Brett Farrey

“With the first pick of the draft, the Charger’s select Eli Manning”. We all know the story. The Charger’s selected Eli Manning, and then traded him to the New York Giants in return for Phillip Rivers. The Chargers had every intention in Rivers being the quarterback of the future, but unfortunately for Rivers, Drew Brees had other plans.

Many projected Rivers would be the starting quarterback from day one, but he got injured in camp, which kept the door open just a little longer for Brees. Brees took full advantage and has rightfully earned the starting position. This leaves the Chargers in quite a predicament. Brees is still young, playing extremely well, but will be a free agent in March. River’s is an expensive backup, has trade value, and is dying to get off the bench.

With the extension the Charger’s just gave A.J. Feeley, I’m guessing they’re going to let Brees hit the open market and go with Rivers and Feeley. This is good news for anyone that is in need of a quarterback, and isn’t a Charger’s fan. There will be plenty of teams that will consider signing Brees once free agency starts, and I’m thinking one of them should be the Green Bay Packers.

It looks like Green Bay is going to lose iron-man Brett Favre to retirment, the jury is still out on Aaron Rodgers, and Nall will be a free agent. Green Bay could resign free agent Craig Nall, but he’s done nothing but mop-up duty, and should have emerged by now. Either way, if Favre retires, they are in dire need of help at the most important position in the game.

If the Packers are going to play the free agent market, I just hope they play it safe. They’ve gotten burned with signing free agents like Joe Johnson, but I honestly believe Brees would be safe investment. They have roughly 20 million salary cap space, so taking a chance on a pretty safe bet seems obvious to me. The only thing that stands in Thompson’s way of signing Brees, will be the other teams fighting for his services.

The Packers hold the number five pick in the draft, which means Thompson is forced to make a big decision. If Thompson screws this up, he will be in salary cap hell. If he gets it right, he’s on his way to rebuilding the team.

I’m worried less about what position Thompson picks, and more worried that he picks the best talent available. Why? Because it looks like Thompson has a lot of rebuilding to do, and it’s not going to happen overnight. Packer fans must be patient and trust that there is some method to his madness.

I’m not much into mock drafts, but I’ll play along and give a guess at what might happen in the top five…

1. Houston Texans – Reggie Bush
Reggie Bush is the clear-cut number one pick of the draft.

2. New Orleans – Matt Leinart
The Saints will get their QB of the future.

3. Tennesee – Vince Young
(other possibilities:D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Mario Williams)
I believe either the Titans or Jets will snag Vince Young. Young is too great of a talent for the Tennesee organization to pass up.

4. N.Y. Jets – Mario Williams
(other possibilities: D’Brickashaw Ferguson)
Their defensive line needs help and Williams is a possible pro bowler.

5. Green Bay – A.J. Hawk, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, DeAngelo Williams, or Jimmy Williams

The Packers should be in good shape if they end up with any of these four.

A.J. Hawk could arguably be the best linebacker ever to come out of Ohio State. Hawk is a tackling machine with a mean streak to him. Hawk, Barnett, and Poppinga would be one nasty group of linebackers.

D’Brickashaw Ferguson is not only the best offensive tackle in the draft, some say he’s good enough to be the number one pick overall. The Packers are set at offensive tackle, but I guess Tauscher could reluctantly move inside.

DeAngelo Williams is an every-down back out of Memphis. Williams finished the year with 1,726 yards and 15 touchdowns on 279 carries.

Jimmy Williams is a 6’3″, 216 pound cornerback out of Virginia Tech. He can play either safety or cornerback. The Packers definitely need help in the secondary.

I guess only time will tell if firing Sherman was the right thing to do. Sherman wasn’t the best coach in the NFL, but he wasn’t exactly the worst either. It will be difficult for any coach to come into Green Bay and win that many games(59-43) without Brett Favre and a healthy Ahman Green.

I liked Sherman because he ran a tight ship, and aside from this year, put together a pretty potent offense. What I didn’t like was the fact he held onto mediocre talent, such as Antuan Edwards and Michael Hawthorne, for two long, and the hiring of Bob Slowik was unforgivable.

The players still believed in Sherman, which says a lot about 4-12 team, but maybe it’s just time for a change in Titletown. Maybe, Thompson knows something we don’t about Favre’s retirement status? Favre did say he might call it quits if Sherman was fired, and I don’t see Favre bluffing.

Who’s Next?

Thompson must have a list of candidates already, but who? Will he hire from within? Will he hire someone he’s familiar with from the Seahawk staff? Or, just maybe, he might look at an ex-Packer assistant? I have a sneaking suspicion Sylvester Croom might be a possibility.

The Lions, Packers, Texans, Saints, Chiefs, Vikings, Rams, and possibly the Raiders are all looking for a head coach. Thompson must move quickly to find a head coach, since many will be picked over.

The more and more I think about it, I’d really like to see Jim Bates elevated to head coach. He’s a passionate coach that demands a lot out of his players, and the players respect him. Either way, I think it would be ashame if Thompson didn’t at least give him an interview.