Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to here from our studios at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field West, our last show of the twenty nineteen season.
Speaker 1: As we mentioned yesterday, we'll be taking a break after
Speaker 1: this one and probably rejoining the Packers Unscripted world at
Speaker 1: the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. So with that, we heard
Speaker 1: from general manager Brian Gudakunst earlier today. Gave the g
Speaker 1: MS version of the season ending press conference. A lot
Speaker 1: of similar thoughts in some ways to what we heard
Speaker 1: a couple of days ago from Matt Lafleur in a
Speaker 1: lot of pride in what was accomplished, a lot of
Speaker 1: disappointment and how things ended, and a lot of focus
Speaker 1: starting away on how to improve. Yeah. Well, first off,
Speaker 1: congratulations on another season of Packers on scripted. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like the last day before school. Let's out here,
Speaker 1: except we got to come back to work on Monday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we have to come back to work on Monday. And
Speaker 1: then and then you and I will maybe try to
Speaker 1: start finding h some days that only you'll be here
Speaker 1: and only I'll be here to try to uh man
Speaker 1: the store while we get some breaks and and get
Speaker 1: some of the rest of our lives taken care of.
Speaker 1: But I thought, you know, Brian Goodacunts with him going
Speaker 1: up there and given a thirty minute summation of this season,
Speaker 1: was the perfect ending to this season, because one it
Speaker 1: really began in a lot of ways. Well, Matt Lafleur's
Speaker 1: hiring was the big issue. I mean that was the
Speaker 1: big topic at the beginning of two thousand nineteen. It
Speaker 1: was really those four free agents that they ended up
Speaker 1: signing that kind of kick started this whole thing. And
Speaker 1: I go back to that press conference right after Matt Lafleur,
Speaker 1: I should say, Brian Goodacunts and everyone got the deals
Speaker 1: done with SA Darius Smith and Preston Smith and Adrian
Speaker 1: name is Billy Earner, and he said, you know, we
Speaker 1: we want to this. These moves were made to basically
Speaker 1: expedite this process to make us better, and ultimately it did.
Speaker 1: Are there areas where the Packers still need to improve
Speaker 1: going into Absolutely, Are they a lot closer I think
Speaker 1: to being a championship caliber team than they thought nine
Speaker 1: months ago. Absolutely, And listening to goods, just break down
Speaker 1: different facets of the organization, from you know, the free
Speaker 1: agents they signed, the draft class, the contributions they got there,
Speaker 1: and just the overall performance of the team. I thought
Speaker 1: it served as a very good summation and wrap up
Speaker 1: of what was a you know, really unquantifiable, undescribable two
Speaker 1: thousand nineteen season for the Green Bay Packers. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it was. It was certainly a successful season by
Speaker 1: any measure. I don't think anyone in in Packers nations,
Speaker 1: so to speak, would have expected with a first year
Speaker 1: head coach and a second year general manager that you
Speaker 1: end up one game away from the super Bowl, and
Speaker 1: as as good a counts at as La Fleur said,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pride to be taken that, But
Speaker 1: by no means is anybody resting on that success, even
Speaker 1: if it came earlier than expected or or was somewhat
Speaker 1: unexpected from outside the building. Nobody's resting on that. I mean,
Speaker 1: Brian gouda Quinci actually had just gotten back from Mobile, Alabama,
Speaker 1: from being at the Senior Bowl practices. He's out scouting,
Speaker 1: He's looking at, you know, what's going to be out
Speaker 1: there in the draft come April. He actually went right
Speaker 1: from San Francisco after the NFC title game to Mobile
Speaker 1: the week of practices down there at the Senior Bowl,
Speaker 1: and then he now he's back in Green Bay and
Speaker 1: he had the had the press conference today. So the
Speaker 1: work never stops for for these guys. And just as
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur was talking about, you know, kind of grinding
Speaker 1: the tape and reviewing things and looking at you know,
Speaker 1: how do you want to tweak the offense or you
Speaker 1: know this or that. You know heading into you know,
Speaker 1: these guys will get their breaks at some point as well.
Speaker 1: But um, but you know, the constant churn, the constant grind,
Speaker 1: the a work ethic and everything, that's what it's all about.
