Welcome to the first of what should be many press conferences in this 2006 season. Last season we had a strong start winning our first eight games. Unfortunately we then limped into the playoffs at 10-6, winning only 2 games in the second half and were upset by a hot 49ers team. In 2004 on the other hand we came out slow at 2-5 before winning seven of our last nine. Both efforts resulted in a division title and we hope this time around we can find a way to play consistent football and bring home a fifth straight division title to our loyal fans.
Right off the bat that is looking to be daunting task with eight of our players contracts expiring this past year, including five starters who have poured their hearts out for this team. Such names include HB Ahman Green who has placed second in rushing yards each of the last three years and led the league in rushing touchdowns in 2004 and 2005. Also entering free agency are redzone threat TE Bubba Franks, LG Mike Wahle, DT Grady Jackson, and OLB Hannibal Navies. We fully intend to try our hardest to bring back as many of these guys as we can, but it will be tough.
As of yet it is hard to get an exact picture of what this season will turn out like with players still to sign and draft but we are confident that we can continue our success in a tough NFC North. That is about all I have to say for now, though I will be happy to answer any questions.
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Champion of 2007 Pigskin Pick'em
Runner-Up of 2000 pt. Fantasy Football League
That is a good question...based on such factors as age, skill level and other talent available at their position I would have to say getting back Mike Wahle will be our top priority (after Green). From our scouts, there seems to be quite a dropoff at that position in terms of skill level and being only 28, we would love to see Wahle play out his career in GB.
Grady Jackson is in a similar situation though being quite a bit older, nearer to retirement and with a couple guys that we could also try and pick up he is a step behind Wahle on our "free agent board". We will also be looking into the needs that can be filled in the upcoming rookie draft to further analyze our priorities.
Bubba Franks could also be up there in importance, depending on how many of the possible franchise tags get used on TEs this offseason.
Of the group, Hannibal Navies is the most "expendable" of the four, but at the same time we would like to see him back in a Packers uniform this season.
Of the backups, Grey Ruegamer will be the only one of the three that we plan on pursuing at this time. He serves as a great backup when our guys in the trenches go down and fills in admirably. Who knows, maybe he will make leaps and strides towards becoming a starter...either here or somewhere else in the league.
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Champion of 2007 Pigskin Pick'em
Runner-Up of 2000 pt. Fantasy Football League
If possible would really like to re-sign those top three free agents. From there if we can pick up a good OLB...whether it be Navies or better I am confident we can have better success this time around. This past season didn't quite turn out the way we planned but we saw great improvements in our team. Especially at the WR, CB and SS positions. We now have two quality starters in Javon Walker and Donald Driver and a strong support now with sophmore Greg Jennings who finished the season well. Cap permitting, if we can find another quality WR in free agency that would be great. The same goes for the CBs with Mike McKenzie and Al Harris leading the charge.
Jerome Carter has also done a great job at that SS position and we look forward to seeing him in action in his sophomore year as well. He has had great support from Mike, Al and fellow safety Darren Sharper.
In the end, last year's dissapointment came down to teams figuring out how to stop our offensive gameplan after the first half of the season. It took us too long to come up with a new one to counteract it and then caught some bad breaks down the stretch. This time around we will be making sure to throw things at our opponents that they won't expect. What those exactly are will depend on the personel we can bring together come preseason.
I hope that adequately answered your question.
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Champion of 2007 Pigskin Pick'em
Runner-Up of 2000 pt. Fantasy Football League
Our major team needs at the moment is basically getting all those free agents back. With a possible upgrade at OLB, and 3rd/4th string WR/CB if cap permits.
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Champion of 2007 Pigskin Pick'em
Runner-Up of 2000 pt. Fantasy Football League
With the rumored trade to get Josh McCown from the cards, are Favres days with the club numbered? Will you keep Brett there to possibly tutor McCown, orwhat? What are the organizations plans with Favre and the possible new quarterback battle there?
With McCown holding such potential we hope to see him continue to develop throughout training camp and in the preseason. At this time he is our planned starter. Having said that unless we receive an offer we cannot refuse, Brett will remain to backup McCown should struggle and also help him in his development process.
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Champion of 2007 Pigskin Pick'em
Runner-Up of 2000 pt. Fantasy Football League
How does this organization feel after losing an Icon like Green to an already strong Colts?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Disturbed
The simple fact is that he is a over rated piece of **** that can't cover. He makes bad reads on routes and lacks the ability to recover when he is beaten.
For Madden people the best way to explain it is that he has a very low awareness.
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