We are collectively entering the calm after the emotional storm that that is NFL free agency.\u00a0Very few places is this storm more visceral than among Green Bay Packers fans.\u00a0 It has become an annual rite.\u00a0The Packers enter free agency with a few holes to fill (granted, all teams have them) and after a few days there is no joy left in the fan base.\u00a0 The matter has even entered mass media as talking heads like Colin Cowherd and Skip Bayless call for the end of Packers hopes.\u00a0Every year.<\/p>\n
This year, the calling card of this over-reaction has been the loud claim that the Packers are wasting the prime years of Aaron Rodgers<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Fans believe the organization is wasting Rodgers’ prime\u00a0to the tune of eight straight trips to the playoffs with appearances in the Divisional round of the playoffs in six of the last seven years and three NFC Championship game appearances in seven years and a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Those are obviously numbers without context.\u00a0Over the last ten years, only the New England Patriots have appeared in more conference title games (seven).\u00a0 The Packers have four title game appearances in that time<\/a>, edging out the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers (each with three).\u00a0The Packers are one of the four winningest franchises <\/a>in the league in recent history.\u00a0In the six seasons since winning a Super Bowl, the Packers have\u00a0a record of\u00a066-29-1, and that includes playing several games without Rodgers under center.<\/p>\n Without fail, every off-season, Green Bay fans lament the loss of player after player.\u00a0One recently referred to the losses of Micah Hyde<\/a><\/strong>, Datone Jones<\/a><\/strong> and Julius Peppers<\/a><\/strong> as a “blood bath.”\u00a0The list of names leaving the team is always far more interesting to fans than the names joining.<\/p>\n Yes, the loss of T.J. Lang<\/a><\/strong> was hard for many fans.\u00a0Still, it was reported the Packers offered Lang $7 million\u00a0per year<\/a>.\u00a0The Lions swooped in and offered him $9.5 million\u00a0per year.\u00a0The difference essentially moved Lang from being the ninth highest paid right guard to the third highest<\/a>.\u00a0For the Packers to tell Lang they considered the 29-year-old veteran to be a top ten player entering his third contract was hardly a slap in the face.<\/p>\n The weird thing is the hand-wringing over the other losses listed above.\u00a0People are taking to Twitter in large numbers to demand the head of Ted Thompson<\/a><\/strong> for not ponying up starter money to keep backups.\u00a0Micah Hyde is now the 19th highest paid safety <\/a>(in dollars per year on his current contract with the Buffalo Bills).\u00a0This means his contract will pay him roughly the same as Morgan Burnett<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Hyde was a backup safety and a part time slot corner.\u00a0Julius Peppers had a snap count the entire season in hopes of keeping him fresh enough to play in January.\u00a0Datone Jones played sparingly as\u00a0a backup and he never pushed the starters for playing time.<\/p>\n Put this against the additions of Martellus Bennett<\/a><\/strong> and Lance Kendricks<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Packers fans were happy to see the boost to the offensive weapons, but it did not raise spirits around Titletown.<\/p>\n The problem is free agency is a frenzy in a bubble.\u00a0When fans\u00a0know their\u00a0team is so close to winning championships, every missed opportunity is highlighted.\u00a0Teams see that they have holes to fill.\u00a0Every team.\u00a0No team has All-Pros at every position.\u00a0Fans see players available and then see those players go somewhere else, even if the price was right.\u00a0It seems like Ted Thompson is just hording all that salary cap space.<\/p>\n Lost in this is the make-up of contracts.\u00a0Generally, contracts increase in value over time.\u00a0If the Packers fill out their cap space this season, it means\u00a0they will need to make very hard cuts later.\u00a0There is no way of knowing\u00a0which player(s)\u00a0might be available later who could actually help more.\u00a0It is a gamble either way.\u00a0The Packers have built a team that is consistently in the playoffs by\u00a0letting some players go and picking up others who\u00a0fit their system, rather than just signing big\u00a0names.<\/p>\n When the Patriots do this, it just seems natural.\u00a0New England let\u00a0Randy Moss<\/a><\/strong> walk for nothing. The Patriots let\u00a0Richard Seymour<\/a><\/strong> go to the Oakland Raiders.\u00a0Lawyer Milloy<\/a><\/strong> and Ty<\/strong> Law<\/strong> <\/a>were sent away.\u00a0Even last season the Patriots traded Chandler Jones<\/a><\/strong> for a second-round pick and a player they later cut.\u00a0No one talks about New England wasting talent.\u00a0And again, the Patriots\u00a0are the only team to be more successful than the Packers over the last ten years.<\/p>\n If free agency and the NFL Draft happened at the same time (at terrible idea, but posited for the sake of argument alone), then Packers fans would likely relent some.\u00a0Free agency is the only show in town right now.\u00a0There is no other way\u00a0teams can\u00a0improve publicly (at least on paper) until the draft.\u00a0All of the development and training is going on behind the scenes.\u00a0For instance, when Davante Adams<\/a><\/strong> recovered from his 2015 injuries and worked through the off-season to return to form, no\u00a0one\u00a0noticed until the\u00a0Packers took the field again.\u00a0People spent that off-season talking about how Jeff Janis<\/a><\/strong> should replace Adams in the starting lineup and maybe Adams should be cut.<\/p>\n Packers fans need to stop being prisoners of the moment.\u00a0Colin Cowherd gets to do that.\u00a0 He is just trying to get you to listen\u00a0and watch his show today.\u00a0Cowherd can change course (and will) in a week.\u00a0Skip Bayless knows just as well that Packers fans are a huge audience and feeding them with doom is a great ratings boost.\u00a0Talking Dallas Cowboys, Steelers, Patriots and Packers is a sure fire plan to get good ratings.\u00a0Meanwhile, those fans selling out Lambeau Field for every game since 1959 need to realize there is so much more to building a team than free agency.\u00a0 Remember,\u00a0the draft in April\u00a0is coming quickly.<\/p>\n Main Photo<\/p>\nLamenting the Loss of Backups<\/h3>\n
Only Show In Town<\/h3>\n