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Brett Favre goes off on Packers over 2020 draft (AUDIO)

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Aaron Rodgers & Brett Favre. (Photo Courtesy of Mike Clemens)

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre thinks Aaron Rodgers will end up finishing his career elsewhere, just like he did.

Favre appeared as a guest on the Rich Eisen Show on the NBC Sports Network on Wednesday.

Favre said he talked with Rodgers since the Packers traded up four spots to pick Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick in the draft last Thursday.  Favre said he was surprised the Packers went in the direction that they did.

The Packers have been criticized for not only taking a quarterback in the first round, but not doing more offensively to help the Packers out offensively.

Rodgers has four years left on the $134 million extension that he signed in 2018.  From a salary cap standpoint, it would be next to impossible for the Packers to part with Rodgers for at least the first two years.  But after that, who knows.

“I think he’ll play somewhere else,” Favre told Rich Eisen.  “My gut tells me now.  I don’t know this for certain, but I guarantee you, it’s got the wheels turning in Aaron’s mind.  If that’s the case, then that means there’s a chip on his [Read more…]

Packers agree to terms with 15 rookie free agents

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The Green Bay Packers agreed to terms with 15 rookie free agents, announced on Wednesday by general manager Brian Gutekunst.

The list includes:

Krys Barnes                    –   LB   –   UCLA
Henry Black                   –   S     –   Baylor
Travis Bruffy                   –   T     –   Texas Tech
Marc-Antoine Dequoy  –   CB   –   Montreal (Canada)
Tipa Galeai                    –   LB   –   Utah State
Frankie Griffin               –    S    –   Texas State
Zach Johnson               –    G    –   North Dakota State
Jordan Jones                –   FB    –   Prairie View A & M
Jalen Morton               –   QB    –   Prairie View A & M
Willington Previlon      –   DT    –   Rutgers
Stanford Samuels        –    CB   –   Florida State
Delontae Scott            –    LB    –   SMU
Darrell Stewart            –   WR   –   Michigan State
Will Sunderland          –   CB    –   Troy
Patrick Taylor              –   RB    –   Memphis

NFL preparing for contingency plans

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With NFL teams holding virtual offseason programs, there’s a chance the league’s regular season won’t start on time.  According to a report in the Sports Business Journal, the league is considering several contingencies, just in case they can’t kick off the season on time.

The NFL schedule will be released early next month and it will be designed to handle a delay, even as far out as October 15th.  That would allow for a 16-game season without a bye week.

The league is also reportedly talking with Super Bowl host Tampa about the plan, which could push the league’s championship game back as far as February 28.

The main goals right now are to preserve a 16-game season and play the Super Bowl in February.

 

Packers release QB Manny Wilkins

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After drafting quarterback Jordan Love in the opening round of the NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers reduced their quarterback stable by one, releasing Manny Wilkins on Monday.

Wilkins signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent last year and was in the mix to be Aaron Rodgers’ backup before being released after training camp.

Wilkins later returned and spent the season on the Packers practice squad.

Lazard, Sullivan sign tenders

Wide receiver Allen Lazard and cornerback Chandon Sullivan are back for 2020.  They each signed their exclusive rights tender, guaranteeing their return for the season.  It allows both to take part in the Packers virtual offseason program, which started on Monday.

Lazard had 35 catches for 477 yards and three touchdowns last year, while Sullivan had 30 tackles and an interception.

 

Packers 2020 draft class ranks among the NFL’s worst

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Packers GM Brian Gutekunst

After the dust has settled, the Green Bay Packers 2020 NFL Draft class ranks among the worst in the league and still has Packers Nation shaking their heads at what transpired over the weekend.

A record 37 receivers were selected in a receiver rich draft, but none of those 36 went to the Packers, who entered the draft needing to add help on the outside to improve the arsenal with which Aaron Rodgers has to work with.

The Packers traded a 4th round pick to move up from 30th to 26th in the first round and selected Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.  General Manager Brian Gutekunst had given us some clues over the previous three weeks that he would at least consider such a move.  We all shook it off as a smoke screen, because the Packers have Aaron Rodgers under contract for the next four years.

