Which Free Agent Should The Green Bay Packers Sign? None Of Them.

Nnamdi Asomugha.  Brian Westbrook.  Pacman Jones.  Adalius Thomas.  Shawne Merriman. 

Much has been written about who the Packers ought to add to put themselves over the top and into the Super Bowl.  The obvious two positions of discussion are OLB and CB.  Ted Thompson is renowned for abstaining from the free agency game, relying on current team members and the draft to build a powerhouse football team.  Fans and prognosticators are jumping up and down about who needs to be brought in to improve the team.  Everybody has an answer.  Bring in a big-name, high-recognition player and that will fix all our problems. 

Well, I disagree.  Here's why:

OLB

Clay Matthews proved to be a stud, and an obvious home-run when ol' predictable Ted surprised everybody and traded WAY up to get him.  Across from him was Aaron Kampman, who, despite what everyone said, didn't transition to 3-4 OLB well.  He's a 4-3 DE.  Pure and simple, he belongs with his hand in the dirt.  He's in Jacksonville right now, and I expect him to have a good season.  Unfortunately, with the switch to the 3-4, he lost his job.  He doesn't fit the mold of a 3-4 DE, and doesn't have the cover skills to play 3-4 OLB.  So when he went down, Brad Jones stepped in.  Brad Jones was a 7th round afterthought drafted for punt and kickoff coverage.  But he stepped up to the plate and played admirably.  Jones was exposed in run support, but showed the ability to blitz and cover.  With a full offseason in the weightroom, he should bulk up a bit and have the requisite size to take on guys like Adrian Peterson. 

Brad Jones is currently the starter opposite Clay Matthews, and the job appears to be his to lose.  He is young and has a lot of upside.  And before the criticism of where he fell to in the draft comes up, there's another 7th round afterthought or two on the roster who has endeared himself to the fans (and made a few Pro Bowls too) in Donald Driver and Mark Tauscher.  Just goes to show that a late-round pick can be just as effective as a 1st rounder. Jones has all the skills and potential to be an effective playmaker, and with the legendarily thick Dom Capers playbook, and madman Kevin Greene teaching, Jones is primed to be a solid pro.

So why go with Jones or Brady Poppinga instead of signing Adalius Thomas or Shawne Merriman?  Matthews, Barnett, Hawk and Merriman would be a pretty formidable line.  So why not go for it?  Because we don't need to.  So many fans forget that this is a business and that money plays a huge role in who gets signed.  Green Bay is a small market and is traditionally very conservative with its checkbook.  Shawne Merriman would command a huge contract, whereas Brad Jones is pretty cheap.  7th round picks don't sign long-term, multimillion dollar deals.  And if Jones can play effective football, why give up on him?  Signing big-name players doesn't always pan out anyway.  Remember who won the Albert Haynesworth Sweepstakes?  Did Washington really "win" anything there, besides the right to pay him $100 million for slightly more production than Justin Harrell? 

CB

This is the area that irks me the most.  Our secondary was exposed by elite passers, and Kurt Warner pounded the final nail into that coffin by racking up 45 points on us.  Charles Woodson is old, but he's also the reigning DPOY, so if he's half as good next year we're in good shape.  Tramon Williams is a guy who the coaches have been trying to work into the starting rotation.  He's a solid corner with ball skills, and isn't afraid to play bump-and-run all the way down the sideline.  Yeah, he gets penalties, but all our corners do.  Its how they play.  As aggressively as the refs will let you.  The Ravens game was an anomaly.  Those refs were out to nail every PI on the field, and they didn't miss too many.  Outside of Woodson and Williams, there weren't enough good, healthy corners.  Al Harris was a huge loss.  He will be back.  Will Blackmon is a good dime corner.  He'll be back too.  Pat Lee hasn't seen the field much, but he's a big, strong, physical corner.  Brandon Underwood simply hasn't had the chance to show what he really can do.  Put those four in front of Jarret Bush and Josh Bell, and the Pittsburgh debacle didn't happen.

The reason Thompson didn't seriously go after a big-name guy like Pacman (besides his character issues) or Lito Sheppard is because he didn't need to.  He's got 3 guys coming off IR, a rookie ready to be groomed for the NFL, and plenty of talent in the secondary. 

He did draft Morgan Burnett, who will likely push Atari Bigby out of the starting lineup.  Couple Burnett with Collins, Woodson, Williams, and Harris (who I project to be a nickel when he returns from his injury) and that looks pretty solid.  Add Underwood, Blackmon, Lee, Derrick Martin, and Charlie Peprah to the secondary and there's enough depth to weather the NFL season.

Ted Thompson rarely signs free agents, and it appears this year is no exception.  He believes that the guys on the team are young, but ready to take on the challenge that lies ahead of them.  He was willing to roll the dice on them when he drafted them, so why not give them the benefit of the doubt now? 

Not bringing in an established vet gives them the confidence to play better than last year, instead of telling rookie Brad Jones "You played well, but not good enough, so we're going to replace you.  Thanks for trying."  Instead, the message is "You played well, but not good enough, so you really need to buckle down and hammer this out so we can win it all next year."  And that little bit of confidence can unlock a whole other level of potential in a guy. 

Some of us may be very surprised next year.