JosephC

James Pearce couldn't stay on the rails for 1 year after being drafted. Looks like all those pre-draft rumors of him being "unstable" were true.

Hobbs has a 6.25 million dollar roster bonus due on March 13. If he gets cut, it will be before that date. If he makes it past March 13, he will be on the 2026 roster.

Ortiz was a 3.2 fWAR player as a third baseman. The Brewers must see him as a good bet to bounce back with the bat a bit if they get him away from shortstop. What they really need now is a backup shortstop, because Hamilton's defensive metrics there are not that impressive. They also need an insurance plan for a Vaughn regression, because I trust the results of 2248 at bats more than I would trust the results of 221 at bats.

Rob Demovsky was on the Wilde-Tauscher show on Friday, and it wasn't a big topic of discussion, but he brought up Hobbs name a couple times and talked like it is basically a foregone conclusion that he will get cut. I guess I don't see that as a slam dunk. I'm certainly not arguing for Hobbs to be retained. They are already very weak at the cornerback position. Also, I would think Gutekunst would definitely prefer to keep him, because cutting a guy after 1 year of a 4 year deal is not a great look for the GM, and we all know those guys in positions of powers will pretty often put appearances ahead of everything else (while it's obvious to everyone else on the planet that bringing a guy back for another season will look twice as bad if he underperforms again). Overthecap adjusted the numbers after getting more clarity on the 2026 cap, and if the Packers cut Jenkins, Gary (post-June 1st designation) and Hobbs (post-June 1st designation), they would be about 44 million under the cap and that is after paying the rookie class and filling out the roster with minimum salary players. Normally, that's generally about the area they like to play in, but one would think they would like that number higher this year considering they have many more holes than usual to fill and lack a first round pick.

Not if his name is McDermott.

I don't understand why the NFL puts any effort at all into the Pro Bowl these days. Back in the 70s/80s, there at least seemed to be some lukewarm interest in the game from the public. These days, I just don't get the impression that there is any interest in the game at all. They keep moving it around, changing the format, adding sideshows...I can only assume that's because they are trying to generate interest because nobody is watching it. If I was an owner, I would just say that this type of game makes sense for other sports, but it just does not work for football. Do we need to keep dumping money into this turd, or is it just time to get rid of the entire thing and move on?

I don't think it's as much Leonhard, I think there is a large percentage, maybe even a majority of Packer fans that are just not going to give LaFleur a benefit of a doubt at this time. If they went out and hired a defensive coordinator that was a defensive coordinator last year and finished in the top five in both yards allowed and points allowed, then they would like the hire. If they had hired a defensive coordinator that had been a head coach with a good win/loss record, then they would like the hire. But he just went out and hired a guy that was coaching a team that has been terrible the last three years, and that isn't a way to get the fans that are against you back on your side. Despite the positive rankings as a defensive coordinator in Philadelphia...that was four years ago, Packer fans down on LaFleur are not going to be interested in what happened four years ago. Demovsky was on ESPN Milwaukee today, and when asked about Bisaccia, I don't remember the exact quote, but it was something like "if you take the Packer's fanbase opinion of Bisaccia, what he is thought of within the Packer's building is the exact opposite." He talked about how Bisaccia was respected by the players and coaches, and was a good sounding board for both the players and coaches, and thought there is basically no chance that the Packers replace him. Packer fans hear stuff like that from people like Demovsky, who is definitely NOT the typical ESPN hack, and they will continue to doubt and dislike LaFleur decisions until he can do better than what he has done the last four years.

One thing I just noticed is...look at how this list is dominated by old head coaches. And not only old head coaches, but how many of these old head coaches had either failed at a previous head coaching job or got pushed out of a different head coaching job for one reason or another? Sure, you have some young guys like Sirianni who I would say is a dominant name on the list. But Belichick, Reid, Carroll, Arians, and Fox. Guys like Kubiak and Quinn didn't get their first head coaching job until they were well into their 40s. Not a lot of hot-shots hired when they were 38 years old for their first NFL job seem to be showing up on that list for the team that hired him at that age.