Speaker 1: Because the Packers know they gave themselves a shot this
Speaker 1: year and they want to give themselves another shot again
Speaker 1: next year. Yeah, and you like we've been talking about
Speaker 1: all week long, it's about building and taking that next
Speaker 1: step after what I think a lot of people saw
Speaker 1: as an unexpected success this year with this roster, this
Speaker 1: team being able to win a division title, winning thirteen games,
Speaker 1: getting a first round by winning a game in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: all those things are great. Okay, So now how can
Speaker 1: you build upon that? And as Brian Goodkin's mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: this next couple of weeks here one, he's going to
Speaker 1: break down what happened in San Francisco, try to understand that,
Speaker 1: get to the bottom of that. Where do they need
Speaker 1: to get better going into this free agent process? In
Speaker 1: this draft, they're gonna have to make decisions on these
Speaker 1: bevy of unrestricted free agents that they have. You know,
Speaker 1: the question was asked of him, could you is it
Speaker 1: is it feasible to go out and have a spending
Speaker 1: spree like they did last year when they brought in
Speaker 1: those four unrestricted free agents and and he said, no,
Speaker 1: not really, especially if they go and you know, bring
Speaker 1: back a Brian Blagger, a Mason Crosby, these these guys
Speaker 1: that it could be potentially coming back after what I
Speaker 1: think last year was mostly I mean it was Mercedes
Speaker 1: Lewis was the only player that really resigned. Ibrahim Campbell
Speaker 1: ended up joining him in in August, but even then
Speaker 1: it wasn't these big blockbuster contracts, So all that stuff
Speaker 1: weighs into it. So the more that you sign your
Speaker 1: own players, the less you're going to seek outside help.
Speaker 1: But he did say fiscally, they're in a good place
Speaker 1: right now. They have room to move. If there's a
Speaker 1: player they feel that can help them, they can go
Speaker 1: out and try to get that player. But the other
Speaker 1: thing he pointed out too, is the backbone of this
Speaker 1: thing is draft and developed. Unrestricted free agency is one avenue,
Speaker 1: and there's multiple avenues to improving this team. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think there's uh. I think there's no doubt that there
Speaker 1: can't be any expectation that the Packers are going to
Speaker 1: make the free agency splash in March that they made
Speaker 1: last year. You just don't do that two years in
Speaker 1: a row. And as we had talked about, what the
Speaker 1: Packers did last year was in large part because nobody
Speaker 1: from the draft class got a second contract. The Packers
Speaker 1: draft picks getting second contracts, where all these guys they
Speaker 1: brought in from elsewhere who were drafted in. So he
Speaker 1: did mention as far as speaking specifically about a certain
Speaker 1: player because he didn't want to get into a lot
Speaker 1: of specifics on decisions on you know, guys like Brown, Bolaga,
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby, Trumant Williams and whatnot. But one guy he
Speaker 1: did address specifically was Kenny Clark and he did lay
Speaker 1: out how important it is for the Packers to reach
Speaker 1: a long term agreement with Kenny Clark. He's entering the
Speaker 1: fifth year option of his rookie contract after being a
Speaker 1: first round draft pick. In Goudakun has made you know,
Speaker 1: no bones about the fact that about how important Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark is to this defense any expressed optimism that they're
Speaker 1: going to reach an agreement at some point, but he
Speaker 1: also said, Hey, these things usually don't happen quickly. It's
Speaker 1: not like next week suddenly you know this is all
Speaker 1: going to be settled with Kenny Clark. So it's it's
Speaker 1: sit back and wait, let the process take its course.
Speaker 1: And and he sounds very confident that Kenny Clark is
Speaker 1: going to be a Green Bay Packer for a long
Speaker 1: time to come. Absolutely, And this is a guy that's
Speaker 1: in the prime of his career. He's played a lot
Speaker 1: of football for the Packers, and I think you've seen
Speaker 1: him steadily improved every year he's been in the league.
Speaker 1: In congratulations to him, he'll be playing in the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl this weekend and enjoy the Florida Sun this week
Speaker 1: exactly a very worthy honor. And as if I was
Speaker 1: following his Instagram. I think he also spent some time
Speaker 1: at Harry Potter World as well, so living it up.
