The Green Bay Packers kicked off their offseason program today coming off an extremely disappointing 2017 campaign that had them finish 7-9 and in third place in the NFC North. It has been an eventful off-field offseason since then. The Packers have new coordinators on both sides of the ball, a new quarterbacks coach and the departure of Jordy Nelson.
Of course, the biggest was move the removal of Ted Thompson as general manager. Brian Gutenkunst is the new man in charge and wasted no time in getting to work by releasing Jordy and signing tight end Jimmy Graham and defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson. While there are still needs to fill, the Packers are once again contenders to win the Super Bowl, currently sitting at 9/1 at scr88, which could be a steal if the Packers have a good draft next week.
What may be the biggest move of the offseason hasn’t actually happened yet. That would be the signing of quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a long term contract extension. Rodgers has been very outspoken about his displeasure regarding the release of his quarterbacks coach and his best friend when questioned the last couple of months, but he sang a different tune in front of the local media today.
I watched Rodgers’ presser today and can only wonder why he didn’t use the same answers to the same questions before. There would have been no kerfuffle. There would have been no need for him to Tweet #fakenewstuesday. I really think the return of Joe Philbin as offensive coordinator is going to be the difference. The smile on Rodgers’ face when he was asked about him could not have been a bigger indication of how Rodgers feels about Philbin. With Philbin at the helm Rodgers knows that every player on offense will know exactly what they have to do on every play.
It was fun to see the guys back and to see the interviews in their entirety. I find it very interesting how the media picks their quotes, either in print or video. I read the quotes today before watching Rodgers’ pressor and I could have picked several that were more positive. The media likes controversy. I fall victim to that occasionally.
Anyway, it’s good to have the guys back in town. The draft is next week, the schedule comes out Thursday, and confidence is high.