Keep your fingers crossed that LeRoy Butler gets into the Hall of Fame later today, and if he does, we can turn our attention to another injustice. How in the world is Mike Holmgren still not in Canton? He was a better coach than Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher, both gold jacket recipients. Anyway, here are a few more Packers-related thoughts that ran through my mind recently:
1) Matt LaFleur made a flurry of expected moves last week as he reshaped his coaching staff for 2022, but naming Connor Lewis as assistant quarterbacks coach was anything but predictable. For one thing, why name the assistant first? That’s unusual in any profession, especially sports. But the real head-scratcher was the choice itself. There’s nothing on Lewis’ resume that suggests he should be helping to coach a future Hall of Famer and/or helping to develop a raw prospect. The 29-year-old has spent most of his six seasons in Green Bay assisting the offensive staff in “data analysis, playing rules, and game management.” Even the brief time he spent on the field wasn’t with the quarterbacks. LaFleur surely had his reasons for this atypical hire, and it’ll be interesting to find out what they were at his next press conference.
2) For the fifth consecutive year, the two Super Bowl quarterbacks count for less than 15% of their team’s salary cap. That’s combined. The exact total for Los Angeles’ Matt Stafford and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow is 14.9%. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers’ percentage this season was 14.6, and that was only after a major restructuring. The number will skyrocket in 2022, and even with an extension, there’s no chance the Packers will be able to get the 4-time MVP’s number below 15%. This doesn’t mean Green Bay can’t win the Super Bowl a year from now, but it certainly makes it a lot more difficult. Tom Brady knew this, and that’s the reason his last few contracts were below market value. And no, he didn’t take less money because he’s married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen. He did it because winning rings means everything to him. Besides, something tells me Rodgers could scrape by on the $300-plus million he’s earned so far in his NFL career.
3) At his press conference following the upset loss to San Francisco, LaFleur mentioned the possibility of using more starters on special teams next season. Well, that’s a lot more likely now that Rich Bisaccia has been hired. Of the 14 teams that competed in this year’s playoffs, his Raiders used the most starters on special teams in 2021 (32% of the snaps). The Packers used the least (17% of the snaps). In Rick Gosselin’s rankings, Las Vegas finished 21 spots higher than Green Bay. Of course, the downside is the potential for injury – something the Packers found out the hard way when AJ Dillon was forced out of the playoff game after fracturing a rib early in the second half. A recent study found that 30% of ACL tears and 29% of lower extremity injuries happen on special teams even though they make up just 17% of all plays.
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