Speaker 1: We've taken the kids there. That's that's a fun spot. Yeah,
Speaker 1: living it up in Orlando. But but you know, all
Speaker 1: kidding aside and jokes aside. Kenny Clark is a big
Speaker 1: part of this defense. I think sa Darius Smith and
Speaker 1: Preston Smith, those are two critical additions for Green Bay
Speaker 1: this year. But I think we're about a year or
Speaker 1: two away from realizing that Kenny Clark is kind of
Speaker 1: one of the big contributors to this thing, if not
Speaker 1: the centerpiece of this unit now. And how he plays
Speaker 1: the run, the defense goes with him, how he plays
Speaker 1: the past, the pass rush goes with him. He's just
Speaker 1: such a big difference maker. And he's so young yet
Speaker 1: he's only twenty four years old. Michael, it's incredible, you
Speaker 1: know that this path that he's been on here the
Speaker 1: last few seasons, so way that all in consider everything,
Speaker 1: But they do have a lot of resources that they're there,
Speaker 1: you know, grasp as well. You do have a potential
Speaker 1: franchise take down the line if you need to go
Speaker 1: that route. The fifth year option gave them this two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty offseason to potentially work out a long term deal,
Speaker 1: so while he still under exactly exactly, so all these
Speaker 1: things kind of their resources for Green Bay and Kenny
Speaker 1: to to come to a long term agreement because as
Speaker 1: Kenny was saying to some reporters too, I mean, he
Speaker 1: wants to be in Green Bay. He doesn't anticipate being
Speaker 1: a kind of guy that's going to hold out or anything.
Speaker 1: He wants to play. He wants to you know, that's
Speaker 1: just not really in his d n A. But you know,
Speaker 1: Green Bay wants to take care of him too, because
Speaker 1: you look statistically, I mean he's right up there with
Speaker 1: basically everyone, maybe other than Aaron Donald right now in
Speaker 1: terms of just total dominance at that defensive tackle position. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: a couple other thoughts from goodacounts that that really struck
Speaker 1: me because we're gonna hear a lot from the talking
Speaker 1: heads and other analysts. I'm sure you and I will
Speaker 1: talk about it at times as well as you go
Speaker 1: through this offseason. Is okay, you know this gap between
Speaker 1: the Packers and the forty niners, they were the last
Speaker 1: two teams standing in the NFC. They played twice in
Speaker 1: San Francisco and the forty Niners dominated both games. There's
Speaker 1: no denying that I thought what Goodakun said though, was interesting,
Speaker 1: and that maybe not in so many words, and I'm
Speaker 1: paraphrasing a little bit, but this offseason is not entirely about, Okay,
Speaker 1: how do we go how do we figure out a
Speaker 1: way to beat the forty Niners. You know, he's not
Speaker 1: going about the roster construction, the changes that are made,
Speaker 1: who comes back, who doesn't, the players they draft. It's
Speaker 1: not going to be all about the forty Niners. And
Speaker 1: I think that's the smart approach because one, you were
Speaker 1: the number two team in the NFC. You were that
Speaker 1: you were the last one standing there. You you didn't
Speaker 1: get to play them at home. Obviously both of those
Speaker 1: games were on the road. But also west, this is
Speaker 1: the NFL, you know the Gouda Kun said. Next year,
Speaker 1: it could be somebody else. Every year is different, Every
Speaker 1: year has its new challenges. If everybody in the NFC
Speaker 1: had geared themselves toward, uh, you know, stopping Sean mcveigh's
Speaker 1: you know, l A Rams offense, um, you know, well,
Speaker 1: look at what happened. The Rams were in the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl last year. They didn't even make the playoffs this year,
Speaker 1: so you never know how this thing is going to go.
Speaker 1: And just as another example in this point I'm trying
Speaker 1: to make here, and I take I don't want anybody
Speaker 1: to take this the wrong way because I'm gonna bring
Speaker 1: up Ron Wolf here and the guys in the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame, and he's in the Hall of Fame for
Speaker 1: a reason. But in the Minnesota Vikings went fifteen and
Speaker 1: one and Randy Moss took the NFL by storm. Right now,
Speaker 1: granted that's a division opponent, I get it. But Ron
Speaker 1: Wolf then in draft he drafted three cornerbacks with his
Speaker 1: first three picks, and we're like, we gotta find a
Speaker 1: way to stop Randy Moss. What did that get the
Speaker 1: Packers two thousand two straight years not in the playoffs? Okay,
Speaker 1: it doesn't work. You can't go about an entire offseason
Speaker 1: focused on one opponent. So I just I thought what
Speaker 1: Goodakoont said in that regard, very subtly, I thought was
Speaker 1: very important. I think it's something for Packers fans to
Speaker 1: keep in mind as we go through these next several months.
