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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Green Bay Packers · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:24
Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Double
0:27
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:30
Speaker 1: in the world, just about thirteen years strong. Got a
0:34
Speaker 1: couple more weeks before we'll be celebrating that milestone here
0:37
Speaker 1: at the PSD podcast show. Here on Opposition Territory. This week,
0:40
Speaker 1: we're gonna be diving into the Green Bay Packers. And
0:43
Speaker 1: we haven't talked about this team too too much this offseason. Then,
0:47
Speaker 1: it's really been an interesting off season for the Packers
0:51
Speaker 1: and joining us from Acmepackingcompany dot Comune all love our
0:55
Speaker 1: espanation sites and the Frozen Tundra podcast. We've got our
0:59
Speaker 1: good friend in texts, Western text buddy. It's good to
1:02
Speaker 1: see how you do it. I mean, I know you're
1:04
Speaker 1: a little under the weather, but how you doing otherwise?
1:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, thanks for having me. You're right, it has
1:11
Speaker 2: been a really interesting offseason for this team, and we'll
1:13
Speaker 2: get into it, but yeah, it's kind of flown under
1:16
Speaker 2: the radar a little bit, but I think it made
1:18
Speaker 2: moves that have been that have been kind of exciting.
1:21
Speaker 2: And yeah, that's looking looking forward to heading into draft
1:25
Speaker 2: season here and you seeing what happens now that we're
1:28
Speaker 2: kind of through that free agency wave.
1:29
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we're gonna get into the draft for sure, folks
1:33
Speaker 1: a little bit later during our discussion here. But you know,
1:36
Speaker 1: as we've said, interesting offseason for the Packers. But before
1:39
Speaker 1: we get into the actual crux of what the team
1:42
Speaker 1: in the front office has actually done in terms of
1:46
Speaker 1: acquisitions letting certain players go, I really wanted to talk
1:51
Speaker 1: about the vision texts, the vision of what the Packers'
1:55
Speaker 1: front office is going to be, because we're gonna end
1:57
Speaker 1: up circling around towards the end of our discussion with
2:00
Speaker 1: regard to the NFC North and how this vision may
2:04
Speaker 1: end up impacting how this division really looks, not just
2:08
Speaker 1: for the Packers, but but from an overall perspective at
2:11
Speaker 1: the end of the day. Here, I mean, free agency
2:14
Speaker 1: can only give I think a glimpse of where teams
2:17
Speaker 1: want to actually go in the future, you know, plugging holes,
2:21
Speaker 1: adding depth here and there. Philadelphia Eagles certainly do that.
2:24
Speaker 1: A number of other teams throughout the league do that
2:26
Speaker 1: as well. How do you see the vision that the
2:30
Speaker 1: Packers are really trying to you know, you know, forge ahead,
2:34
Speaker 1: and how do you see that vision taking shape?
2:36
Speaker 2: Here?
2:36
Speaker 1: In the Packers' front office.
2:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like this offseason has really been about
2:42
Speaker 2: defining who the core of this team and this roster
2:45
Speaker 2: is going to be in the next couple of years.
2:47
Speaker 2: You saw, again a lot of guys leave in free agency,
2:50
Speaker 2: and you know with certain additions, the guys who stayed
2:54
Speaker 2: who you know are going to be up for contract extensions.
2:57
Speaker 2: You're talking about guys like Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft.
3:00
Speaker 2: You know, these these big playmakers on offense and some
3:03
Speaker 2: of the guys that they look like they're they're ready
3:05
Speaker 2: to build around defensively. It does seem like they're really
3:08
Speaker 2: defining who those core guys are, who they really want
3:10
Speaker 2: to build around, and then trying to fit some pieces
3:13
Speaker 2: around those guys to to flesh out the roster. And
3:17
Speaker 2: one of the things for them is that that this
3:19
Speaker 2: offseason they did a lot in trying to get some
3:22
Speaker 2: flexibility with making sure they had a bunch of compensatory
3:25
Speaker 2: draft picks for the next couple of years, not not
3:28
Speaker 2: jeopardizing those in terms of some of the departures, but
3:32
Speaker 2: this is a team where there's a lot of up
3:33
Speaker 2: and coming young players on this roster and guys that
3:37
Speaker 2: look like they're ready for bigger roles, and by some
3:42
Speaker 2: of the departures they're they're freeing up playing time for
3:44
Speaker 2: some of these young players to start of emerging. In
3:47
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. I really think twenty six is going
3:51
Speaker 2: to be a you know this, this team always wants
3:53
Speaker 2: to compete every single year. That's always been their mantra.
3:56
Speaker 2: They're they're they are not a tear it all down
3:59
Speaker 2: to the to the US and rebuild from scratch. They've
4:01
Speaker 2: never been that way, you know, going back to you know,
4:04
Speaker 2: the start of the round Wolf days. So I feel
4:06
Speaker 2: like this is a get healthy season, right You've got
4:10
Speaker 2: Craft and Micah Parsons obviously coming off of m ACL injuries.
4:14
Speaker 2: This is a get healthy off season. Get those guys
4:17
Speaker 2: back into the lineup, you know by by early, you know,
4:21
Speaker 2: a month or two into the season. Try to compete
4:23
Speaker 2: in twenty six, retool a little bit. But then this
4:26
Speaker 2: team is also going to have a lot of financial
4:29
Speaker 2: and draft flexibility, I think in twenty seven and twenty eight,
4:32
Speaker 2: and I think there's a chance you could see some
4:35
Speaker 2: real big investment in making a run in those next
4:39
Speaker 2: two years when they do have a lot of a
4:42
Speaker 2: lot of this financial flexibility that's going to come free.
4:44
Speaker 2: So that's sort of where I think the vision is
4:47
Speaker 2: for this team in the next next couple of years.
