Albert Haynesworth

[Ill-yasova]

You also can't overlook the fact that some players NEED to be out clubing and bar hopping, where as some don't. If you need a a cool club where you can shoot yourself in the leg, Green Bay is not your destination. If you want to relax, and work in in a place where fans treat you like family, it is.

[Ill-yasova]

Big is relative. Not many of the top players ever make it to free agency while they're in their prime.

Personally, I don't even know how much of it is nightlife and partying. Sure, some guys value it quite a bit. Javon Walker and Marques Anderson used to spend numerous weekends in Vegas while they we here. But you know Greg Jennings, don't you? He doesn't seem like the type that wants to be out at the club until 2:00 in the morning. Some people just prefer a more metropolitan setting. More money means you can experience more things. I know if I had the cash I wouldn't be thrilled that my culinary choices came down to an IHOP and Favre's Steakhouse. Museums, nice restaurants, year-round golf, other professional sports teams, the ocean, the culture...there are plenty of reasons Green Bay is behind the 8 ball and it's not just because of their night life.

Agree with you there. Moving to Madison from Milwaukee is hard for some of the same reasons. Food, museums, and passion for the Brewers and Bucks are some of the things I miss living here in Madison (note: about 40% of baseball fans in madison are cubs fans, disugusting)

[MetroDrugUnit]

You wouldn't be a Packer Fan if you didn't want to bring in a talent like this guy. Our D-line and O-lines are very bad right now. Haynesworth would make our Defense better instantly. Not the best in the leauge better but I'd say ten spots better against the Run by clogging the middle and getting some bodies off our small crappy line backers. Maybe a few against the pass buy requiring double teams and freeing up Kampman and bringing presure himself. If you question this just look at what Jenkins did for the Jets this year.

Peppers would be a great signing too, there are only a couple big men in the leauge that are in his athletic catagory but our real need is in the middle.

[Mags FTW]

You wouldn't be a Packer Fan if you didn't want to bring in a talent like this guy.

I have no problem with his talent, but on average he misses 3 games per year to injury/suspension.

Give me Suggs instead.

[El Duderino]

I don't hold out much if any hope that we'll get any of Haynesworth, Peppers, or Suggs. If though i could just plug any of the three on our team and we were staying a 4-3 defense, i'd have to take Haynesworth.

Right now at least, from a 4-3 defense perspective, i think DT is probably the weakest position on the Packers roster. Pickett is the only DT that i think is starter worthy on the roster and even with him, he's not a guy you want in there on passing downs. Jolly had a disappointing year to me, i hoped for better from him. Cole is an OK player so long as he plays limited snaps. Harrell is constantly hurt and even when he's been healthy enough to play, it's usually hard to even notice he's on the field. None of these guys can pressure the QB except for very rare exceptions.

If we end up a 3-4 defense, then DT becomes less of a need beyond finding a young block eating big body to go with Pickett.

[eagle13]

No chance TT even pursues Haynesworth (or Peppers for that matter) and I'm OK with that. As someone pointed out Albert gets hurt alot.

IF we go to 3-4 then for sure we do not want Haynesworth as he's not played in that scheme. Same with Peppers. Players that succeded in one system are no lock to succeed in a different one. Maybe they will but when your paying top dollar you want to eliminate as many questions as possible.

[MetroDrugUnit]

You wouldn't be a Packer Fan if you didn't want to bring in a talent like this guy.

I have no problem with his talent, but on average he misses 3 games per year to injury/suspension.

Give me Suggs instead.

3 Games would be an improvment over what our line does now. Hopefully he's done cleating guys in the head that aren't wearing helmets so the suspension problem may be over.

[MetroDrugUnit]

3-4, are you guys serious? We have the worst linebackers in the leauge for that set and no Anchor in the middle. To run the 3-4 well you at least need a Big Fat Slob NT and a couple big LB's to play the middle. I don't see us having the right personel for it to make sence to change to this formation.

[ReasonablySober]

I looked at the listed weights for every MLB playing in a 3-4. The range was between 236 and 250. The average appeared to be around 241-242. Nick Barnett is 236, AJ Hawk is 248. If Barnett was told to gain five pounds of muscle, I'm sure he could so it.

As for the defensive tackle, it would be a huge need and Cody would be at the top of my list.

[El Duderino]

The size of the LB's in a 3-4 matter obviously, but as for fit, the most important thing would be to hire the new coordinator as quickly as possible so that guy can study the linebackers. That is a scheme where the coordinator has to be very knowledgeable and he'll best be able to get together with TT to evaluate which guys currently on the roster fit well with the scheme and where.

I'm not sure exactly how much this matters, but i don't think Ted has ever scouted for or been the GM of any team that ran a 3-4 scheme? Thus he may have to end up taking more input from the new coaching staff if we went to a 3-4 than he has in the past.

[MickeyDavis]

Greg Bedard:

Just a few days after Albert Haynesworth's Pro Bowl berth set the stage for him to become the headliner of the unrestricted free agent market in 2009, another big name could be available as well.

Washington Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor thinks there's a very real possibility the team won't want to pay him the $8 million he's set to make next year, so they'll release him.

"Would I be surprised? No. If I'm not back, I wouldn't be surprised," Taylor said Wednesday on Washington radio station WJFK (FM-106.7). "And I'm not worth it. So I would not be surprised at all."

