we could have had a V8

[MajorDad]

it was reported today that Tt turned down the opportunity to make more than 5 trades and decided to stand pat this draft.

We all know he botched the trade for moss.

he also turned downed the browns and their offer.

it was also reported he turned down a chance to trade for the Chargers' turner, and Seattle's jackson.

it was also reported he could have traded up to draft Lynch, but he decided to stand pat at #16.

he was planning to draft a WR in the second round, but the two guys he wanted were picked right before his pick, so he traded down and drafted a RB instead.

one would have thought with all the missed opportunities from day 1, Tt would have gone more agressively to trade for moss to cover for his losses/mistakes. but he blew that one too.

on the plus side, this will be TT's last year and the Packers should have a top 5 pick in next year's draft. the Packers were nowhere close to being as good as their 8-8 record would indicate. and they did nothing to improve themselves other than adding more depth.

[DelaneyRudd]

Man, I am so angry now. Everyone knows that a player worth a 4th round pick in return would surely turn a bottom 5 team into a contender! Especially if that player is someone with a hard working can-do attitute like Randy Moss.

[Jollay]

I just want TT to do something. Anything.

I didn't want Moss all that much, but when you have a glaring need like the Packers (red zone inefficiency) you try and address it. Simple as that.

Especially when you're 8 jazillion under the cap and you convince a Brett Favre to come back.

[paulpressey25]

The only hope we have for TT is that he appears to be building a great offensive and defensive line (or front seven). With that, everything is possible and the team should win a ton of games regardless of who the skill position people are.

Now of course TT hasn't proclaimed publicly that's what he's doing.......and we may find out in a year or two that he hasn't assembled a dominant O and D line as the talent matures..........

This year will be critical. If guys like Jennings make a leap, and the defense continues to improve, we could be in good shape.

I'm not trying to defend TT entirely here. I would note though that people in Chicago ripped Jerry Angelo his first 2-3 years, then all of a sudden his picks started to emerge. It was at that point he began to spend money and picks on skill players (Muhammed, Benson)

[MickeyDavis]

I'm also going to hold off, for now, criticizing TT. Trading draft picks and spending a lot of money is something you do to put you over the top. And we're not there yet. Minnesota and Washington spent a ton of money over the last 5 years and haven't sniffed a title.

[Balls2TheWalls]

I agree to an extent with Mickey. I think that if you want to build a dynasty, you build through the only constant: the draft. If a team can consistantly bring in starters through the draft, they are going to be a great team. I really think that trading for players like Moss that are going to be around for 3 years and then retire, while also sucking up a ridiculous 9 million dollars, is a poor decision.

[DelaneyRudd]

I think of this every time I see this thread title.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgbxSecNwTs

[eagle13]

I'm also going to hold off, for now, criticizing TT. Trading draft picks and spending a lot of money is something you do to put you over the top. And we're not there yet. Minnesota and Washington spent a ton of money over the last 5 years and haven't sniffed a title.

I agree to a degree.

I am not criticzing TT (in fact praised him for last offseason) but I am questioning.

Once again - extremes are the only thing considered. Few are in favor of blowing $ like MN or WA. Are people so dim that they can only think in either nothing or extreme? A trade or two would be Redskin-like at all.

TT singed Woodson, Pickett, Manuel last off season. That was far better than not. Hence one trade of a 4th pick would be no more risky or bold than the Pickett signing.

[ReasonablySober]

Is it smart to overpay for free agents? This class was universally panned. Even the good ones got paid out of this world sums of money.

[El Duderino]

Is it smart to overpay for free agents? This class was universally panned. Even the good ones got paid out of this world sums of money.

Depends how much you have to overpay,whether the player ends up helping you,and if your team can afford to "overpay".I remember years back when Wolf signed Santana Dotson.Someone asked Wolf if he felt he overpayed to get him and Wolf said something to the effect,the market is what it is and i think Santana makes us better.If i don't pay it,i don't get the player i want.

We'll never know if a free agent signing or two could have really helped the Packers this year and in following year,or if he steered clear of wasting money.I do know we had the cap space to sign one or two guys to contracts that were Woodson like,frontloaded so that it wouldn't put much strain on future ability to spend.That way if the signing didn't work out as well as hoped for,the harm is largely midigated unlike what Sherman did with Joe Johnson.Sherman signed guys without frontloading and it eventually caught up with the franchise.

Keep in mind we still have about 16 million in cap room,if Thompson had say signed a guy and frontloaded 7-8 million on the contract,there would be very little risk at all to the future.That was the nice part of having so much cap space,if you sign anyone,you don't have to worry much putting yourself in future cap hell by frontloading the deal.

Oh well,we shall see how things work out.