4:49
Speaker 2: You know, we saw the team, you know, re up
4:51
Speaker 2: with Matt Lafleur for a long term contract extension. They
4:54
Speaker 2: clearly feel the leadership clearly feels that he's the guy
4:57
Speaker 2: to take this team to a super Bowl. And that's
5:02
Speaker 2: I mean, that's an important sign right there, right Yeah,
5:04
Speaker 2: And I think it's it's also notable that that basically,
5:07
Speaker 2: to a man, every player who said anything publicly was
5:12
Speaker 2: effusive in his praise of Matt Lafleur and the coaching staff.
5:15
Speaker 2: So I think if they had made a change there,
5:19
Speaker 2: it would have been a it would have been a
5:22
Speaker 2: shock to the locker room. And I think you're kind
5:24
Speaker 2: of restarting the clock a little bit on where this
5:27
Speaker 2: team is at. So I think, yeah, the realistic term
5:31
Speaker 2: for this team, as it's more or less currently constructed,
5:34
Speaker 2: is the next three seasons, you could see this corp
5:37
Speaker 2: of guys really coming together and hopefully making a run
5:41
Speaker 2: at another title for this Packers team.
5:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, and again, I think when you look at this
5:45
Speaker 1: division and how strong it is and again, we're gonna, folks,
5:48
Speaker 1: We're going to get to this NFC North division. When
5:51
Speaker 1: the last place team in the division from this past
5:55
Speaker 1: year was nine and eight, I mean, that's it's a
5:57
Speaker 1: really strong division. And any team within the NFC North
6:01
Speaker 1: has to have some sort of vision as to where
6:03
Speaker 1: their team is going to go in the future, as
6:05
Speaker 1: Texas saying, you know, looking two three years down the road.
6:09
Speaker 1: That needs to happen, specifically in a division like the
6:11
Speaker 1: NFC North. But I mean it's also important to talk
6:15
Speaker 1: about too within the conversation here the departures from the
6:18
Speaker 1: Packers this offseason. Wide receiver Romeo Dobbs he went to
6:22
Speaker 1: the Patriots. Quarterback Malik willis not necessarily the biggest contributor
6:26
Speaker 1: on the team, but he went to the Dolphins as well.
6:28
Speaker 1: He was a depth piece at the quarterback position. Sean
6:31
Speaker 1: Garry traded to the Dallas Cowboys. So I'm wondering, you know,
6:35
Speaker 1: which of the players who are no longer with this
6:37
Speaker 1: team techs kind of might concern you a little bit,
6:40
Speaker 1: or that you may have had a problem with. I mean,
6:43
Speaker 1: every team needs to let certain players go. I mean
6:46
Speaker 1: I was very unhappy that the Philadelphia Eagles let Nikobe
6:49
Speaker 1: dian go at the linebacker position. Really unhappy with how
6:52
Speaker 1: they let Red Blankenship walk when I think they actually
6:54
Speaker 1: could have paid him considering the money he got down
6:56
Speaker 1: in Houston. That being said, were there any players that
7:00
Speaker 1: the team let go and didn't really try to pursue
7:03
Speaker 1: in free agency that, Yeah, maybe you had a little
7:05
Speaker 1: bit of a problem with what are your thoughts here?
7:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny because I think everybody more or less
7:11
Speaker 2: expected the guys who left to leave. Okay, one way
7:15
Speaker 2: or another. You kind of knew Willis was going to
7:18
Speaker 2: get starting quarterback money from somebody that was that was
7:22
Speaker 2: pretty much a done deal. So and again, you know,
7:25
Speaker 2: if you're if you're building up a backup quarterback into
7:28
Speaker 2: somebody who gets starting quarterback money, you know, wish him
7:31
Speaker 2: well on his way and take the take the compensatory
7:34
Speaker 2: draft pick you get for that big contract, right, That
7:36
Speaker 2: one was a no brainer. Dobbs is an interesting one
7:39
Speaker 2: because although he's I mean, he is a good and
7:42
Speaker 2: productive receiver, he's never really been a number one guy.
7:45
Speaker 2: Even this last year, he led the Packers in all
7:47
Speaker 2: the receiving categories, but in the first half of the year,
7:50
Speaker 2: he was kind of the number two option behind Tucker Craft.
7:52
Speaker 2: Then Craft gets hurt and Christian Watson comes back basically
7:55
Speaker 2: the exact same week, and then Watson's the number one
7:58
Speaker 2: guy the whole rest of the way. So Dobbs has
8:00
Speaker 2: always been sort of a complimentary piece in this passing game,
8:04
Speaker 2: and I think the Packers just kind of decided that,
8:06
Speaker 2: you know, this isn't this isn't necessarily one of our
8:09
Speaker 2: core guys that we want to invest in, especially knowing
8:12
Speaker 2: that he's going to get seventeen eighteen million dollars a
8:14
Speaker 2: year on the open market. I think a lot of
8:17
Speaker 2: these guys they had numbers on that they were they
8:19
Speaker 2: would be a comfortable with, you know, giving a guy
8:22
Speaker 2: X amount of money, But when that market goes above that,
8:25
Speaker 2: for some of these players out on the broader free
8:28
Speaker 2: agent market, the Packers aren't going to over extend themselves.
8:31
Speaker 2: And that's been something that they've They've demonstrated time and
8:34
Speaker 2: time again over the year.
8:35
Speaker 1: The culture is there for that time as yeah.
8:38
Speaker 2: Correct, correct. I honestly think quietly the guy that they
8:42
Speaker 2: sought they re signed that might have been one of
8:44
Speaker 2: the most impactful guys who was set to be a
8:46
Speaker 2: free agent is Sean Ryant. They resigned him to come
8:49
Speaker 2: back and play center. We saw what happened to the
8:51
Speaker 2: center market this year when all of a sudden, everybody's
8:55
Speaker 2: gone and Tyler Linderbaum gets like twenty six million dollars
8:58
Speaker 2: a year, Yeah, and blows the rest of the center
9:01
Speaker 2: market out of the water. And I thought that the
9:03
Speaker 2: Packers did a really good job by bringing Ryan back
9:06
Speaker 2: on a very team friendly and flexible deal to give
9:11
Speaker 2: the team. You know, they've got a guy in there
9:13
Speaker 2: who they they think can do the job at least
9:15
Speaker 2: for the next season. Maybe they find a long term
9:18
Speaker 2: center project in the draft or something that they can
9:20
Speaker 2: develop along with him. But they didn't give a whole
9:22
Speaker 2: lot of guaranteed money, so they bought themselves the time
9:26
Speaker 2: that they needed to not go out and have to
9:29
Speaker 2: overpay in free agency for a center. Yeah. I thought
9:31
Speaker 2: that was a very shrewd move by by Brian Goodikinstant company. Personally,
9:35
Speaker 2: if it were me, I would have loved to have
9:36
Speaker 2: seen the maker run at Tyler Biattish after Washington cut him,
9:39
Speaker 2: which I still don't understand what the heck the Commanders
9:42
Speaker 2: are thinking about.