The scenario was similar when the Packers used the 24th pick in the first round on Aaron Rodgers back in 2005, when Brett Favre was still going strong.  But that move turned out alright, so we move on. [Read more…]

First round of NFL Draft sets record as most-watched draft telecast ever

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Thursday’s opening round of the 2020 NFL Draft was by far, the most-watched NFL draft telecast ever, with more than 15.6 million people tuned in to watch the league’s first virtual draft.

The numbers included viewership from ESPN, ABC, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes and digital channels and broke the previous mark of 12.4 million viewers back in 2014.

Ohio had the top three related markets, led by Columbus (16.7).  Cleveland was next at 15.9 and Cincinnati followed at 15.6.

Rounds 2 and 3 start at 6 p.m. Central Time on Friday night with rounds 4 through 7 kicking off on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central Time.

Packers trade up, select QB Jordan Love

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Jordan Love – Photo Courtesy of Getty Images

Nobody really expected the Green Bay Packers to pick Aaron Rodgers back in 2005, but when he fell to them at #24, Ted Thompson made the move that would shape the team’s future for years to come.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is hoping to find lightning in a bottle again after trading up from number 30 to number 26 in a trade with Miami to select Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.  The Packers traded their fourth-round pick to Miami to move up to select Love.

Love is 6’4, 224 lbs and has the ability to be the Packers quarterback of the future.  But he’ll have some time to watch and learn under Aaron Rodgers.

Love left Utah State a year early.  He threw for 3,567 yards and 32 touchdowns with just six interceptions in 2018.  Last year, his numbers dropped to 3,402 yards, 20 TD’s and 17 interceptions as Utah State struggled.

Gutekunst repeatedly said before the draft that if the right quarterback was available when they picked, he wouldn’t hesitate to make the move.  Obviously, it wasn’t lip service.

With the trade, the Packers now have eight picks left, including single picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds on Friday night.

NFL Draft kicks off tonight

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Packers GM Brian Gutekunst

The 2020 NFL Draft kicks off Thursday night, virtually.  The event starts at 7 p.m. CT.

The Green Bay Packers head into the draft with 10 selections for the second straight year.  The Packers have a pick in all seven rounds, plus two extra in the sixth and one extra in the seventh.

If the Packers draft 10 players, it will mark the third draft in the last four years that Green Bay selected 10-plus players (11 in 2018 and 10 in 2017).

Brian Gutekunst will be overseeing his third draft as the general manager of the Packers and 22nd overall in Green Bay.

Barring a trade, the Packers will have the 30th overall pick in Thursday nights opening round.  The last time the Packers had the 30th pick was last year, a pick acquired in a trade with Seattle.  The Packers used [Read more…]

Packers add a pair of former Dolphins

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The Green Bay Packers added a pair of undrafted free agents to their roster, just two days before the NFL Draft.

Outside linebacker Jamal Davis II and defensive tackle Gerald Willis were both released by the Miami Dolphins and claimed by the Packers.

Davis went undrafted last year, signing as a free-agent with the Houston Texans.  He later spent time on the practice squads of the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans before joining Miami’s practice squad.  He was then signed by the Dolphins for the final three weeks of the season.

Willis signed with Baltimore after going undrafted and ended up in Miami on the Dolphins practice squad after being waived by the Ravens.  Willis was elevated to the Dolphins regular roster for two games, playing 53 snaps before landing on I.R. with a hip injury.

Both are considered better than what the Packers could sign in the undrafted free agent pool following the upcoming draft.

 

Spriggs headed to the Bears

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David Bakhtiari & Jason Spriggs

Offensive tackle Jason Spriggs never lived up to expectations in Green Bay, is signing a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears.

Former Packers general manager Ted Thompson moved up nine sports in the 2016 draft to select Spriggs in the second round (48th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft.

The 25-year-old Spriggs appeared in 36 games in three years, making nine starts for the Packers.  But Spriggs spent the entire 2019 season on the Packers’ injured reserve list.

Thompson sent the Packers 2nd round pick (57th overall), a fourth-rounder (125th overall) and a seventh rounder (248th), to the Indianapolis Colts.