Speaker 1: It's a great point you raised. I'm also glad you
Speaker 1: kept your your train of thought going there, because if
Speaker 1: you would have stopped, I probably would have jumped in
Speaker 1: and said, ahman Green. But you know that's that was
Speaker 1: down the line a few years down the line with
Speaker 1: Fred Vinson. I believe, but you're right. I mean they
Speaker 1: you can't plug holes for one opponent. You have to
Speaker 1: be ready for all sixteen in your conference, you know,
Speaker 1: fifteen year conference and what else is gonna you're gonna
Speaker 1: see in the NFL. And a good reason for this, Mike,
Speaker 1: I want to bring this up is San Francisco had
Speaker 1: some of the most cap space in the entire league
Speaker 1: the last couple of seasons, and they made moves to
Speaker 1: maximize that cap space. You know a team that could
Speaker 1: do that this offseason, Seattle. So what happens? How do
Speaker 1: you defend against Seattle? If they had a couple of
Speaker 1: marquee free agents on the offensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: to help out Russell Wilson, Well, then maybe they're the
Speaker 1: front runner in the NFC West last year. And that's
Speaker 1: a Seattle team that you look at their record and
Speaker 1: how close they came to beating the forty niners second time,
Speaker 1: and how close they came to beating the Packers at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field in January. That's a team that feels like
Speaker 1: maybe they're just a couple of pieces away from being
Speaker 1: right where the forty Niners are right now. Yeah, and again,
Speaker 1: the forty Niners won four games last year. I think
Speaker 1: nobody was under any disillusion They understood that they didn't
Speaker 1: have Jimmy Garopo last year. Absolutely, but you know this
Speaker 1: is a team that any given year things can change.
Speaker 1: This this statistically was the biggest turnaround in franchise history
Speaker 1: for the Packers in going from six wins to fourteen
Speaker 1: thirteen if you just count the regular season, so all
Speaker 1: those things have to be measured. I think what is
Speaker 1: exciting for Green Bay at this standpoint is they had
Speaker 1: if if you looked at how that season ended, and
Speaker 1: I did. I went and looked at what their offense
Speaker 1: and defense looked like in that finale that they lost
Speaker 1: thirty one and nothing to Detroit last season, it was
Speaker 1: for a thing that I was writing an insider inbox.
Speaker 1: The roster looks ad percent different today. There are players
Speaker 1: who started, especially on the defense side of the ball,
Speaker 1: some of whom that aren't in the NFL, and many
Speaker 1: of whom aren't in Green Bay anymore. So that just
Speaker 1: shows you that when you make the right moves, and
Speaker 1: this was a a grade off season for Brian Goodkins
Speaker 1: in his personnel department. They made the right additions in
Speaker 1: unrestricted free agency, they found draft picks that could help
Speaker 1: them right away, and then the cherry on top was
Speaker 1: the in season moves they made. You're not always going
Speaker 1: to be able to bat four hundreds, you know, you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to go with some to seventy five and
Speaker 1: three hundred years. But I just think that if they
Speaker 1: can keep that trajectory, if you have another solid draft class,
Speaker 1: if you find a free agent that makes sense economically
Speaker 1: for your roster, all those things can help catapult you
Speaker 1: to the next level. That's how Seattle maximized their window.