9:42
Speaker 1: That one fine, Yeah, for sure.
9:45
Speaker 2: But like they kind of signed for similar average numbers.
9:49
Speaker 2: I think around ten million dollars a year. I think
9:51
Speaker 2: got more guaranteed, And but he was a He was
9:53
Speaker 2: a release, so he wouldn't have factored against the compensatory picks,
9:56
Speaker 2: which again was something the Packers factored in pretty heavily.
9:59
Speaker 2: But yeah, most of these guys are not surprising. Elton
10:02
Speaker 2: Jenkins was a no brainer cut for this team. He
10:05
Speaker 2: got hurt, he wasn't playing well at center, and he
10:08
Speaker 2: had just a massive, massive cap number in the last
10:11
Speaker 2: year of his deal. So him him being gone was
10:13
Speaker 2: no surprise. And honestly, with Rashan Gary, the big surprise
10:17
Speaker 2: with him being traded is they got anything for him.
10:19
Speaker 1: Yeah.
10:20
Speaker 2: I think that was the big shocker for Packers fans
10:22
Speaker 2: is that, wait a minute, Jerry Jones is going to
10:24
Speaker 2: give us a fourth round pick for Rashan Gary? Sign
10:27
Speaker 2: us up? Like that was That was a That was
10:31
Speaker 2: a moment of celebration among Packers fans because there's only
10:34
Speaker 2: so many times that you can see him jog out
10:36
Speaker 2: of play and not get not get frustrated and be
10:40
Speaker 2: annoyed at the lack of effort. I ran some numbers
10:43
Speaker 2: the other day. Rashan Gary has only played in seventy
10:47
Speaker 2: five percent of the snaps in a single game in
10:50
Speaker 2: his Packers' career about five times. He is not an
10:53
Speaker 2: every down player. He's never been an every down play.
10:56
Speaker 2: Micah Parsons did that nine in nine games year alone
11:00
Speaker 2: with the Packers. It's just the workload has always been
11:05
Speaker 2: confusing and frustrating with Gary. It's it's there's always been
11:08
Speaker 2: a conditioning thing. And frankly, most of his sacks last
11:12
Speaker 2: year he had seven and a half, but almost all
11:14
Speaker 2: of those were cleanup sacks on Parsons pressures. Yeah, so
11:18
Speaker 2: you're going from Gary down to Lucas van Ness, who
11:21
Speaker 2: has has been a good player, especially last year in
11:25
Speaker 2: some limited action, he's been a very good player. They've
11:27
Speaker 2: got Baron Serell, the fourth round pick last year, who
11:30
Speaker 2: started to turn it on and have some flashes. At
11:32
Speaker 2: the end of last season. You did lose kings Leannibari,
11:35
Speaker 2: who was sort of their edge three guy, to a
11:38
Speaker 2: ten year or a ten million dollar deal with the Jets,
11:41
Speaker 2: which was a great number for him as a guy
11:43
Speaker 2: who had been a spot starter and a rotational guy.
11:45
Speaker 2: So good for him for getting, you know, a decent
11:48
Speaker 2: payday for next year, So you've got a little bit
11:50
Speaker 2: of depth questions there. I won't be surprised if they
11:53
Speaker 2: go to the edge group a little bit in the
11:55
Speaker 2: draft this this spring. Yeah, but again, all of these
11:58
Speaker 2: guys that left, I think it's it was identifying players,
12:02
Speaker 2: but they didn't think we're going to be part of
12:03
Speaker 2: this this core in this next couple of years that
12:06
Speaker 2: they had some level of internal replacements for and that
12:11
Speaker 2: they you know, that they felt like the numbers that
12:14
Speaker 2: these guys were going to be getting, either on the
12:16
Speaker 2: contracts that they were owed next year or you know,
12:19
Speaker 2: that they would be getting in free agency weren't numbers
12:22
Speaker 2: that they were comfortable comfortable paying. And so now again
12:26
Speaker 2: they've they've got flexibility now looking into twenty seven. They've
12:29
Speaker 2: got the money to sign some of these core guys
12:31
Speaker 2: to big contract extensions and still invest in free agency
12:35
Speaker 2: next year when they're not going to have all of
12:37
Speaker 2: these departures, you know, potentially giving them comp picks the
12:40
Speaker 2: following season they that they would need to offset. So
12:43
Speaker 2: all of those things playing into it. But yeah, really
12:47
Speaker 2: I think that there's been a national narrative about this
12:49
Speaker 2: Packers team that they've lost so many key players and
12:51
Speaker 2: so many snaps on both sides of the ball in
12:54
Speaker 2: this offseason, it's like, yeah, but you're also developing players
12:58
Speaker 2: behind them, and you've got guys that can finally kind
13:00
Speaker 2: of get entrenched in roles. Like I'm talked about the
13:03
Speaker 2: left tackle position. Rashid Walker is gone, which he misread
13:06
Speaker 2: his market, But that's a whole different story. But the
13:08
Speaker 2: Packers have had Jordan Morgan, who every time he's played
13:11
Speaker 2: left tackle, which is his natural position, he's played really
13:14
Speaker 2: really well. They played him in guard the last couple
13:16
Speaker 2: of years a bunch it hasn't gone great, But he's
13:19
Speaker 2: a left tackle. I'm convinced of that, and I think
13:21
Speaker 2: the Packers are finally recognizing that he needs to be
13:24
Speaker 2: the left tackle and he can be a plus pass
13:28
Speaker 2: protecting left tackle. So all these guys, there's development, and
13:33
Speaker 2: there are players ready to, I think, step into those
13:36
Speaker 2: roles that are vacated by these departures.
