Now, I certainly hope he proves me wrong and I’ll be the first to jump on his wagon. In order to do that I’m going to need to see 2-3 years (in other words consistency) of winning, NFC North Championships, & making the playoffs. From what I saw last year we are headed for more years of mediocrity. I’m just not willing to wait another 30 years to get back to the Super Bowl.

I guess I am just not as down on the roster as you are Ron. Pickett, Jolly, Bigby, Kampman, Chillar, and Colledge all MAY be worth a contract extension come mid-season if they do perform well. I am not saying you don’t partake in FA but to just dimiss a possible extension for all these guys seems pre-mature. You have to leave some room availible to extend at least a few of these guys IF needed. What if Kampman just thrives in the 3-4? You’ll sure want the space to extend him a few years. Same will Colledge who I think could become an above average starter this year. You also need to look in locking in Williams if needed to replace Harris/Woodson down the road.

Again, it comes down to how you view the roster. IF you think it is a big pile of steamy cr-p then of course you partake in FA to replace guys. But, if you think there are 3-4 guys on the roster that will thrive and need to be extended then you have to be fairly conservative in FA given how many guys are set to ‘graduate’ after next season.

“We’re in a stage with our team that we’re not going to have the luxury of having tons of room under the cap. We’re at a stage where we have to start bringing our contracts up for some of the guys who are going to be ‘graduating.’”

i.e.- I drafted so well that the Packers have a TON of really good players coming off their rookie contracts that need to get PAID. Thompson obviously believes these players are better then what is available in free agency and for each player you sign in free agency you are essentially saying goodbye to one or two of the ‘graduating’ players becuase you almost always have to slightly over-pay in FA. I am guessing he has essentially allocated a certain $ figure to key ‘graduating’ players he thinks he will want to extend. It eats into that $29 million of available cap room pretty quick. He is essentially making the decision that the talent he has on the team is more worthy of the cap allocation then guys available in free agency at the current FA market prices. Whether that determination is grounded in ego or good/bad talent evaluation remains to be seen.