PeaveyFury

Perhaps from a financial standpoint, but definitely not from a talent standpoint. Their farm was so loaded that they still have 4 top 100 prospects...

From a salary cap standpoint, you may be incorrect. C'mon...we both know this isn't true. ?? Looking at their cap situation, I'm not sure how the opposite can be stated with any degree of certainty. If you've figured out a way to navigate the cap for 2021 in a way that lets them bring Jones back, I'd love to see your math.

From a salary cap standpoint, you may be incorrect.

If signing Jones wasn't an option, the Packers likely wouldn't have spent most of the season negotiating with him. I'm not sure that's a complete picture. As recently as a month ago, reports were that the Packers intended to let him walk. Around the time he changed agents a couple of weeks ago, there were report that the two sides had discussions, but that talks were stalled. For all we know, the discussions were, 'hey, would you re-sign a 2-year, back-loaded deal' and Jones said no way.

Very likely what the Cubs' rationale was yesterday.

It does seem to be a buyer's market this year with trades. If the best the Brewers can do is similar to what the Cubs got for Darvish (an average #4 starter and a bunch of lottery tickets) then I'd prefer the Brewers just hang on to Hader and go for the championship in a watered-down division. It's hard to know whether that's the market, or whether that's what the Cubs wanted. It's possible they chose the lottery tickets (quantity/quality, etc.). Plus Darvish is a bit hard to value just due to his salary/age as well, which are less of a concern with others. But, to your point- Hader is our biggest/best trade chip this off season. To move him, you'd better get a return that addresses at least one need plus adding talent prospect-wise. Absent that, you're better to keep him.

Do the Padres say no to Cronenworth/Hassell/Morejon?

Hader for Cronenworth, Morejon, and whichever of Abrams/Capusano/Hassell you like best? A bat that plays right away, a top 100 guy, and a really interesting young arm. Cronenworth and Morejon seem a bit displaced by the moves yesterday, so it might be an opportunity to buy at the right time on them.

Not even two full seasons (ok, almost) after taking him 15th overall. Unreal.

I trust the Packers to make the right decision there, as they usually do. If they find the cap space, I hope it's used to tag-and-trade or something like that. I too don't want Jones signed to a big/long deal, but it seems criminal to have him walk and get a late 3rd rounder a year later.

Game thoughts: 1)The Saints win will matter far more in the end, but this is probably as important a win as they have thus far beyond that one simply because it was basically a complete team performance in a win over a quality opponent. That's a game that many (most?) people expected them to lose or at least significantly struggle in, and they won it by four scores. Outstanding effort. You want to be playing your best ball going into the playoffs (ala 2010, not ala 2011), and they certainly seem to be. Hopefully the fan base and talking heads can actually enjoy this one rather than finding stuff to nitpick and/or moving the needle in evaluating the season/win. 2)This defense isn't the defense of the first half of the year, so maybe it IS time to adjust expectations a bit. This wasn't dominating a crappy Lions offense or whatever, that was a really good performance vs. a really good offense. Some of this DOES have to get credited to coaching- the initial scheme of 'rush three and cover' has gone away for a much more aggressive plan, and it's paying dividends with both sacks and turnovers. Add in immense developmental leaps from young guys like Gary, Keke, Barnes, Savage, and Martin, coupled with a couple of key vets returning to their very good norms in Amos, Clark, and Preston Smith, and they're a pretty decent unit right now. 3)The defense certainly wasn't hurt by how the game flow unfolded, and wasn't hurt by the (for the second week in a row) somewhat odd offensive game plan of their opponent. King finishes the half getting torched down the field, giving huge cushions and missing tackles. The Titans exploit that in the second half by.... repeatedly throwing at Alexander instead? Odd. I understand that their offense is similar to Wisconsin's, in that the 'ground and pound' strategy makes it hard to come back, and gets upset by getting down big. Kudos to the Packers for getting them down big, and to the defense for holding the Titans/Henry in check until it was so late when he finally got rolling that their offense was actually hurting themselves by running it repeatedly. 4)Huge kudos to Dillon. Obviously, that's a glimpse into what the Packers saw in him and how they envisioned using him. There will be much debate about the position considering impending free agency for Williams/Jones, but that was an indication of a bright future there for Dillon, IMO. 5)Obligatory bullet point about Adams' performance and the crazy season he's having. Has anyone done any sort of projection to speculate on what his stats might have been if he had played in all 15 games thus far? Insanity. 6)Obligatory bullet point about how unreal Rodgers has been this year. MVP all the way. 7)Circling back a bit to point #1, I hope this helps dissipate two of the bigger narratives we keep hearing about the team- that A)they can't win in bad weather, and B)that they only beat bad teams.

Yes, this is completely correct. In a different year I think they'd be able to pull this off. If the cap does drop to $175 as many are predicting, the Packers really are in some trouble. If the cap just stayed the same they'll have to axe some guys to get flexibility, but if it drops that much, they'll have to axe those guys and more just to get below the new cap. One of the logical ways to free up SOME cap (beyond the logical cuts of Kirksey, Wagner, etc.)is to extend Adams, which I'd expect to be done sometime prior to March. Still, I'm not sure they even will have the room to tag Jones at all, honestly.

I think the transition tag doesn’t really work for the Packers and Jones simply because another team is sure to give him a deal that the Packers simply can’t or won’t match. I maintain that a franchise tag is ideal if they can make the cap work, because I think we’d all be fine with Jones playing on one more one year deal. It’s not 2021 that scares me with Jones going forward, it’s the years after that.

Well, that's certainly the first huge deal of the off season.

Do we have to worry about Hackett getting scooped up by a team?

Interesting observation... I can’t specifically recall even seeing him out there tonight, though I’m sure he is. Quiet couple of games for him following some breakout-type games.

Dillon reminds me of that brief period of time when Eddie Lacy was absolutely unstoppable.

Absolutely love Dillon’s game so far.

I like our chances in a shootout.

Almost like a turnover, the two mostly consecutive possessions....

This Titans’ offensive game plan is borderline hilarious.

Woot.

Could be it's not easy kicking tonight. I think this is right on. The book might not say to go there, but I do like it in this weather.

Great play call.