Speaker 1: That's how you know New England in a lot of
Speaker 1: ways was able to stay at the top because of
Speaker 1: the moves they made, the tough decisions to let go
Speaker 1: of guys, the smart decisions to bring guys in. That's
Speaker 1: where Brian good Coin is standing right now. He brought
Speaker 1: it up was one of the first things he said
Speaker 1: in his news conference. There are tough decisions that have
Speaker 1: to be made and he's prepared to make them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I thought, uh. He made a point a couple
Speaker 1: of times in the press conference to really give credit
Speaker 1: to the rest of his personnel staff to whether you're
Speaker 1: talking about all of the work that was done to
Speaker 1: bring in you know, the Smith's and Amos and Turner,
Speaker 1: or the work that was done to find Tyler Irvin
Speaker 1: and Jared val Deer and to capitalize on those opportunities
Speaker 1: that that bringing those guys in who who ended up
Speaker 1: playing a pivotal role in the Packers getting as far
Speaker 1: as they did. So, you know, he mentions guys like John,
Speaker 1: Eric Sullivan, Matt Malicepina, Milt Hendrickson, Um, I'm sure you
Speaker 1: know I'm forgeting Eric Sullivan. Well, Johowsky, that was the
Speaker 1: other one I wanted to mention too, And there you know,
Speaker 1: Leguas and Danner. There there are several several guys on
Speaker 1: that staff that that worked tirelessly at this and he
Speaker 1: wanted to give them credit. And it was kind of
Speaker 1: funny because then he was asked, you know, well, do
Speaker 1: you think you're gonna lose any of those guys because
Speaker 1: the Packers of obviously seen the John Schneider's and John
Speaker 1: Dorsey's and Reggie Mackenzie's get general manager jobs elsewhere. And
Speaker 1: he says, well, you know, he's obviously hoping he doesn't
Speaker 1: lose any of them. He says, maybe I should stand
Speaker 1: up here and say all kinds of bad things about
Speaker 1: them so that, uh, so that they're not as attractive
Speaker 1: to other teams. But he loves the personnel executive group,
Speaker 1: the scouting group that that he's put together and and
Speaker 1: that work with him in this seven three sixty five
Speaker 1: cycle of how to how to make this, uh, this roster,
Speaker 1: whether it's ninety man in the off season fifty three
Speaker 1: sixty three man in the regular season, make it as
Speaker 1: competitive as possible. And uh and those guys now they're
Speaker 1: they're hitting there in season, so to speak, with the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl, and then the Combine is coming up in
Speaker 1: a month and a half and and then you're into
Speaker 1: all of your pre draft meetings getting ready for late April. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and it's incredible what what? And And credit to
Speaker 1: Brian Goods. He still says, you know, Ted Thompson hired
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys, but if you know anything
Speaker 1: about the way the scouting department works, and there's quite
Speaker 1: a few guys that Brian has hired himself. Now, Milt
Speaker 1: Hendrickson probably be in the biggest name among them who
Speaker 1: has joined the front office here in the past year.
Speaker 1: And as much as you want to give credit to
Speaker 1: those guys, I think a lot of credit goes to
Speaker 1: good Counts for how he's built that personnel department, because
Speaker 1: now it kind of starts to remind you a little
Speaker 1: bit of where Ted Thompson had things in two thousand nine.
Speaker 1: That okay, when John Schneider moved on, when Reggie mackenzie
Speaker 1: moved on, there was a John Dorsey, there were other guys,
Speaker 1: there were Elliott Wolf and now I think you're kind
Speaker 1: of seeing that now. Inevitably, if the Packers end up
Speaker 1: people went playing winning football, one of those guys can
Speaker 1: get sought after his being a GM. Oh, There's there's
Speaker 1: no question about it. There's a lot of cookies in
Speaker 1: that jar now for Green Bay. And I know talking
Speaker 1: to people last year, especially after Hendrickson got hired, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of people in NFL circles I feel this
Speaker 1: is one of the if not the strongest personnel department
Speaker 1: in the National Football League right now. So that's a
Speaker 1: testament to good Kunst. But the challenge is, as you said,
Speaker 1: I mean this all ramps up now, there's gonna be differences. Know,
Speaker 1: we've already seen some of the changes that are gonna
Speaker 1: happen with the combine here. You're gonna have fifteen less interviews,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get a little bit more time with those prospects.
Speaker 1: But you've got to be smart and how you allocate
Speaker 1: your time, your pre draft visits, all the things that
Speaker 1: when you have ten draft picks like Green Bay is
Speaker 1: going to have in this in this draft class, to
Speaker 1: be able to be smart and economical with how you
Speaker 1: approach it. And you can just tell listening to Brian,
Speaker 1: he is excited about that process though. They feel like
Speaker 1: these last two years they've brought in a lot of assets,
Speaker 1: a lot of tremendous football players that are going to
Speaker 1: continue to get better. And you're not going to hit
Speaker 1: on all your picks. You're not going to always hit
Speaker 1: on your free agents. But the more those that you
Speaker 1: hit on, the more it's going to be allow you
Speaker 1: to create depth on your roster, to allow you to
Speaker 1: be able to weather an entire season, and those are
Speaker 1: the things that kind of fortify a Championship group. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: in the in the near term. Obviously, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: exactly what the date is this year. I should have
Speaker 1: looked it up before we turn the cameras on. But
Speaker 1: somewhere in the middle of March is when free agency
Speaker 1: will start. Share so some so between now and then,
Speaker 1: Gouda Kunts was saying over the over the next few weeks,
Speaker 1: he and the personnel staff they're going to be reviewing
Speaker 1: the season, going over a lot of tape. There are
Speaker 1: thirteen pending unrestricted free agents that the Packers have that
Speaker 1: they they'll be making a potential contract decisions on. We've
Speaker 1: mentioned some of those names, Brian Bulaga, Mason Crosby, Traumont, Williams,
Speaker 1: Blake Martinez, Kyler, Facral Geronimo Allison. That's about half of them,
Speaker 1: and you know there are a bunch of others as well.
