A Changing of the Guard:
Mark Murphy and the Green Bay Packers wasted little time shuffling the deck around and making changes to the organization for the upcoming 2018 season following a disappointing 7-9 season. The Packers showed little to no effort in their 35-11 loss yesterday against the Lions, which could have been the extra emphasis needed to show that a call to change in Green Bay was needed.
Yesterday, the Packers shocked the football world by announcing that Ted Thompson would be stepping aside as general manager to pursue another role within the organization. With the search for the general manager position underway, the next question that looms will be the security of coach Mike McCarthy’s job. The general consensus is that McCarthy will be evaluated once a new general manager is named. However, In most cases, new general managers would like the opportunity to pick their own head coach which now puts McCarthy in a precarious situation at best.
McCarthy has only one year remaining on his contract, so the writing may be on the wall, that his time in Green Bay may be coming to a close. When you have a disappointing season and have not gotten the most out of the talent that you were given changes have to be made.
Front Runners to fill the General Manager Vacancy:
1. Elliot Wolf- Elliot Wolf has ascended to the top of the Packers front office in a relatively short time. He has been getting title promotions over the last couple of years in order to keep him from leaving the organization. Wolf would be the most logical choice to fill the Packers newly vacated general manager position. If the Packers do not promote Wolf, he will likely look for a position with another organization.
2. Brian Gutenkunst- director of college scouting.
3. Alonzo Highsmith- senior personnel executive.
4. Russ Ball- vice president of football administration who is also the Green Bay Packer’s cap specialist. If Wolf or Schneider do not succeed Ted Thompson, Russ Ball would probably the next logical choice to fill the position.
5. John Schneider- Every Packer fan has been dreaming of John Schneider coming back home to Green Bay ever since he started winning in Seattle. Schneider did have a clause in his contract where he could have come to Green Bay to fill the role of general manager in the event that Ted Thompson retired or was let go. As part of Schneider’s newest contract extension, the “Green Bay Packer’s clause” was removed which means that the Packers would have to give some form of compensation to the Seahawks in the event that Schneider leaves Seattle for Green Bay.
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David Michalski is a recent college graduate from Princeton New Jersey who has been a life long Green Bay Packers fan. Like the great Vince Lombardi, he values God, family, and the Green Bay Packers in that order. You can follow him on twitter at @kilbas27dave
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2 responses to “What Will Be the Next Ball to Drop for The Packers in 2018?”
So far so good. Time overdue for change. I’m my opinion they waited five years too long. Sorry loyal fans, but McMike must go. Rodgers doesn’t need him and his predictable, play not to win offense. McMike had had his time to develop Hundley; results show his lack of developmental genius. Develop Rodgers? Not. Get Rodgers an OC to monitor and set game plan, but let Rodgers, like Peyton, call his plays at the line, hes smart enough! Time to move forward. Fan since 58.
I’m deathly afraid Russ Ball is going to be named the next Packers GM. If that’s really the case the Packers will find themselves with Ted Thompson 2.0 only WITHOUT the scouting experience. Not only would the Packers actually be in a worse position with Ball, they’d lose Wolf and Gutekunst as well. Combine that with Highsmith already moving on and you have the makings of a brand new and very thin Front Office.