Montgomery and Hunter re-signed

Not much to report here except that these two guys re-signed. While Montgomery may add depth to either the D-Line or OLB positions (and he may not be as bad as a fill-in vs being the starter), I’m just not that excited about these signings. I don’t think these 2 guys are terrible (and I do think Hunter has some possibly untapped potential), but I just can’t get excited about this or really, any 2009 off-season signing.

Tremendously boring off-season when this is all I can think of to post. I think the lack of action this off-season is actually hurting my brain.

Cutler to NYJ?

I don’t want to get too involved in the rumor-milling, as it were, of the Jay Cutler situation. But I do want to say something about it. Odd situation. I’m not so sure Cutler was the most popular guy in Denver  even before all of this happened. He seems quite brash. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if he did initiate some of this trade talk (as Peter King asserted a few weeks ago).

Either way, one team I would think would be more active in pursuing Cutler would be the New York Jets. With Favre out, the options are bad. I watched Clemens play in a couple games when the staff was waffling between he and Pennington a few years ago. Maybe he was too young or just had several bad games, but he looked really really bad. Cutler’s brash style might fit in NY and they certainly could use some QB help.

(One related comment: I am not in the camp that thinks Cutler is that great. I think he’s good, yes, but not that great. He has some growing up to do and would probably be best with an experienced head coach who doesn’t put up with crap.)

Vikings fan angry – PG suspects crack use

Thought you might like to read this comment we just received from a Vikings fan about a post ripping on the Metrodome done months ago:

The last time I checked, the field in the Metrodome is still 100 yards in total length, which, I believe is the offical size of all NFL playing surfaces in this league. When you are sitting in your seats, it’s no different than watching a game at any other stadium. If it wasn’t for the small size of the concourses, no one would complain. It beats the heck out of sitting in below zero weather to watch a game in late December. All of that ice bowl crap is just that – CRAP!!! Nobody would choose to sit out in the cold when you could watch in 72 degree comfort!! Anyone who refutes that is a liar!!!! There isn’t anything special about Lambeau. I’ll take the Metrodome in the city vs. Lambeau in sh-tville any day!!!

Nice dude, nice. The funny thing is that most people in Minnesota absolutely hate the Metrodome. While largely a clueless people for supporting the Vikings, they are also a proud people who feel the same way about the Metrodome that a teenager feels about a giant pimple the night before prom.

Unexercising

Ok – I need to preface this post by making it clear that I am not your classic work-out guy. I get into working out for a few months and then it usually fizzles out as I turn my attention to coming up with excuses for not working out. When I do work out, I have no idea how most of the equipment works and I usually come away with some type of old man injury from trying to get a piece of equipment to work in the wrong way. But one thing I do know is that when I’m working out, I am doing something. I feel strain in my “muscles”, sweat some and I even worry that when I’m too engrossed in my music, I grunt. But I continue to find it, I don’t know, curious, when I find people who come all the way to the gym, and do NOTHING!!!  They are unexercisers. Lots of these people are older (though not all), they stroll around with a certain obliviousness and very often, they have inappropriate workout clothing on (jeans, pants, sweaters with scenes on them, dress shoes).  They were probably told by their doctors to get out and exercise, but I decided tonight to officially not count as exercise a person sitting nearly motionless on a stationary bike for a very short period of time. Simply doesn’t count. I came close tonight to stating matter of factly to this unexerciser next to me “for what it’s worth, I don’t consider your “efforts” there exercise – you’d probably burn more calories if you just stood next to the bike and thought about riding it”. Of course the best part was that she was on the bike for a total of 3 minutes and the digital thing said she burned 9 calories. She then walked around the track 2 times going so slowly the runners had difficulty judging how to pass her. Nice workout, nice.

Anthony Smith and T.O.