That's pretty much what I have gathered from all the various articles. It sounds like LaFleur put an absolute premium on the candidate having head coaching experience, and Gannon was the only one out there the Packers were sure that they could get. It is pretty much known at this point that Leonhard had an interview next week, but there are also some rumors floating around that there were a couple more interviews scheduled. When it sounded like other team(s) may have offered Gannon the job today, the Packers ended the process and offered him before the end of the weekend. With the Packers front office structure, one never knows how much of the percentage of the decision can be credited to LaFleur, how much to Gutekunst, how much to Policy? But from everything I've read, it sound like this was 100% driven by LaFleur.

Jennifer Mnookin has resigned her position. She is off to Columbia University. We'll see if the next chancellor has an interest in the athletic department...my gut feeling is probably not. Would be nice to get someone who would turn up the heat on McIntosh.

He also had the same defensive coordinator all three years.

Fumbling not allowed!

When he was the defensive coordinator in Philadelphia (league rankings)- 2021- yards allowed = 10, points allowed = 18, takeaway = 26 2022- yards allowed = 2, points allowed = 10, takeaway = 4 As a head coach in Arizona 2023- yards allowed = 25, points allowed = 31, takeaway = 27 2024- yards allowed = 21, points allowed = 15, takeaway = 20 2025- yards allowed = 27, points allowed = 29, takeaway = 19

Just took a few minutes to look at the cap situation. Jenkins has been an obvious cut since the minute they signed Banks. With all the updated figures, the Packers are likely only about 6.5 million under the cap after parting with Jenkins. Fortunately, that number includes the rookie salaries. Despite tanking the back half of this season, I thought that Gary would still have about a 50/50 chance of returning because the guy is still a real talent and would be playing for a new contract in 2026 since his cap number is 30+ million in 2027. But with the new numbers, I don't see any way Gary survives. Doing a complete restructure on him saves about 10 million, but that only gets the Packers to about 16.5 million under the cap which doesn't figure to be enough (with all the other cuts/restructures figured in). I think Gary is a virtual lock to cut and will get a post-June 1 designation. Doing that gets the Packers to a bit over 26 million under the cap. I would think, at a minimum, they would still really want that number to be 30+, and preferably at 40 million, which would give them the flexibility to do a couple real good free agent deals and a couple re-signings. Looking at both restructure and cut possibilities, it seems like the next thing to do would be to part ways with Josh Jacobs as the other post-June 1 designee. Doing so saves about 11.4 million and gets them fairly close to being 40 million under the cap. Doing a full restructure on him only saves about 5 million.

I take it that the new defensive coordinator must be a defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator? I don't have the full list of candidates in front of me, but it seems every name that has come up in a credible report is a defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator.

I'm with Joseph Zarr on the defensive coordinator. Now with Ulbrich off the board, I'd put my money on Raheem Morris.

Best case scenario is that LaFleur is Bill Cowher. Cowher did get to the Super Bowl in season #4 and lost. He didn't get back to the Super Bowl until season #14 and then won. In seasons #7, #8 and #9, he had two losing records, one 9-7 record and missed the playoffs in all three of those seasons. While his playoff record after his first run of playoff appearances was nothing to write home out (5-6), it still is better than LaFleur (3-6).

Media focused on the distant past. LaFleur is 37-30-1 in the regular season over the last four years. 1-3 playoff record. McDermott is 49-18, with a 5-4 playoff record over that same span. Not even close. IMO, Packers would have been justified in firing LaFleur due to these numbers. McDermott should have been safe. Also, the Bills GM, who has been there as long as McDermott, gets promoted. How does he get promoted and McDermott gets fired when they have both been in the same boat? Kind of odd that these moves would happen at the same time? Seems like a owner jumped in, forced the GM to fire the head coach, and then promoted him for doing the dirty work. For people who think LaFleur and McDermott should be in the same boat since McDermott has the better QB, I will point out that if you go 5 years back, LeFleur strolled into the playoffs with the MVP winning, future Hall of Fame QB who was at the top of his game and didn't even make it past the first playoff game as the #1 seed. Media completely in love with LaFleur and I cannot figure out why. Four year run of mediocre records, and an overall playoff record that is not good.

