practice ended with a spirited place-kicking session. McCarthy cut it short because players were dumping too much water on Dave Rayner and Mason Crosby.

First off, you are not finding the next Antonio Gates by bringing in a guy who was a basketball star at UW-LAX, that's for sure.

Second, "players were dumping too much water on the Kickers" ??? That needs to be explained because that is one of the strangest things I have read in a training camp report.

J.J. = S.S.?

It's appearing that James Jones has made the highlight reel of every Packer practice/scrimmage so far, or at least to me. From Tuesday's game (thanks to the always-great PackersNews Insider Blog):

Two great catches by rookie receiver James Jones. First, he elevated over Patrick Dendy for a ball from Aaron Rodgers in the front right corner of the end zone. Then, he fully extended to haul in a high Paul Thompson pass near the back of the end zone.

Ted Thompson

Bob McGinn really goes after Ted Thompson in this jsonline.com interview:

Q.Favre has never come across as a shrewd judge of personnel, but in his mind he saw Moss doing damage in Green Bay with Donald Driver and Greg Jennings. He wanted Moss and said Moss would have done the same reduced deal that he took in New England. Given the circumstances, why didn't you obtain Moss?

A. Randy Moss is a member of the New England Patriots now. That's the way it is. It's inappropriate for me to be discussing a player that's on another team.

Q.Ron Wolf and Bob Harlan almost always explained themselves to fans when given the opportunity in similar forums. Don't fans in this state deserve an explanation from the general manager three months after the fact?

A. Right. I still think it's inappropriate to talk about a player that's on another team.

Q.I don't recall Ron Wolf getting in trouble with the league office when he talked about players on other teams. Why aren't you more forthcoming?

A. I just don't do that.

Q.You're well into the third year of a five-year contract. No matter what you inherited, the team is 12-20 during your watch. Do you worry that your tenure might be short-lived if the team doesn't start winning this season?

A. Well, we would like to win this season. I've said that publicly and privately, saying we expect to win. I don't worry about things like, "Am I going to be here after this year?" That never enters my mind.

More interesting, testy stuff in the link.

Gazette scoops JS on Harlan/Jones

Read the Journal/Sentinel article about John Jones' "leave of absence," and you'll be left wondering what the hell is going on:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=611059

Then read Mike Vandermause's column on PackersNews.com to get the full story:
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070527/PKR07/705270670/1989

It's a bizarre story, that's for sure. To be several days away from giving over control of the organization, and then let a guy go? There must be some crazy shit behind this. Dog fighting? Cross-dressing?

And how did the J/S let this one slip by them?

Training Camp blog

I miss Cliff's camp blogs! Damn that old codger.

Packernews.com has one of their own, and it's free:
http://www.packersnews.com/includes/newspaper/blogs/insider/index.shtml

Breaking news: Brett Favre Demands Trade

Read it here:

GREEN BAY—Three-time MVP and undisputed future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, disappointed with the Packers' refusal to aggressively pursue receiver Randy Moss and frustrated with his team's apparent indifference to making immediate improvements on offense, is demanding a trade to the team he feels will give him the best shot at winning a last Super Bowl ring before his retirement: the 1996 Green Bay Packers.

NFL Stupidity: Brandon Jackson BARRED from minicamp

Read it and weep: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2873643

"I feel like I need to learn the plays so I can come back and try to win a starting job in the fall," Jackson said. "I've only had four or five practices with the veterans, but my agent told me the collective bargaining agreement couldn't let me go to the minicamp."

Honest Favre, Moss and Ted Thompson Discussion

Ted Thompson (left) is a man who has a stated goal and method of doing business that he believes in and sticks to. Had Favre retired after the first year TT was GM as everyone thought he might, Ted Thompson would be the perfect man for the job. He is passive and allows the draft to come to him. He recognizes that a lot of free agents do not produce. His strategy is great for rebuilding a team. Chances are that this was part of the reason why he was hired in the first place.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the team guessed wrong and Favre came back causing the situation to be no longer correctly aligned. The Packers had a GM who was competent in rebuilding and a QB who was looking for a GM who could give short term fixes for immediate gratification.

So who is to blame?
Ted Thompson?
Brett Favre?
Bob Harlan (right)?

Let's look at each of them to see where the blame lies:
Ted Thompson - Was hired with the intent of rebuilding a Packer's team that had salary cap issues and was slightly above mediocre the previous few years. Had a plan for rebuilding and the way he was going to run the team that was likely shared with Harlan at his hiring. Has stubbornly held to that plan.

I cannot assign much blame in his direction. He is doing what he was hired to do. Guys don't get a lot of opportunities to run teams and they are entitled to it the way they think is best. Gets unfair labels about being passive in the draft and being cheap in free agency. Seems reasonable to me that he would want to not spend much money after dropping quite a bit of scratch last season (Woodson, Pickett) and an absence of quality free agents. As far as the draft, he is certainly better than Sherman.

Brett Favre - In his twilight years. Still an above average QB. May have mislead the team about his longterm intentions.