Speaker 1: And as of right you know, right now, the Packers
Speaker 1: sort of have those exclusive negotiating rights with those guys.
Speaker 1: Um but you know how this works, Wes. I mean,
Speaker 1: guys get to this stage and a lot of times,
Speaker 1: not a hundred percent of the time, but a lot
Speaker 1: of times they want to get to that what they
Speaker 1: call the legal tampering period. Those opening days of free
Speaker 1: agency before a guy can actually sign with another team,
Speaker 1: they can gauge the market. They can see what's out there.
Speaker 1: Sometimes even a player's own team wants to see what
Speaker 1: the market is for that player, um to you know,
Speaker 1: get get a get a gauge because you know, maybe
Speaker 1: within their own circles they're not quite sure what the
Speaker 1: market is going to be. So you get to those uh,
Speaker 1: those forty eight hours there before free agency officially starts,
Speaker 1: and then that's where a lot of times these decisions
Speaker 1: are made on Okay, who's coming back and who's ultimately
Speaker 1: going to sign somewhere else because you know the market
Speaker 1: is going to go above you know, the value line
Speaker 1: the packers that put on a player. All of those
Speaker 1: types of discussions are going to be going on between
Speaker 1: now and uh and March thirteenth, and then you know,
Speaker 1: as soon as free agency gets rolling, then the draft
Speaker 1: is right around the corner. Yeah, And that's crazy how
Speaker 1: quickly everything picks up from that point. I got to
Speaker 1: correct myself. I got a little too cocky. It was
Speaker 1: March eighteenth. Didn't get the other two I only and
Speaker 1: we did here just so, just so fans know. We
Speaker 1: did hear from Matt Lafleur that the Packers will begin
Speaker 1: offseason workouts on April uh this year, which usually is
Speaker 1: they put in like one full week and then the
Speaker 1: draft is like right after, you know, right after the players,
Speaker 1: the veteran players will be back, just as the rest
Speaker 1: of the building, so to speak, is is getting ramped
Speaker 1: up for the draft at the end of April. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting you bring up the thing with the
Speaker 1: free agency, because you're right, a lot of times, once
Speaker 1: the season gets done, the hay is in the barn,
Speaker 1: potential free agents will wait until that legal tampering period
Speaker 1: to see what their true value is and then they resign.
Speaker 1: I just think back to you know, two thousand and fourteen,
Speaker 1: the Packers had two great examples in that regard, in
Speaker 1: both Brian Blaga and Randall Cobb. You know, fans were
Speaker 1: just on the edge of their seats for months. You know,
Speaker 1: while they're they going to bring these guys back, are
Speaker 1: they're gonna as sign them, It's like, well, just you know,
Speaker 1: just wait, just let it play out. It got to
Speaker 1: the legal tampering period and and you know, they got
Speaker 1: a gauge what the market was out there, the packers
Speaker 1: gauge that market, and then you know, before you know,
Speaker 1: just before the opening bell, so to speak, the packers said, okay,
Speaker 1: you know here, here's our offer. And then both guys
Speaker 1: came back and in that case, it it worked out
Speaker 1: just the way the packers wanted it to. I think
Speaker 1: both players were happy with their contracts as well. So
Speaker 1: I bring that up just so that you know, between
Speaker 1: now and you know, March tenth, eleventh, whenever that tampering
Speaker 1: period opens up, that you know, the fans don't get
Speaker 1: two worked up as far as you know, what are
Speaker 1: they going to bring these guys back or not? Well,
Speaker 1: you just you just have to be patient and let
Speaker 1: this play out. Every once in a while, you'll see
Speaker 1: like that LaTroy guy on happened, you know, in like February.