To be honest, this transfer class is really hard to get excited about, especially after they punted on the high school recruiting class. I don't base everything on rankings, but at I type, 247 ranks the transfer class at #42 and, ironically enough, that big-time Cincinnati program at #41. Again, Fickell and the coaching staff just do not appear to be operating at the Big 10 level. McIntosh sent out Ted Kellner to do the little mini-tour and proclaim how the Badgers would be in the top 1/3 of the conference in NIL spending. That was crap from the get-go, because how would they know that? How do they know the exact numbers of what other teams spent last year and how would they know what other team would be spending in 2026? But to think that they would have spent top 1/3 Big 10 money on this class is laughable (and they didn't, that big boost McIntosh promised was nothing but a heap of garbage). I never thought for a minute that they would go out and make a big splash signing like Sam Leavitt, but I did expect they to play towards the top of the market at key positions. One could argue they did that at center, but it sure does not look like they did that anywhere else. I thought for sure they would get to 7 wins next year (including bowl game) considering how light the schedule is. But with how underwhelming this off-season has been, know I'm not even sure they will hit that number. They may be literally down to the Purdue/Rutgers level for the long-haul.

Morris is a good guess. If the Falcon's new coach fires Jeff Ulbrich, then I will guess Ulbrich. He was the Falcons linebacker coach when LaFleur was there, and we know how NFL head coaches love to hire guys they worked with in the past.

I don't see this as a disaster, just a bit of a disappointment. LaFleur (and Gutekunst) have been around long enough where it's a very safe bet that they won't do to the Packer organization what McIntosh and Fickell have done to the Badger football program. I just see 9-8 seasons going forward. And if they do really well and finish 12-5, it probably means they choke and get knocked out in the first playoff game. At least this decision won't turn them into the Browns or Jets.

And Wisconsin's portal ranking in 2025 was higher. And in Wisconsin's 2025 portal haul, I would say the closest thing they got to a difference-maker in that group was Mason Reiger. That class could fairly be summed up as a lot of players that led the team to a 2-7 conference record. Indiana's portal success has not been so much about money, but about Cignetti and his staff correctly identifying good players that fit their scheme, plugging them in and getting the most out of them. Something Fickell and his staff have not been able to do, they still seem to think they are playing at the American Conference level.

Only if I was a Jimmy Haslam-level owner that did zero research on critical decisions. Takes about 30 seconds to look at Pro Football Reference and see that LaFleur's record was very good for three years and completely average the last four years. Good enough to get another NFL head coaching job? Sure. Trade a pick (any pick) for a head coach that has never won a Super Bowl and is on a 38-34-1 streak? Only someone who isn't paying any attention would do that. Trade a pick (any pick) for a head coach that has a 3-6 playoff record? Only someone who isn't paying any attention would do that.

...but give me another 500 million dollars of taxpayer money so I can stay competitive.

When Dante Moore announced he was going back to Oregon, I had to take a look at what the NFL rookies are getting paid. I knew it was way more, but wasn't sure how much more in terms of guaranteed money. I see that many are getting their rookie contracts fully guaranteed, which for me was pretty surprising (considering they have proven nothing and so many of them bust). Last year picks, dollar amount is the fully guaranteed amount- #1 overall - Cam Ward = 48.8 million #5 - Mason Graham = 40.8 million #10 - Colston Loveland = 26.6 million #20 - Jahdae Barron = 18.0 million #32 - Josh Simmons = 14.6 million #40 - Tyler Shough = 10.8 million #50 - Elijah Arroyo = 6.8 million #64 - Andrew Mukuba = 4.1 million There might be a handful of players that can rake in the big bucks through NIL money. But it still looks like NIL money is not at all competitive with NFL Draft first round money, and probably 95% of round two guys are better off going pro.