Confessions of a Polluted Mindset – Sammy and More

Sammy – Initially, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Watkins signing. I had this image in my head of what Watkins is. But after perusing all the Watkins analysis posts out there, especially our own Wendell Ferreria’s yesterday, my eyebrows have been raised. I was completely unaware of his blocking ability (if the Packers are actually going to run the ball more FOR REAL this time, that’s big). And then to see the structure of the contract, with only $350K guaranteed and a plethora of performance-related incentives – it’s a steal! I expect to see a career year from Sammy – if he can stay on the field. And that of course, is the BIG issue. 

Gutey does it again – It’s becoming clear that these types of moves will be a defining part of Brian Gutekunst’s legacy in Green Bay. De’Vondre Campbell, Rasul Douglas, Dennis Kelly, Sammy Watkins – all players brought in on inexpensive one-year deals giving them an opportunity to ball out and land a better contract, with the Packers being the beneficiaries of their excellent play for that season. And for those that do ball out, the contract can even come from the Packers! Gutey made some bigger free agents splashes when he first came to town, but these types of consistent sneaky-good free agent moves are what most Packers fans were calling for under Thompson’s watch.

Sitting and Smiling – That has to be what Jaire Alexander and his agents are doing as the market for top cornerbacks gets set.  First Xavian Howard and now Denzel Ward have signed big contract extensions. Of course, the devil is in the details of how those deals are structured and how much money is guaranteed. While Ward’s deal seems bigger, it’s roughly 70% guaranteed, whereas Howard’s is 100% guaranteed money (which is crazy IMO). Regardless, Jaire will get paid by the Packers, it’s just a matter of where the two sides meet.

WR angst, TE getting ignored – Personally, I’m on a crusade to bring back the TE into the Packers’ passing offense. In addition to running the ball more (lip service or will they actually do it?), it would go a long way towards mitigating the loss of Adams and MVS.  We’ve all seen the cutups of a wide-open Josiah Deguara being ignored throughout the playoff loss, and some will blame it on the early drop he had in that game. But to force the ball to “favorite” receivers because of one drop… I digress. What I really want to say is let’s USE the tight end as a passing weapon. Hopefully the return of Robert Tonyan (another “favorite” of Aaron Rodgers), will grant me my wish and make for a more unpredictable Packers’ offense. 

I NEED IT – I’ll likely re-think this right before the draft, but as of right now, here is my order of  Packers draft NEEDS. If you have a different order, let me know in the comments.

1) WR
2) EDGE
3) OT
4) S
5) DT
6) ILB
7) TE
8) IOL
9) CB
10) RB
11) QB

Of course, VALUE often supersedes NEED, and to that end, I wouldn’t be shocked if one of the top-3 DTs are available at 22 and the Packers take him.