Haynesworth and Taylor both available this offseason?

There isn't a fan in the NFL that wouldn't endorse their team acquiring both players. And frustrated supporters of the Green Bay Packers would probably be at the head of the line.

It's been a weird but ultimately disappointing year for the 34-year-old Taylor. He went off and did Dancing with the Stars, which irritated Miami Dolphins poobah Bill Parcells to the point that he traded Taylor to the Redskins for a second-round pick in '09 and a sixth-rounder in '10.

A knee injury nearly ended his season in the exhibition season. Then Taylor got kicked in the calf and an ensuing infection necessitated two surgeries.

He's missed four games and is on pace to set career lows in tackles (25) and sacks (1.5). Taylor who has correctly called himself "hardheaded" over the course of his career, likely returned too fast from both injuries. But he's not one to make excuses.

"You asked me in particular what my problem is. Do I think I'm too old? No. Have I been hurt? Yes, I've been hurt. I've had two surgeries in the last two months, and haven't had but one in 11 years," Taylor said. "But at the end of the day, I'll be the first to tell you, I stink right now. I need to play better. I need to get comfortable and play better."

Despite his age and production this season, Taylor still thinks he is capable at playing at high level. He might not be an 8-million-dollar man, but close.

"At the end of the day, most of us know the truth and some times some guys are just afraid to admit it, but I'm not worth $8 million," Taylor said. "You know what, I'll tell you, I may not be worth $8 million, but I know one thing, this dog can still hunt. This dog can still hunt. Put me in the right situation, the right position and I'll hunt all day."

If Taylor is on the market - whether by free agency or trade - he will be at the top of the list for a lot of contending teams. And one team that should be monitoring his situation very carefully is the Packers.

General manager Ted Thompson kicked the tires on a possible Taylor trade in the off-season but never made an offer. In retrospect, it was a disastrous non-move. Taylor could have helped the Packers in the two areas that ultimately led the team to their doom this season: pass rush and veteran leadership.

Thompson thought Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila would come back from surgery and have another effective season. Thompson was wrong and KGB was cut before the season was halfway over.

The transition for Taylor to the Packers' defense would have been easy: Taylor played in the system his first eight years in Miami where Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders was the linebackers coach.

Taylor, a guy young players on the Dolphins would walk through walls for, would have also helped fill the veteran leadership void left after Brett Favre trade. He would have been that fiery, take-charge leader the monotone Packers sorely lacked.

Thompson whiffed on Taylor the first time around, but he may have another chance in March. Thompson should not waver again.

The added bonus with Taylor is if the Packers do fire Sanders and bring in a coordinator that uses a more multiple scheme, Taylor can play right outside linebacker there. It's the position he won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2006 under then-coach Nick Saban, who once said Taylor could have rivaled the best 3-4 outside linebackers in league history if he played there his whole career.

Just don't play him on the left side like the Redskins did.

There's still two questions to be answered about the ultimately Hollywood-bound Taylor: Would he want to play if released or put on the trading block (he said he would have to think about it), and would want to play for the Packers?

Sources said at the time of the possible Packers trade for Taylor that Green Bay was not on his preferred list of destinations. That was mostly because of the uncertainty at quarterback following the Favre trade. Aaron Rodgers, while still lacking a signature victory, has since shown he should have a long and successful career.

And while Green Bay isn't exactly bright lights and big city, Taylor didn't enhance himself being in the nation's capital. Exposure is overrated in the NFL. This isn't college football where television coverage makes or breaks you. You play well on a good team in any NFL city and people will know your name.

The Packers would be instant Super Bowl favorites in the NFC next season if they did two things: Sign Haynesworth and trade for Taylor.

[MetroDrugUnit]

Greg Bedard:



The Packers would be instant Super Bowl favorites in the NFC next season if they did two things: Sign Haynesworth and trade for Taylor.

[/quote]

What about the O-Line Issues? They Suck big time right now.

[MickeyDavis]

Not nearly as bad as the DL.

[Ill-yasova]

Not nearly as bad as the DL.

If we sign both of them, I would still like to switch the defense to a 3-4. Taylor would benefit with some room to rush on the outside. Plus a three man line of Kampman Haynesworth and Jenkins is still a really good line.

[xTitan]

Taylor was awful this year and how would he have helped GB with his arousing 1.5 sacks? I am curious about something, we all agree it is not smart to draft a talented but injury prone player in the first round, how smart is it to throw big money at an old player coming off of some pretty serious injuries, who's heart is not into playing the game 100%? I think we all hope this crappy Bob Sanders defense is no longer here next season.

[El Duderino]

Taylor was awful this year and how would he have helped GB with his arousing 1.5 sacks? I am curious about something, we all agree it is not smart to draft a talented but injury prone player in the first round, how smart is it to throw big money at an old player coming off of some pretty serious injuries, who's heart is not into playing the game 100%? I think we all hope this crappy Bob Sanders defense is no longer here next season.

I haven't paid any attention in games to Taylor this year, but it's very possible that his meager production was more the result of playing hurt nearly all year and if he hadn't suffered injuries, would have been more productive. For whoever takes on Taylor next year, that team will have to closely evaluate whether Taylor has simply hit the wall via age/injury like KGB did or whether he can still be a good contributor next year with better health.