The first week of training camp was crazy. Quarterback and league MVP Aaron Rodgers eviscerated the organization in a monologue that would’ve made Williams Shakespeare proud, and the front office added two established veterans to an already talented roster. Things figure to settle down in the coming weeks as the drama decreases and the hitting increases. Here are three more Packers-related thoughts that went through my mind recently:
1) If you can get past Ben Braden being cut eight times since being signed by the Jets as an undrafted rookie in 2017, it’s really not surprising that he’s competing for a starting job this summer. The former Michigan star fits the mold of what the Packers have been looking for at the guard position for the past decade. While Braden’s not the most graceful athlete in the world, he’s big, smart, and tougher than a $2 steak. Those traits could also apply to Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, Lucas Patrick, and Jon Runyan Jr. – all of whom were either drafted or signed while GM Brian Gutekunst served in various capacities in Green Bay’s front office. This isn’t to suggest Braden is going to follow in the footsteps of Sitton and Lang and go to Pro Bowls – heck, he might not even make the final 53-man roster – but if you combine his pedigree with Adam Stenavich’s coaching, it’s certainly not out of the question that he could be at least as good as Patrick or Runyan Jr., who are the other two players in the mix to start at guard.
2) No wonder Randall Cobb had such a big smile on his face when he returned to the Packers last week. Not only did he get away from Houston – arguably the worst team in the league – but he picked up an extra $3 million or so in the process. There was no chance the Texans were going to keep Cobb and his $8.2M base salary around past final cuts, and had he been released in early September, he almost certainly would’ve had to settle for a contract worth no more than $2M. Instead, thanks to Aaron Rodgers’ insistence that the front office acquire Cobb before the start of camp, the 31-year-old wide receiver will be paid over $5.6M this season. That makes the former Pro Bowler the 11th highest-paid player on the team – not bad for someone to who Gutekunst didn’t want to pay that kind of money a couple of years and half a step ago. Say what you will about Rodgers, but he’s one heck of a good friend.
3) Last week, guard Simon Stepaniak became the second player drafted by Gutekunst on Day 3 to announce his retirement. That’s the same as the number of productive starters picked in rounds 4 – 7 from ’18 to ’20. Aside from Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Kingsley Keke, none of the other 15 players were on the field for more than 245 snaps last season. That’s a far cry from the first three drafts of former general managers Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson, which produced Edgar Bennett, Dorsey Levens, Aaron Jones, Donald Driver, Mark Chmura, Adam Timmerman, Marco Rivera, Mark Tauscher, Scott Wells, Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, David Bakhtiari, Corey Linsley, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Aaron Kampman, Mike Daniels, Desmond Bishop, and Doug Evans in the later rounds. If the Packers are going to survive some potentially challenging salary caps in the next few seasons, they’ll need at least a handful of their Day 3 picks from the past four drafts to be more than just role players and serviceable backups.
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