13:37
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, I have no idea why these teams
13:40
Speaker 1: don't put us fans on the coaching staff half the time,
13:42
Speaker 1: because we'd be able to make fantastic decisions all the
13:45
Speaker 1: time with our teams, right yes, exactly. Look, folks, we're
13:49
Speaker 1: going to take a break. When we get back, we're
13:51
Speaker 1: going to talk about acquisitions because the Packers didn't only
13:54
Speaker 1: lose some players, they gained some talent as well. It's
13:57
Speaker 1: an important part of their upcoming season. So let's take
14:01
Speaker 1: that break real quick. We'll be back in just a bit.
14:05
Speaker 1: All right. We are back with our good friend Evan
14:08
Speaker 1: tex Western from ACME Packingcompany dot com and Frozen Tundra Podcast.
14:13
Speaker 1: You can subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify. I believe you're
14:17
Speaker 1: on YouTube as well. Right, my friend, we're getting there.
14:21
Speaker 1: We're getting there.
14:22
Speaker 2: Our one of our pods in the feed is doing
14:25
Speaker 2: a YouTube show, a live show for the draft prep two. Okay, cool, Yeah,
14:28
Speaker 2: definitely check those guys out.
14:29
Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome. All right, well, let's get what we got
14:32
Speaker 1: into the losses and the departures during this offseason for
14:36
Speaker 1: the Packers. Let's get into some of the acquisitions here,
14:39
Speaker 1: because we know that linebackers I. R. Franklin is coming
14:44
Speaker 1: on board here. Defensive tackle who Eagles fans know, Javon
14:48
Speaker 1: Hargrave called going to the Packers wide receiver and punt
14:52
Speaker 1: returner Sky Moore. He is now a Packer a cornerback,
14:57
Speaker 1: Benjamin Saint just he is a Packer. Now that's just
15:01
Speaker 1: to name a few. How do you think the front
15:03
Speaker 1: office text handled the player acquisition process this offseason and
15:07
Speaker 1: which newly acquired players are you really excited about seeing
15:11
Speaker 1: this coming season?
15:14
Speaker 2: Well? Yeah, I think the big thing here again is
15:17
Speaker 2: I keep coming back to these comp picks. Right, the
15:19
Speaker 2: Backers don't have a first round pick in twenty twenty
15:21
Speaker 2: seven because of the Micah Parsons trade, and suddenly they've probably,
15:25
Speaker 2: in all likelihood based on this free agency period, they've
15:29
Speaker 2: added likely a third round pick, a fourth, a fifth,
15:32
Speaker 2: a sixth. For the competitive it's huge, it's huge. Plus
15:36
Speaker 2: plus that extra fourth round of they got for Rashan
15:38
Speaker 2: Gary in the trade with Dallas, So they've added a
15:41
Speaker 2: ton of flexibility. And I think one of the keys
15:43
Speaker 2: for them was not jeopardizing those comppicks for a player
15:48
Speaker 2: that they weren't really really sold on being a again
15:52
Speaker 2: a member of this corps. Right, So what do they do?
15:54
Speaker 2: They went out, They kind of they worked around the
15:56
Speaker 2: margins a little bit, and then they found a couple
15:58
Speaker 2: of guys who were casts, who are who are roster
16:01
Speaker 2: cuts from other teams. And Javon Hargrave is the big one.
16:05
Speaker 2: You mentioned it, right, Hardgrave. Hardgrave had his best years
16:09
Speaker 2: work playing for WHO Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia, and I
16:13
Speaker 2: think everybody's really excited to see what those two guys
16:16
Speaker 2: can do together again and and you know, again and again.
16:19
Speaker 2: It certainly got the most out of out of hard
16:20
Speaker 2: Grave on those Eagles defenses. So it was it felt
16:24
Speaker 2: like the you know, everybody was just waiting for the
16:27
Speaker 2: Vikings to cut him, yes, and because it just felt
16:31
Speaker 2: like it was such a such an obvious fit with
16:34
Speaker 2: with the Packers that that that nobody was surprised when
16:37
Speaker 2: literally an hour after the transaction wire came down that
16:40
Speaker 2: Hardgrave was released. He was already reportedly signing with Greenviees.
16:44
Speaker 2: But yeah, the fit's going to be great. I think
16:46
Speaker 2: the more we learn about Gannon, the more we know
16:48
Speaker 2: he's going to run more of a three four and
16:49
Speaker 2: I think that plays well to to hard Grave probably
16:52
Speaker 2: playing more of like the three or five tech and
16:54
Speaker 2: being able to be a penetrating pass rushing tackle, which
16:57
Speaker 2: which really plays to his strengths. So I'm excited to
17:00
Speaker 2: see what he brings. I'm really excited about that. I
17:03
Speaker 2: think the other piece is they've found some guys to
17:06
Speaker 2: fill in on special teams, which they haven't really invested
17:10
Speaker 2: in special teams players in a dedicated way over the
17:15
Speaker 2: last several years. And I still wonder if that played
17:18
Speaker 2: into the whole thing with rich Bisaccia abruptly leaving at
17:22
Speaker 2: the end of January and kind of, you know, leaving
17:26
Speaker 2: Green Bay without really much warning. So Saint just I
17:29
Speaker 2: think is he played a ton of special teams snaps
17:32
Speaker 2: last year with the Chargers, but I also think he
17:36
Speaker 2: was also a very good zone corner, and I think
17:37
Speaker 2: that's going to play well in Gannon's scheme. I think
17:39
Speaker 2: you could see him being a potential rotational guy on
17:42
Speaker 2: the boundary and you know, you might see him playing
17:45
Speaker 2: you know, three hundred four hundred defensive snaps and also
17:48
Speaker 2: being a core gunner and a core member of the
17:50
Speaker 2: Packers special teams units and sky Moor.