Speaker 1: I think he resigned one year. But you're right, you
Speaker 1: talk about two thousand and fourteen. It was actually technically,
Speaker 1: I guess be right it was. It was. It was
Speaker 1: March of was after season. I should clare cob and
Speaker 1: blog sign I want to say bolag A signed hours
Speaker 1: before the actual Oh yeah, it was. It was. It
Speaker 1: was right up to the wire absolutely, and then the
Speaker 1: year after that, it was Mason Crosby signed in that window.
Speaker 1: Nick Perry resigned in that window twice, once on a
Speaker 1: one year contract and then on his extension. So those
Speaker 1: that's just the way the game played. So yeah, there's
Speaker 1: not much to read into it from that regard. The
Speaker 1: one thing that always is interesting though, between now and
Speaker 1: the start of that is if you start to see
Speaker 1: some of those restricted free agents maybe potentially agree to
Speaker 1: a deal, Packers would also have to make a decision
Speaker 1: on them. There's a handful of them. I don't have
Speaker 1: the list right now. If you want to offer them
Speaker 1: a low tender, if you want to try to resign
Speaker 1: them to another deal. Sometimes those players are more up
Speaker 1: to sign a contract because they want to get some
Speaker 1: guaranteed money, as opposed to if you're on a low tender,
Speaker 1: it isn't guaranteed until you play. These are the fun
Speaker 1: things that Brian Goods, rust Ball and everybody else has
Speaker 1: all this great cb A language and and parameters and
Speaker 1: qualifications and everything else that go into the off season discussion. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and as Brian good consaid, though they they have their
Speaker 1: own free agent board, they'll have all those names up there.
Speaker 1: The way those and they'll make those decisions. But for
Speaker 1: the Packers to be in a position now where they're
Speaker 1: trying to build towards another Super Bowl, I don't know
Speaker 1: how many people would have legitimately been saying that eight
Speaker 1: months ago. I mean, that just shows you how quickly
Speaker 1: this team took And I'm writing I'm writing this an
Speaker 1: insider inbox for what would be the Saturday edition. Now.
Speaker 1: As much as we talk about Matt Lafleur and the
Speaker 1: changes that underwent on offense, Mike Petton had to go
Speaker 1: undergo a lot of changes as well with his defense.
Speaker 1: That personnel changed significantly. It was a different group of players,
Speaker 1: same same scheme in essence, but different group of players.
Speaker 1: So for it was a mixture of year two guys
Speaker 1: in year one guys as far as Patton was concerned. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's where this process goes. They'll have months to
Speaker 1: figure it out. It's going to be exciting, it's going
Speaker 1: to be thrilling, and we'll see exactly what the NFL
Speaker 1: Scouting Combine will bring. Yeah, and that is when we
Speaker 1: will see you next, most likely will be from Indianapolis
Speaker 1: and the NFL Scouting Combine, which has like a different
Speaker 1: schedule and everything this year, So that'll be an adjustment
Speaker 1: for us, but I think it's an adjustment for the better.
Speaker 1: I think the work week will be a little bit
Speaker 1: more manageable for us in Indie compared to years past.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna try talking to our producer Matt Arvin,
Speaker 1: our wonderful video producer Mike Atkinson, I think we'll probably
Speaker 1: try to do a preview going into Indianapolis and then
Speaker 1: knock out a few shows from Indianapolis, give you a
Speaker 1: real feel for the city, and yeah, it's gonna be exciting.
Speaker 1: I just I can't never believe how quickly the combine
Speaker 1: always seems to come around, well, especially when you get
Speaker 1: into a playoff run like the Packers have had getting
Speaker 1: to the conference championship game. Then you know, you sort
Speaker 1: of do the aftermath and then yeah, before you know what,
Speaker 1: it's like, oh yeah, we gotta make our travel plans
Speaker 1: for Indie. Let's get going. But it was an exciting year.
Speaker 1: It was thrilling. I appreciate you putting up with me
Speaker 1: all year. I appreciate our wonderful fans checking us out
Speaker 1: a Packers unscripted It's been blast buddy, all right, with that,
Speaker 1: we will call it a rap on the season of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage
Speaker 1: of the team throughout the off season on Packers dot com,
Speaker 1: Subscribed to us, like us on iTunes and other podcast
Speaker 1: services because we will be back sooner than later, and
Speaker 1: there's all kinds of great video anton out there on
Speaker 1: the Packers YouTube channel for WES I am Mike. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in, everybody, and we will see you
Speaker 1: next time. Ye