I’m a little surprised by the Anthony Smith signing. Perhaps TT and MM were willing to chalk up his unbelievably stupid guarantee of victory a couple years ago against New England (and subsequent horrendous performance) to being immature or something – but that kind of dumb statement seems to run counter to TT’s philosophy on players. (I watched that game – wow, did he play badly). That said, I like his apparent athleticism and the fact that Dick LeBeau allegedly was not ready to give up on him (though Mike Tomlin had seen enough). I also like his 3-4 experience and the fact that while I’d prefer to have acquired a guy who was starting in a 3-4 most of last year (Jim Leonhard), at least Smith was playing behind 2 really good safeties. Last time we acquired a DB who was stuck behind 2 quality starters it was Al Harris – and he’s been good for us. Oh, and he’s young.

Still, I just can’t get that excited about this acquisition yet – or the Packers’ off-season. Packer off-seasons are really boring. We just have to face that fact. I have awaken several mornings over the last month wanting to post something about my beloved Packers only to stop for a moment and yawn at the profound boredom of the off-season. While I don’t think there actually were/are a bunch of FA options, I do think we could have gone after a few others guys (and still could). Oh well – at least the draft is always interesting with TT because we have no idea who he’ll pick – and we can spend the next few months trying to figure out where the hell these guys came from.

A bit surprised T.O. ended up in Buffalo. More than anything, I think it’s nice for Lee Evans. He has been doing it by himself up there for several years (since Moulds left anyway – where is Moulds by the way…he was so good) and having another at least decent option to distract defenses might really open things up for Evans and the Buffalo passing game. I also do wonder if the move was a bit of a PR one (strange PR move then) because Buffalo is desperate to do whatever it can to generate money/attention in hopes of not losing the team toToronto.

Smith Signed

Details here.  One reason to sign Smith, as Tom Silverstein pointed out yesterday and Greg Bedard reiterated today, is that both Nick Collins and Atari Bigby will be unrestricted free agents after this season — if the Packers don’t extend them before then.

Anthony Smith

Some interesting reporting on Steeler safety Anthony Smith — the Packers have shown some interest in him.  I like this report from Tom Silverstein, sourcing an AFC North official.

The source said that if Smith came to the Packers he’d be one of the most gifted players on their defense. According to scouting combine records, Smith had a vertical jump of 41 inches. His 40-yard dash time was 4.71 seconds, which ranked behind the top safeties in the draft that year.

“He’s got a lot of talent, no doubt about that,” the source said. “He’s just got to get the mental side together. That’s the thing that will make him a real good safety. He hasn’t shown he can do that yet. But if he goes there they have (safeties coach) Darren Perry. He knows Darren. He would help him a lot.”

A reluctant T.O. post

T.O. is an idiot. That is clear. As you all know by now, Dallas, in what I’d regard as a surprising move, has released him. I consider it surprising mostly because they take a $9 million cap hit this year for  releasing him. That is a team that really doesn’t want him around. (By the way, if I were Jerry Jones, and thank God I’m not, I would have fired Wade Phillips last year. I think he’s a major problem there. He is not a good coach – he doesn’t react well during games. I think Jones is cheating a quality group of players out of post-season chances by keeping Phillips as head coach.)

Well, profootballtalk is attempting to track all the teams that have already, somehow, indicated they want nothing to do with Owens. So far, they’re at 13. Of course, the Pack isn’t on the list (but that could just be because nobody from the Packers talks about anything, ever).

So, should the Pack consider picking up T.O? My answer is no – he is an idiot and I don’t think he’s quite as good as he was before (though I do think he will contribute for someone this year). And, we’ve waded through plenty of drama recently so taking a chance on more is not worth it.

But there are 2 points I want to make for no reason in particular: 1) last year, Owens had a problem with Romo locking onto Witten all the time. I think Owens actually had a decent point. I don’t like how he went about making the point acting like an 8 year-old, but he had a point. Their offense was fairly unpredictable early in 2008 and they effectively used multiple weapons. Toward the end of the year, their offense was weak and predictable.