17:53
Speaker 1: He was not a bad corner playing for the Commanders,
17:55
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that, seriously. There were times when he
17:57
Speaker 1: gave Eagles wide receivers some issues.
18:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's tall, he's long, he's got pretty decent speed,
18:04
Speaker 2: and like I said, last year, he played great as
18:06
Speaker 2: a primary zone guy with with the Chargers, and I
18:08
Speaker 2: think that could play really well with h you know,
18:10
Speaker 2: within gannet schemes. So I think they got him two
18:13
Speaker 2: years five mil per. That's for for a guy who
18:16
Speaker 2: you're counting on to be you know, a core special
18:19
Speaker 2: teamer and a you know, potentially a good spot starter
18:23
Speaker 2: and reserve rotational guy. That's great, perfectly, perfectly happy with that.
18:28
Speaker 2: Sky Moore is an interesting one because the Packers definitely
18:31
Speaker 2: have not had a punt returner that they can rely
18:34
Speaker 2: on for years. It's been you know, some combination of
18:37
Speaker 2: Romeo Dobbs and Jayden Reed and Keishawn Nixon and Moore
18:41
Speaker 2: has the juice. So that's an area where I'm looking
18:44
Speaker 2: forward to seeing, you know, maybe they really have decided that, yeah,
18:48
Speaker 2: we do need to invest in in some players.
18:52
Speaker 1: On specials are the same way. There's a lot of
18:55
Speaker 1: NFL teams that have really pulled away from special teams
18:59
Speaker 1: over the years just because they want to invest in
19:01
Speaker 1: other areas of their specific teams.
19:03
Speaker 2: Definitely, So yeah, I think the key the area is
19:07
Speaker 2: again they found places where they can upgrade without really
19:11
Speaker 2: jeopardizing those high level compensatory picks. Yeah, and again they
19:17
Speaker 2: did a good job of identifying areas of need. And
19:20
Speaker 2: again that special teams investment, I do think is something
19:23
Speaker 2: that's been missing from Green Bay for some time and
19:26
Speaker 2: I'm hoping hopefully it pays some dividends.
19:28
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see for sure.
19:31
Speaker 1: And look, I mean no team out there in the
19:34
Speaker 1: NFL is perfect. I mean no team is. We never
19:37
Speaker 1: in a million years thought that the Seattle Seahawks would
19:41
Speaker 1: be Super Bowl champions, and they're certainly not a perfect team.
19:44
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of things went right for them.
19:47
Speaker 1: The New England Patriots having one of the weakest schedules
19:51
Speaker 1: in the NFL certainly was a help to them throughout
19:53
Speaker 1: the season and just in terms of building their confidence
19:56
Speaker 1: and even developing their players. But again, no team is
19:59
Speaker 1: perfec and you try to plug holes again, like I
20:02
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, plug holes during free agency and during the
20:06
Speaker 1: off season. Every team has these needs and they always
20:10
Speaker 1: want depth. But I'm wondering, what what do you see
20:13
Speaker 1: with the Packers text as being the biggest unknown really
20:17
Speaker 1: heading into this twenty twenty six season for this team
20:20
Speaker 1: an organization.
20:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's it's clearly a run stuffing nose tackle.
20:28
Speaker 2: That's the guy. You know, again, with that move back
20:31
Speaker 2: to more of a three to four those base downs
20:33
Speaker 2: you're going to be in in a three man front,
20:35
Speaker 2: and having that guy who can two gap and plug
20:37
Speaker 2: the plug the middle against the run is going to
20:40
Speaker 2: be going to be important. And that's not necessarily going
20:43
Speaker 2: to be you know, he's not gonna be a three
20:44
Speaker 2: down player, but that's somebody that the Packers don't really
20:46
Speaker 2: have on this roster right now. So that's an area
20:49
Speaker 2: where you know, we're really looking through this draft class
20:52
Speaker 2: and trying to find guys that can do that in
20:56
Speaker 2: kind of the middle rounds, and somebody like Dominique Orange
20:58
Speaker 2: out of Iowa State is is a guy that we
21:00
Speaker 2: really like. Darryl Jackson at Florida State might be might
21:03
Speaker 2: be a candidate for that too. So I wouldn't be
21:05
Speaker 2: surprised if they go to that well sometime in those
21:07
Speaker 2: like I said, third fourth round and and try to
21:10
Speaker 2: find a run stuffing nose tackle. I could also see
21:13
Speaker 2: I mentioned center as a as a potential spot, really
21:15
Speaker 2: center anywhere along the interior or the offensive line. Yeah,
21:19
Speaker 2: looking for guys to to be able to have a
21:21
Speaker 2: little bit of versatility in there. But you know, Aaron
21:25
Speaker 2: Banks came in last year, he had some injury issues,
21:27
Speaker 2: was in and out of the lineup a little bit.
21:29
Speaker 2: We'll see where Ryan. You know where Ryan goes if
21:31
Speaker 2: he develops as a starter at the center position. But
21:34
Speaker 2: I could certainly see them investing in that area for
21:37
Speaker 2: depth and then for for future development. And then linebacker
21:40
Speaker 2: is a big question for me too. Edre and Cooper
21:42
Speaker 2: looks like one of those core guys in one of
21:43
Speaker 2: those positions. You mentioned Zayer Frankly coming in from Indy earlier. Again,
21:48
Speaker 2: that was a trade, so that was an acquisition that
21:50
Speaker 2: didn't cost anything in terms of the compicks. We'll see
21:54
Speaker 2: where he where he ends up, because I think there's
21:57
Speaker 2: a little bit of a concern that has played up
22:00
Speaker 2: a little bit last season, so you know, he'll be
22:02
Speaker 2: kind of probably competing with Isaiah McDuffie for for the
22:05
Speaker 2: mic linebacker spot. But that's certainly a position where with
22:08
Speaker 2: Kawai Walker leaving in free agency as well, you can
22:11
Speaker 2: see some investment. And then finally, corner, I think this
22:14
Speaker 2: team needs an infusion of talent a corner and they've
22:16
Speaker 2: got the boundary guys are I think all up for
22:19
Speaker 2: pretty much all up at the end of this season.