Seems to me that he cannot be blamed for wanting the team to add players that can help him now as opposed to helping the team in 3 years.

Bob Harlan - Hired Ted Thompson.

He incorrectly gambled that Favre would leave and that he should hire a GM to rebuild the team. Should have hired a more aggressive, win now GM type to give the Packers a chance to take advantage of Favre's remaining years.

I think a lot of the blame has to go on the original hiring of Ted Thompson by Bob Harlan. Favre may also be to blame if he led Harlan to believe he wouldn't be around much longer, validating Bob's hiring of TT. It is too easy to blame Ted Thompson for doing exactly what he was hired to do. When he drafts guys like Justin Harrell, he is taking a less sexy player. If Harrell stands in the middle and plugs the holes which would be bored through us by Matt Birk, Steve Hutchinson and Bryant McKinnie for Chester Taylor/Adrian Peterson, then the pick is just as good as an offensive weapon.

Peter King on Favre and that receiver

Still nothing on SI's site about that Keyshawn rumor, but PK did share some wisdom:

There's one thing Favre has missed in this whole drama. I think that once the Patriots were in the picture, Moss didn't care about the Packers anymore. If New England hadn't been involved, Green Bay probably would have gotten Moss and Favre would be a happy man today.

But the Packers aren't going to win the Super Bowl this year. The Patriots might. And if you're Moss, and the only thing you really care about right now is trying to win a championship so you can shut the people up who are ripping for you for taking a dive last year with Oakland, there was only one team to go to this offseason. That's New England. Once the Patriots showed even a flicker of interest, Moss would have walked to Foxboro.

And:

Thompson does want Favre ... but as his quarterback, not as his assistant general manager.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/05/15/favre/index.html

Unsubstantiated Keyshawn rumor

From WBAY.com:

The Green Bay Packers' seemingly tepid interest in free agent receiver Keyshawn Johnson will apparently be rebuked.

According to a Sports Illustrated report, Johnson has narrowed his choices to the Tennessee Titans, Oakland Raiders, or retirement, which also means a career in TV.

The report also says Johnson is reluctant to play in Green Bay, and if the money is not right he will walk away from the game.

Johnson, 34, has averaged 70 catches the last three seasons. He thinks he can play two or three more seasons -- but apparently not in Green Bay.

I can't find any source from SI to back this up. Not a huge surprise if he or they aren't really interested in each other, but I'll hold off on believing this until it receives more substantial backing than a Fox affiliate. (Thanks to Crackpot Joe for the tip.)

Favre

Rotoworld:

FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer reports Brett Favre asked the Packers to trade him just prior to April's NFL Draft.
Favre was reportedly "fed up" with the organization and likely upset it didn't acquire Randy Moss. Mike McCarthy is said to have phoned Favre several times but the quarterback screened the coach's calls. Glazer says the Packers are now "primed to head into serious damage control to prevent any further uproar." The team doesn't plan to trade Favre. May. 13 - 12:09 pm et

Uhh...

Brett Favre (ankle) doesn't plan on attending mandatory minicamp next week.
He isn't healthy enough to practice, but it's a surprise that he may not even show up. Favre wants to continue to work out on his own, but Packers coach Mike McCarthy may not be happy with Favre setting his own rules. Favre may also be showing his displeasure about not acquiring Randy Moss. The Packers could fine Favre for not showing up, but that won't happen. May. 12 - 12:05 pm et

Uhh...
Wow...that is pretty intense news. This makes me wonder what the value of Brett Favre would have been during the draft. I could definitely see the Chiefs giving up their first rounder with their old team to get a year or two out of Joe Mont...I mean Brett Favre. I wonder if anyone ever made an offer...

No more Moss news!

Okay, just one last interesting tidbit from the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

There appear to be a couple of factors that blocked the deal with the Packers. For one, the Packers went into the weekend insisting that Moss take part of his $3 million salary in $50,000 weekly roster bonuses contingent upon him playing that week, which Moss rejected.

Also, though the timing of New England's entering the bidding over the weekend is unclear, Thompson appeared unwilling to give up more than a fifth-round draft pick for a player he thought he'd have for only one year.

Keyshawn Update

From Bob Wolfley:

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy was interviewed Thursday on Sirius NFL radio and was asked what the Packers' interest level was in wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who last week was released by the Carolina Panthers.

"Player acquisition is a 12-month process," McCarthy said. "We look at everybody that's available. We have talked about Keyshawn. Extremely productive player throughout his career. Big, physical receiver that, frankly, I'm a fan of and I think fits our system in a way we want to play. But, you know, as far as what's going on there, those are things that are better left unsaid as we move forward. But he's definitely someone that's been very productive."

I'm not sold that they're going to bite on this one. Wasn't it Cliff who questioned the wisdom of bringing in a declining veteran to take time away from developing players? As Chris wrote previously, the Packers are overstuffed with young WRs. Okay, if they get Keyshawn and cut Ferguson I'll be happy, but this doesn't seem to be Thompson's style.