NFL Free Agency: Green Bay Packers Way Still the Best Way

I've purposely stayed away from writing about the Green Bay Packers since joining Bleacher Report. Their usual inactivity during free agency has made that rather easy. Of course, they did sign their first unrestricted free agent in three years last week, bringing in Jeff Saturday to replace the departed Scott Wells at center. (And just this morning, they inked another free agent in Anthony Hargrove.) 

I did want to touch on the Packers today, however, now that the dust has settled on the initial frenzy of free agency and as teams start to turn their attention to April's draft. The draft is where the Packers do most of their acquiring of new talent, a method I wholeheartedly agree with, as most of you know. 

While some have expressed surprise at GM Ted Thompson's activity in free agency, he really hasn't operated any differently than any other year. As he told reporters earlier this week at the owners meetings:

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I know you guys don't believe me. But we're always active in free agency. There have been years, a couple years in a row when we haven't actually signed anybody. It doesn't mean that we weren't active, pursuing leads, trying to understand the market, doing all of that. Sometimes the market runs away from you, and you keep your hands in your pocket.

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Coupled with drafting and developing their own players, that's the Packers Way. It's not exciting this time of year, but if done correctly, it yields long-term results on the field. 

As Mike Freeman of CBS Sports put it yesterday:

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In a league that's at one of its most chaotic points in many decades, the Packers remain a steady and smart presence. They have an almost invisible general manager who may be the best in the sport, and a laid back coach who is as skilled as the best. This is the Packer way. Chill, lay low, dip a little toe into free agency but once the season starts, punch teams in the mouth.

This could change as team needs force the use of free agency but for the moment the Packers are being the Packers. They are quiet in a league immersed in controversy.

The NFL is filled with news of bounties, salary cap scandals, trades, Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow, more bounties, more scandals, more Manning, more Tebow and a little Andrew Luck.

Many of the moves being made by teams reek of desperation. The desperate in this league die; the steady win. It's that simple.

Great teams actually do little in the offseason. The three best teams in football have been among the least Googled. The Patriots have been mostly quiet. The Giants have been mostly quiet. The Packers have been barely audible. This bodes well for them because in the NFL, quiet is good.

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I could not agree more. 

No, Thompson will do as he's always done. He will let the other teams spend silly money—"hot dog stand" talent for steak restaurant prices, as Tom Silverstein once put it —and take a look at the free agents on the second and third tier. And, of course, he will use the draft as a means of pumping in new talent into the roster.

That's not the only way to build a team in today's NFL, but it's by far the best.