22:21
Speaker 2: So certainly corner, detackle, and like interior offensive line are
22:26
Speaker 2: definitely the focus areas in my mind for for where
22:30
Speaker 2: this team is probably going to look to continue to build,
22:33
Speaker 2: whether that's you know, through some some potential free agent
22:37
Speaker 2: acquisitions that are on some guys that are still out there. Yeah,
22:40
Speaker 2: like I think DJ Reader, I think is still out there. Yeah,
22:43
Speaker 2: a nose tackle, So that could be one where I
22:45
Speaker 2: could see the Packers interested in him if they don't
22:47
Speaker 2: find that nose tackle that they like in the in
22:49
Speaker 2: the draft this year. Yeah.
22:50
Speaker 1: Look, the offseason certainly isn't over at all, you know,
22:53
Speaker 1: whether whether it's your team with the Packers, tons of
22:56
Speaker 1: other teams, Eagles, you know, there's always the waiting game
22:59
Speaker 1: with talent that's out there. You know, even even during
23:02
Speaker 1: training camp we see acquisitions happen. But I am gonna
23:06
Speaker 1: really quick, I'm gonna take one more break here, and
23:08
Speaker 1: then when we get back, let's talk some draft. NFL
23:11
Speaker 1: draft is right around the corner. What might the Packers
23:14
Speaker 1: do then, and we'll also get into the NFC North folks.
23:17
Speaker 1: Stick with us. We are gonna be back in just
23:19
Speaker 1: a bit. All right, we're back with our good friend
23:23
Speaker 1: tex Western from Acne Packingcompany dot com the Frozen tundrapodcast
23:29
Speaker 1: as well, and let's get into some draft talk here.
23:32
Speaker 1: I can't. I mean, it's one of my favorite times
23:34
Speaker 1: during the year with regard to the NFL. I mean
23:37
Speaker 1: it is. I mean, you got the regular season, you
23:39
Speaker 1: got the playoffs. Yes, it's fun to watch the game,
23:41
Speaker 1: but man, the strategy, the team building, how it all
23:45
Speaker 1: comes together or falls apart quite frankly for certain teams,
23:49
Speaker 1: it's always so interesting. And I mean the Packers are
23:53
Speaker 1: known to build very young teams through the draft, very
23:58
Speaker 1: much like the Eagles. You know, I think there's so
24:00
Speaker 1: much of our teams that are similar in so many ways.
24:02
Speaker 1: Anymore these days here in twenty twenty six, it's pretty astonishing.
24:07
Speaker 1: How do you see text the Packers and the front
24:09
Speaker 1: office approaching this draft and what really needs to be
24:13
Speaker 1: prioritized for the future. I know, before the break you
24:15
Speaker 1: mentioned few, you know, a few positions, whether it's cornerback, interior,
24:19
Speaker 1: the offensive line that may need to be addressed in
24:22
Speaker 1: some way, shape or form. But how do you really
24:23
Speaker 1: see this draft taking shape for the Packers?
24:28
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, the first part of it, right, is
24:29
Speaker 2: that they don't again don't have a first round picks
24:31
Speaker 2: as a result of the micro parsonstrates. So that's a
24:34
Speaker 2: that's the big thing is you're not going to see
24:36
Speaker 2: the Packers showing up on all your one round mock
24:39
Speaker 2: drafts that are that are coming out here. But I
24:42
Speaker 2: think this is a year where this team is looking
24:46
Speaker 2: for depth and it's looking for long term contributors. And
24:50
Speaker 2: I do think there's there's a level of the Packers
24:53
Speaker 2: are always sort of the best value available type of
24:56
Speaker 2: a team where they're not going to get too hung
24:58
Speaker 2: up on position needs and positional positional you know, the
25:05
Speaker 2: the broster needs and things. Yeah, they always sort of
25:08
Speaker 2: look at that a couple of years out. And I
25:10
Speaker 2: actually think that one position that's a little bit sneaky
25:13
Speaker 2: is wide receiver. Now they've got a lot of guys
25:15
Speaker 2: that are on that roster. You've got still Christian Watson,
25:18
Speaker 2: Matthew Golden, Jaden Reed, Dontavian Wicks. But as of right now,
25:22
Speaker 2: Golden is the only guy who is under contract beyond
25:24
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six.
25:25
Speaker 1: Yeah.
25:26
Speaker 2: Now, I think certainly think Watson is going to get
25:28
Speaker 2: an extension during the season. He's not going to end
25:30
Speaker 2: up hitting free agency, so I think he'll be around
25:32
Speaker 2: for a long time. But this team could definitely use
25:36
Speaker 2: some depth and again, some long term potential contributors. So
25:41
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be surprised to see, you know, a wide
25:43
Speaker 2: receiver go in the mid rounds, and I kind of
25:45
Speaker 2: alluded to it earlier too. An edge rusher is a
25:50
Speaker 2: little bit of a quiet need from a depth perspective,
25:54
Speaker 2: because you're still kind of unsure what is this team
25:57
Speaker 2: going to do with Lucas van Nests. Are they going
25:58
Speaker 2: to give him a fifty year option and they're going
26:00
Speaker 2: to try to extend his contract. Is he one of
26:03
Speaker 2: those core players on this roster or do they look
26:06
Speaker 2: to the draft to shore up that position as well.
26:09
Speaker 2: So I think that's going to be the really interesting
26:11
Speaker 2: thing is I don't expect that anybody that they draft,
26:16
Speaker 2: short of maybe if they end up with one of
26:17
Speaker 2: those big nose tackles right who plays, you know, on
26:20
Speaker 2: first and second down and then is clear en off
26:22
Speaker 2: the field. I don't expect a lot of snaps out
26:25
Speaker 2: of this rookie class one way or another in twenty
26:28
Speaker 2: twenty six. I do expect that this players that are
26:31
Speaker 2: drafted in this class are probably going to play a
26:33
Speaker 2: decent amount in twenty seven and then beyond. And I
26:36
Speaker 2: think that lines up with how this team is philosophy,
26:40
Speaker 2: you know, has always been for years and years and years.
