5. Will the Packers buck their trend?
As we covered when focusing on NFL teams that need to ace free agency earlier, it’s never been more important for the Packers to move on from their old ways. Here’s a team that has simply decided to avoid free agency for the past five-plus years with the likes of Julius Peppers and Jared Cook acting as its biggest additions during that span.
For the most part, this has worked out swimmingly. Green Bay is coming off its eighth consecutive playoff appearance and has earned five division titles in the past six seasons. But it became readily apparent during the 2016 campaign that building through the draft simply isn’t going to fix the myriad issues we see with the Packers.
During a four-game span at the midway point of the season, Green Bay’s defense yielded a franchise record 153 points. And while this unit improved down the stretch, its issues were brought to the forefront one again in the playoffs when the Packers yielded 75 combined points in two games against Dallas and Atlanta.
That right there is the crux of the issue. Simply put, the general manager Ted Thompson and Co. have not drafted well enough on defense in recent years to justify solely focusing on that element to help improve their roster.
Also important to note, Green Bay was forced to use a wide receiver in Ty Montgomery as its starting running back. Sure Montgomery performed well and expects to be a full-time back, but that’s not the point. It just goes to show us the lack of depth on this roster.
Flush with cash to spend in free agency, the hope here is that Green Bay will make at least one or two viable moves to help supplement the draft. Reports suggest this might happen, but we’re going to have to see it to believe it.