2) If TO joined the Packers, it would instantly create match-up problems for opposing defenses. Like I wrote early last year when lobbying for the Pack to trade for Anquan Boldin, imagine a WR group with TO, Jennings, DD as the #3 WR, and James Jones and Jordy Nelson bringing up the rear. While I would consider the chances of the Packers even mentioning the name T.O. right about now almost zero, the guiding philosophy behind McCarthy’s offensive scheme is creating mismatches (like many coaches). Owens’ presence would create mismatches.

Brief, nightmarish thought for secondary coaches: TO to Arizona. Imagine dealing with Boldin, Fitzgerald, Owens and Breaston with Warner throwing it to them.

Random off-season thoughts

• What do folks think about Percy Harvin? Though injury prone and smallish, I swear, every time I’ve watched that guy play, he’s done something electric. He is a gifted athlete. And, he was a marked man by lots of defenses. I’ll say it now, he may be one of those players who NFL teams shy away from due to size/durability, but he will be a very good NFL player.
• I want Travis Beckhum on this team. Not in the first round or anything, but maybe with one of the extra picks TT trades down for. I’ve written this before I know and I am a clearly biased Wisconsinite. Anyway, some have doubted his ability to block etc, but his recent bench performance at the combine indicates to me that he’s at least strong enough to learn how to block (benched more than any other TE there) and we’ve all seen how good he is at the receiving piece of TE work.
• Why is everyone (including me to some extent) leaving Desmond Bishop off the list of possible starting LBs? He seems like the aggressive kind of playmaker who might thrive as an OLB. I have a sneaking suspicion Kevin Greene will take to Bishop and help him take off.
• I also wonder if Chillar might not be bad as an ILB (he’s being talked about mostly as an OLB) due to solid coverage skills.
• Interesting that last year nobody (except Packergeeks and a number of PG readers) thought Poppinga should be locked in as a starter and now, whenever starting line-ups are discussed for 2009, nobody is including Poppinga as a possible starter. Perhaps Packergeek pressure simply became too much.
• I really hope AJ Hawk blossoms with some quality coaching because I would doubt MM would have the stones to bench him in 2009 (despite playing like a scrub in 2008).
• A few years ago, when Mike Sherman insisted on starting KGB only to have offenses run over him ever play, I remember having the fleeting thought that as bad as he was playing in the 4-3, he may have been more effective as an OLB in a 3-4 because he wouldn’t be swept in the wrong direction immediately by a huge O-Lineman. I’m not saying bring him back, because I think he’s been past his prime for a few years now – but I do think he may be one person wishing the Pack went to a 3-4 a few years earlier.
• What is going to happen with Jeremy Thompson? Considering he’s one of TT’s draft picks, my guess is TT pushes MM to give JT a solid shot at starting OLB.
• I was just imagining an interesting possible scenario for the Oakland Raiders considering they are rumored to have interest in both T.O. and Michael Vick. If they have the cap space (which they likely don’t after signing both Lechler and Asomouga) think about this for a moment: the Raiders could possibly field a starting offense next year with JaMarcus Russell as QB, Michael Vick as QB/RB/WR, Darren McFadden as RB and Percy Harvin and T.O. as WRs. Imagine trying to defend that crew?

5 – Star Service Guarantee

There is a certain bank, I won’t name names, yes I will, it’s US Bank, that claims to offer a “5-Star Service Guarantee”. What does this mean? Anyone? No other banks refer to “star” service scales. Is this 5 stars on a scale of 10? 100? It is important we know what kind of scale this is because without this knowledge, we can’t be sure of what they’re guaranteeing. For example, if it is on a scale of 10, then we can expect at least average service. But if it is on a scale of 100, their service standards would be very low – it’s possible the teller might spit on us. Of course, most likely, the scale, the arbitrary scale THEY made up, only goes up to 5. Ok. But then who decides that they have earned a 5-Star rating? Do they decide this? Nowhere does it attribute the 5-star service quality determination to some independent, bank-rating 3rd party. They’ve decided this!!! Ugh. Ok, I’ll stop now.