26:44
Speaker 2: You see this team always draft a year or two
26:46
Speaker 2: ahead in terms of need or at least identifying areas
26:50
Speaker 2: where you know, where the value of premier positions and
26:53
Speaker 2: things is very important. So that's sort of the approach
26:58
Speaker 2: that I expect to see this team take. And honestly,
27:01
Speaker 2: it's really you know, the Packers are kind of boring.
27:03
Speaker 2: They always do this. You know, they so rarely take
27:06
Speaker 2: the flashy player, and that's honestly, it's kind of one
27:10
Speaker 2: of the reasons last year in Green Bay for the
27:11
Speaker 2: draft was was so crazy, was to see them actually
27:15
Speaker 2: take the wide receiver in Round one, right. But at
27:19
Speaker 2: the same time, I mean you you you saw in
27:21
Speaker 2: that instance, right, the same sort of thing. Dobbs is
27:25
Speaker 2: a free agent this offseason. Some of those other guys
27:27
Speaker 2: are free agents next season, and so they were looking
27:30
Speaker 2: ahead a couple of years down the line with that pick.
27:34
Speaker 2: I think they're they're going to be content if they
27:36
Speaker 2: don't get a bunch of prorection out of these guys
27:38
Speaker 2: in year one, but that development this team has always
27:42
Speaker 2: counted on that year two, year three impact from those
27:44
Speaker 2: rookie players. And again that lines up I think with
27:47
Speaker 2: the timeline that this team really has.
27:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let's let's close out our discussion here, techs
27:53
Speaker 1: with the divisional talk that I was that I've been
27:56
Speaker 1: basically teasing this whole time when we look at what
27:59
Speaker 1: the NFC nor landscape is going to end up being. Again,
28:03
Speaker 1: when you had the Detroit Lions, you know who many
28:07
Speaker 1: of us thought were going to be a quote contender
28:09
Speaker 1: this past year when they finished last in the division
28:12
Speaker 1: at nine and eight, it's such an incredibly strong division.
28:15
Speaker 1: So this is how I see this division as we're
28:18
Speaker 1: heading into this twenty twenty six season. Here. I mean
28:22
Speaker 1: the Lions they have the talent I believe to contend
28:26
Speaker 1: the Vikings. They're in that certainly a transitional based type
28:30
Speaker 1: of phase right now. The Bears, they I believe, are
28:33
Speaker 1: in an upward based trajectory. Where do you see the
28:37
Speaker 1: Packers fitting into this divisional equation here?
28:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, like I sort of said, twenty six is going
28:44
Speaker 2: to be interesting. It's almost a little bit of that
28:47
Speaker 2: bridge year, and it's going to depend, I think, very
28:49
Speaker 2: heavily on how healthy this team manages to stay as
28:53
Speaker 2: well as you know, how some of those key players
28:56
Speaker 2: end up bouncing back from injuries. Yeah, if it takes
29:00
Speaker 2: Michael Parsons and Tucker Craft a little bit of time
29:03
Speaker 2: to really settle back in, it could be a little
29:06
Speaker 2: bit of a rough stretch in the first half of
29:08
Speaker 2: the season. So I'm trying to keep my expectations tempered
29:13
Speaker 2: a little bit for twenty six with again with an
29:17
Speaker 2: eye a really keen eye on twenty seven. But that said,
29:21
Speaker 2: you know this, there's so much talent on this team.
29:26
Speaker 2: I think there's certainly plenty of talent to continue competing
29:29
Speaker 2: for a division title yea and beyond. And so if
29:36
Speaker 2: you're asking me to handicap you know where they're going
29:39
Speaker 2: to finish in the division. That's so tough because of
29:42
Speaker 2: what you just mentioned, right all, Yeah, not necessarily. That's
29:45
Speaker 2: a crapshoot, right, it really.
29:46
Speaker 1: Is, because, like I mean, I can honestly see the
29:49
Speaker 1: Lions either being middle of the pack or quite frankly
29:51
Speaker 1: towards the top of the pack. Maybe the Bears take
29:53
Speaker 1: a step back having some sort of slump based on,
29:57
Speaker 1: you know, just where expectations were initially for them and
30:01
Speaker 1: where where their fan base wants them to be. I
30:03
Speaker 1: don't necessarily know that there as talented as maybe where
30:06
Speaker 1: they got to last year, quite frankly, but I always
30:09
Speaker 1: see the Packers being that team that will be able
30:13
Speaker 1: to contend year after year because you have a head
30:16
Speaker 1: coach who I think has grown tremendously during his tenure
30:20
Speaker 1: as the Packers head coach with with Matt Lafleur, and
30:24
Speaker 1: I see a front office that's patient, and I think
30:26
Speaker 1: I think when you have a front office that's patient
30:29
Speaker 1: and laying that foundation, you're gonna you're gonna remain a
30:32
Speaker 1: contender year after year. And I think that's what the
30:35
Speaker 1: Packers have.
