Packerholic

For those of you who are unaware, the Packers will be selecting 9th overall. The Packers will also receive a third round pick from the Jets from the Brett Favre trade. While the season hasn’t been great, we have some thing to look forward to and hopefully the Packers can add some impact players through the draft. Since the season is over, we might as well start speculating on whom we would like the Packers to select 9th overall. I personally would like an offensive or defensive lineman. Who would you like?

Yesterday’s news of Aaron Rodgers extension was surprising but today’s news is even more surprising. As the title says Justin Harrell was activated today and KGB was cut. Obviously Harrell being activated wasn’t a surprise since it was almost guarenteed that he would be activated this week. I have to say that I am surprised that KGB was cut. I personally aren’t that upset with the move even though it did come as a surprise.

KGB was a great Packer (all-time most sacks for the Packers) and person in general but his time in Green Bay was coming to an end. You could tell he lost a step in the offseason. He just wasn’t effective anmore. Combine that with the fact that he was grossly overpaid and I knew this move was going to come soon. I thought it would be in the offseason though. With only 0.5 sacks this season, Thompson decided it was time to move on and cut ties with KGB. I know people will criticize the move since KGB was a Packer favorite but people need to look at how he was performing this season. You can tell his playing days are limited if not already over. KGB really wasn’t helping the team and now some of the younger DEs can get more playing time. Even if KGB wasn’t cut to activate Harrell I guarentee that he would have been cut in the offseason since there was no way we were going to keep him as the highest paid player on the team with the production so far this season.

While KGB is no longer a Packer I wish him luck. KGB might sign on with another team but I can also see him retiring. Either way I wish him luck and we will see him back in Green Bay in a couple years when he is inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame. I thank KGB for his service to the Green Bay Packers.

While things were tense this offseason the Packers chose to go with Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers rewarded that decision by having a great season so far. It now seems that Aaron Rodgers has been rewarded with a five year extension so Rodgers will be the Packers starting QB to 2014. While details haven’t been announced yet, this is a great signing in my opinion. Rodgers has shown throughout this whole debacle with Favre that he is a franchise QB. He has stayed calm and has been professional through the whole experience. That is just off the field.

On the field Rodger has played just well. He has been highly effective and has been one of the bright spots this season. While he might not bring the excitement or kooky plays that Favre brought the team, Rodgers has already shown that he is a accurate passer and avoids mistakes. Even if you don’t like how the whole Favre situation went down, you must admit that Rodgers has filled in very well for Favre. I kind of feel a little sorry for our NFC North foes especially since they have all had troubles finding QBs and then we replace a legend with another good QB.

As already mentioned details of the deal haven’t been announced yet, but I have a feeling that Rodgers’ deal will be highly frontloaded since the Packers have till November 2nd in order to apply more money to this year’s salary cap. The Packers have over $20 million to spend so I am guessing a lot of Rodgers guarenteed money will be moved into this season. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we see another player sign an extension before Sunday.

So are you as excited about this signing as I am?

It’s the Wednesday before the bye week and you wouldn’t expect much news regarding the Packers. Surprisingly there are a couple stories worth bringing up.

First we’ll begin with some good news. Early this morning Coach McCarthy became a father once again when his wife (Jessica) gave birth to his new baby girl, Gabrielle Kathleen. Congratulations to the McCarthy’s. It’s always good to hear a positive story after all the negative stories involving a certain player that used to wear #4.

Speaking of that Favre finally gave his side of the story. Obviously he denied the whole thing. Well that isn’t a suprise since he would be an idiot to say he did even if it is the truth. According to Favre, Millen actually called him to talk about hunting. He then asked Favre to give him some tips on the Packers. Favre also claims that the reports of him calling Tony Romo were also false since Romo actually called him. If these two reports are true it will definently take a load off the Favre hating. The problem is that Favre has pretty much no credibility anymore after this offseason. I hope he is telling the truth but at this point I have no idea if he is. I doubt we will ever find out the truth behind what really happened. Even if Favre wasn’t guilty of the latest accusations I sill need time to forgive him for what happened this offseason (he was at least partially responsible for what happened). Hopefully Favre can just learn to shut up for once and just play out the rest of the season. If he doesn’t ruffle anymore feathers, and these rumors are never confirmed I believe most Packer fans will eventually forgive him. I know I will but I need some time and that means that Favre needs to stop his vengeful ways.

Finally it appears that if things go as planned the Packers should come out of the bye pretty healthy. McCarthy is giving the team the week off but is forcing the injured players to get their normal rehab treatments. Al Harris was also medically cleared to resume playing. I personally think that during the Titans game we should play him as the #3 in order to get him back into playing shape. Tramon showed in the last game that he is a very good #2 so why not bring Al Harris back slowly. As long as there aren’t any setbacks I believe we will see all our players back (obviously not the IR players). Players like AJ Hawk, Aaron Rodgers, and Charles Woodson will also be able to fully heal from their injuries so they should be able to play at an even higher level.

This rumor has really came out of nowhere but it is really starting to gain traction. It appears that Tony Gonzalez will be traded from the Chiefs within the next three days. This whole rumor began when Tony Gonzalez asked to be traded. Since the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere soon Tony Gonzalez wants to play for a competitior. I can respect that since is the best tight end in the history of the NFL and he hasn’t won a playoff game yet.

At this point the rumor has Tony Gonzalez going to one of five teams (Bills, Bucaneers, Packers, Giants, and the Eagles). At this point the Giants are the frontrunners but they are lowballing the Chiefs so I can see the same thing happening to them as what happened to us with Randy Moss. At this point the Giants are only willing to give up a 6th rounder while the Chiefs want a third rounder. I don’t know if it is just me but I think the Packers should jump into these sweepstakes and offer either a 4th or 5th rounder in order to acquire Tony Gonzalez. Some people might wonder why we need Tony Gonzalez so here are 7 reasons why Tony Gonzalez can help the Packers this season.

1. He will bring veteran leadership to the team. This team could use some veteran leadership in order to help keep the team more disciplined and hopefully get over these stupid penalties.
2. A dominant TE will open up the passing game. The Packers passing game is already great but with Tony Gonzalez the Packers have a claim for the best receiving corp of all time. Just imagine receiving threats such as Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Tony Gonzalez, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Ruvell Martin and Donald Lee. We would only have seven dominant receiving threats and no defense could ever cover all of them.
3. Tony Gonzalez will help open up the running game. Teams will have to focus more of their attention on him which should be able to help the running game.
4. Tony Gonzalez could help with either run or pass blocking. I believe Tony Gonzalez is a good blocker and we could use all the help we can get blocking.
5. If the offense plays better with Tony Gonzalez this will also help the defense. The offense will be able to stay on the field longer which will give the defense more rest. If the defense is more rested they should be able to play better.
6. Tony Gonzalez would be a good role model for the young players on our team. Tony Gonzalez is easily one of the best role models in the NFL.
7. Trading for Tony Gonzalez could give the Packers a much needed confidence boost. Adding a player like Tony Gonzalez could get the players thinking that the season isn’t over and give them confidence to turn this season around.

So what do you think about the Packers trading for Tony Gonzalez? Do you think it is a good idea or not?