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Jul 27, 2021Liked by Tyler Dunne

I fear that we're approaching the "let's have a baby to save the marriage" level of absurdity with this situation. The Green Bay front office took a beating in the national opinion press because it's dotted with ex-players who will overwhelmingly side with players vs. management. Further, show hosts and producers know it will drive ratings, clicks, and clicks and engagement metrics.

The Green Bay front office is not without blame, however. Gutekunst and LaFleur should be talking with Rodgers about what receivers, OL, and RBs he's comfortable with, given the amount of responsibility he has at the line and in the huddle. Your established QB doesn't get decision-making power (that would cause locker room issues, too), but you do need his input as to why he's comfortable or not comfortable with certain players.

The board of trustees needs to take a long, hard look at Mark Murphy and his performance. His reorganization of the reporting structure related to football is antithetical to the operational process Green Bay employs. Further, he's a walking PR nightmare. There is zero power the stockholders present, but the board needs to heed the crimson-red flags coming from 1265 Lombardi Avenue. Mark Murphy's succession plan needed to start yesterday.

Finally, with Rodgers. As great as he is, there's no way in hell I want him back in Green Bay after what he's pulled. It feels like the Packers are in an abusive relationship but keep making excuses for, and welcoming back with open arms, their abuser. It's well beyond toxic at this point. They've painted themselves into a corner that will end in dissension, frustration, and a smoldering shell of a house. Rodgers' behavior is a virus that impacts all aspects of the locker room, football operation, and quite frankly, the broader fanbase, as well.

I believe Gutekunst is a top-notch talent evaluator. But fair or not, Green Bay has to execute everything better than every other team in the NFL. They need to be player-centric at a level they likely cannot comprehend - from how they treat current players to how they treat players they've cut. Fly players in first class. When you cut them, arrange their flights in first class. Like Holmgren and Wolf used to do, do the little things to bring known comforts to them, from chefs to barbers to trainers, coaches, etc.. Green Bay doesn't have the luxury of executing just as good as everyone else because that still won't be good enough. They have to overcompensate for their perceived geographic weakness. It's reality, and the sooner they embrace that, the better. Once they do, they can defend their personnel and business decisions with minimal logical scrutiny.

Finally, there's a lot of great reporters and journalists who cover the NFL. But this lazy, uninformed, clearly lobbied narrative that Green Bay hasn't surrounded Rodgers with offensive talent is a lazy, uninformed take. The fact that it's repeated so casually and often underscores the separation between professional, informed journalists and the ratings-driven talking heads and bloggers.

The bottom line is that there are no winners in this situation. Everyone and everything comes out looking worse for wear in this.

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author

Fantastic comments, gang. Sorry I'm just seeing these. We had our son, Serafino, the day after posting this story so I'm just catching up. Can't tell you enough how awesome it is to have such smart football fans supporting this newsletter/site.

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A lot of my fears about the Rogers resolution are echoed in this piece, but as we see now, the reality isn't quite so bad. Most of the items posted by Schefter & Co turned out to be over-statements or just plain wrong. And the Cobb trade: reduced salary for a 6th is live-able.

A point Tyler seems to be overlooking is that we don't know if we have a QB to replace Rogers or not. Furthermore, while his value may be peaking now, the picks would probably be late. Assuming things go as expected, we'll be trading him after this year with a replacement ready and for higher picks.

Of course, their will be moments, but the benefits out-weigh the risks - at this time.

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“The answer is...This jackass hosted Jeopardy and played QB for the Green Bay Packers in 2021”

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Nice commentary TD. I bet Ron Wolf is glad Eliot is out of there now that GB has decided to let a player make Roster decisions...I lived through the pre-Wolf, weak GM, Director of player personnel years..looks like a bad trend. Management is behaving like the smallest a group in the smallest market, terrified of becoming irrelevant..one cannot lead from a position of fear...

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founding

There is "bending over backwards" and then there is just "bending over". Feels like the Packers are real close to the latter with the degree of concessions that have been reported.

In the end, as a fan, I root for the team first. Part of that has always been the Packers being strategic. Would I like a much better record in the NFCC? Of course. But looking at that record as a failure is an issue in and of itself. The Packers have played very, very few meaningless football in the last 30 years. I don't take that for granted.

Thompson's legacy is strategic use of the draft, limited use of expensive free agents, preference to pay your drafted stars, and painfully saying goodbye to some of them knowing you cannot keep them all. The down side to his legacy is the low EQ approach to managing their people. We all know the NFL is a business - but their business is talent-based. They have forgotten that along the way and all this noise is rooted in that simple fact. I'm not sure all these concessions will suddenly change that - and that is the root for potential drama during the season. And Rodgers controls that narrative 100%.

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The entire 2021 offseason will be as scrutinized by history as the selection of Jordan Love will be. The Packers are taking a big risk. Will Aaron be a cancer? Will his teammates rally around him? Will he still prepare and play at a high level? There's a lot of risk for the Packers, not only for the season and what they could get in a trade next offseason, but lots of jobs within the organization.

I wonder if the COVID season played a part in the reunion. If last season had been "normal" and Love had an opportunity to prepare in camp/preseason, maybe get a couple looks in the regular season, would the Packers have felt comfortable moving on from Aaron one year earlier than planned?

The roster has been built with 2021 being the year to "go for it". The problem with drafting and developing studs (whether by their own right or because they're playing with Aaron) is eventually they need to be paid, and the salary cap doesn't let the Packers do that. We're going to see a significantly different roster next year, as the Packers try to refocus rather than rebuild.

In a nutshell, yesterday seemed like a win for the Packers. They got their QB back, didn't add money to his deal, got more cap room, and can still trade Aaron after the season. If all Aaron gets is Randall Cobb to be his buddy for a year, that seems like a solid tradeoff. If there's a Cobb trade, hopefully the Packers can recoup the compensation by trading Aaron next year. Heck, if Cobb has a resurgence in GB with Rodgers at the helm, the Packers may be able to trade him too.

It's going to be dramatic all season. The Packers will lose some games. Aaron and Lafluer won't agree. Last year, they seemed to have a good working relationship until the last game. Hopefully they can rekindle that.

I am curious what Gutekunst's involvement will be this year. Will he be around, talking to Aaron more, trying to repair the relationship and show Aaron the organization listened to his feedback and changed? Or does Aaron never want to see Gutekunst again, and the two of them will act like the other doesn't exist?

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