30:36
Speaker 2: I think that's exactly right. You did hit on something
30:39
Speaker 2: that I was going to get to. Is I do
30:41
Speaker 2: think the Bears overperformed, Yeah, last year. I think that's
30:44
Speaker 2: that's I feel very very strongly about that. And I
30:48
Speaker 2: do expect a little bit of the high variance Kayla
30:51
Speaker 2: Williams end of game stuff to come down to earth
30:54
Speaker 2: a little bit, right, God, I hope so, yes, But
30:59
Speaker 2: then I could see I mean that the Lions were
31:01
Speaker 2: just hammered by injuries again last year. And if that
31:04
Speaker 2: balances it itself out a little bit more, if they're
31:06
Speaker 2: a little more league average in terms of their injuries,
31:09
Speaker 2: especially on defense, I mean, they could be bumping back
31:11
Speaker 2: up towards the top of the Division two. But you
31:14
Speaker 2: nailed it with the Packers, right. This team benefits from
31:18
Speaker 2: having the ownership structure that it has. It's got a
31:21
Speaker 2: you know, a board of directors and a president de
31:23
Speaker 2: facto owner who we're still learning about ed policy, the
31:27
Speaker 2: new guy and mrk Murphy retiring in this summer. But
31:31
Speaker 2: you could tell that, you know, when when policy reupt
31:34
Speaker 2: with Matt Lafleur, that this wasn't somebody who was going
31:38
Speaker 2: to be as reactionary as some of these individual owners
31:41
Speaker 2: tend to be around the NFL. And so there's there's
31:45
Speaker 2: that level of patients where you know, as a as
31:49
Speaker 2: a GM or as a member of the front office,
31:52
Speaker 2: that that you don't have to necessarily always be looking
31:57
Speaker 2: out for, you know, for for what is the immediate
32:01
Speaker 2: impact on my owner's morale? Right to make sure that
32:06
Speaker 2: I'm keeping you know, keeping the owner happy. It is
32:08
Speaker 2: you know, like you said, it is all about maintaining
32:11
Speaker 2: a sustained level of success, and when you do that,
32:15
Speaker 2: you always put yourself in a position to compete for
32:17
Speaker 2: a super Bowl every single year. And again, that's always
32:20
Speaker 2: where the Packers are, and that's always going to keep
32:23
Speaker 2: them in contention for the division title, for playoff spots,
32:27
Speaker 2: and you know, to hopefully get to the super Bowl
32:30
Speaker 2: here again, because it's been a little bit for us.
32:33
Speaker 2: We're we're we're getting a little we're getting a little
32:36
Speaker 2: antsy here. It's been sixteen years since super Bowl forty five,
32:40
Speaker 2: so we're we're ready to get back there. And yeah, hopefully,
32:45
Speaker 2: hopefully the next couple of years is when it happens
32:47
Speaker 2: for us.
32:47
Speaker 1: I believe it's a possibility. I mean, on this podcast,
32:50
Speaker 1: I can't tell you when we do our NFL Eagles,
32:53
Speaker 1: you know, preseason predictions or season predictions, I should say
32:58
Speaker 1: Packers are always towards the top with my co host
33:00
Speaker 1: and myself, whether it's going to the NFC Championship game.
33:03
Speaker 1: Over the past few years, we thought the Packers were
33:05
Speaker 1: going to be Super Bowl teams in terms of our predictions.
33:08
Speaker 1: So we'll have to wait and see. It's going to
33:10
Speaker 1: be an interesting off season for the remainder of these
33:14
Speaker 1: next few months until training camp starts and again, folks,
33:17
Speaker 1: he is Evan Techwestern from Acmepackingcompany dot Com over at
33:22
Speaker 1: SB Nation. Check out Frozen Tundra podcast as well. Let
33:26
Speaker 1: folks know where they can connect with you on the
33:27
Speaker 1: interwebs out there if they want to techs.
33:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, thanks a lot. You can find me. I'm
33:33
Speaker 2: active on blue Sky at tex Western you can find us.
33:36
Speaker 2: We're Acmepackingcompany dot Com all spelled out, but on social
33:40
Speaker 2: media we're at ACME Packingco. And then yeah, Frozen Tunder
33:44
Speaker 2: Frequencies podcast. It's at Frozen Tundra Pod on on all
33:48
Speaker 2: of the various social media sites and like you said,
33:51
Speaker 2: anywhere you get your podcast, look at Frozen under Frequencies.
33:53
Speaker 2: And right now we're doing a great session on the draft.
33:57
Speaker 2: We've got my colleagues Tyler Brook and just this Moscato
34:00
Speaker 2: breakdown position by position. We should have an episode coming
34:03
Speaker 2: up on the Edge Class nice this week, So that
34:07
Speaker 2: one's gonna be a long one. I think they're gonna
34:09
Speaker 2: be talking about probably fifteen or twenty guys. Yeah, so
34:12
Speaker 2: get your but but it's it's great stuff. I mean,
34:15
Speaker 2: they do an awesome job, both both film junkies and
34:17
Speaker 2: I respect the hell out of yeah, both of those
34:20
Speaker 2: guys in terms of evaluating players and things.
34:23
Speaker 1: We're in that season right, definitely, Yeah, absolutely, we're right
34:26
Speaker 1: in the middle of it now. I can't wait.
34:28
Speaker 2: I love it. I love it. I was I was
34:31
Speaker 2: thinking I might make it over to Pittsburgh this year
34:33
Speaker 2: for the draft. It's not going to work out, but certainly,
34:36
Speaker 2: you know, gonna be a gonna be a fun one
34:37
Speaker 2: as it always is, and looking forward to it.
34:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, And just just to let our listeners know, we're
34:42
Speaker 1: going to have a lot more draft talk come your
34:43
Speaker 1: way over the course of these next few weeks.
34:46
Speaker 2: Here.
34:47
Speaker 1: In fact, we're going to have one of our good
34:48
Speaker 1: buddies comes on a couple times a year, one of
34:50
Speaker 1: the best in the business, Matt Waldman from the Rookie
34:54
Speaker 1: Scouting Portfolio, is going to be joining us. We're going
34:56
Speaker 1: to dive into a bunch of skill players that's going
34:59
Speaker 1: to be coming up in your podcast feed in the
35:01
Speaker 1: very near future. So that being said, Buddy, I have
35:04
Speaker 1: absolutely loved talking to you. You know that, come back
35:06
Speaker 1: join us. Let's talk more Packers, more NFL football. Down
35:10
Speaker 1: the road, let's do it.
35:11
Speaker 2: You say the word, I'll be here man. Thanks Jeff,
35:13
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Go pack out.
35:15
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory
35:19
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
35:21
Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
35:25
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35:28
Speaker 1: of this online community with us and within this space.
35:32
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35:35
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35:40
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35:49
Speaker 1: we will catch you next time.