Starting running back James Starks is one of the few underpaid Packers
If a happy locker room equates to performance on the field, the 2012 Packers are guaranteed to be playing deep into January. In a day and age when listening to players gripe about their contract is as common as finding a mug shot of a Detroit Lion, the level of contentment at 1265 Lombardi Avenue is remarkably high. And that’s because GM Ted Thompson has done a great job of paying his players fairly.
Think about it – how many Packers are truly underpaid? Clay Matthews ($800K) and Bryan Bulaga ($583K) come to mind, but remember, they received hefty signing bonuses and they’re still in the middle of their rookie deals. And while Marshall Newhouse ($540K) and James Starks ($400K) are certainly worth more than they’re currently making, that’s only because they’ve played far above expectations.
By filling the roster with young and inexpensive backups, Thompson has been able to take care of his best players over the years, and in the process, keep most everybody happy. It’s just one more thing Green Bay’s soft-spoken leader does better than just about every other GM in the National Football League.
NOTE: I’ll be on vacation this week, so I won’t be around the site or Twitter very much. I did, however, write some stories the past few days that will be posted automatically throughout the week. So keep stopping by and commenting. I’ll be back Saturday with a review of Thursday night’s game against Cincy.
Well. with the youngest roster in the NFL for 4 years running, TT better be able to keep everyone happy under the salary cap sans Jenkins, Wells, Clifton, Tauscher et. al. The true is going forward. To have success with such a young roster portends salary cap hell when these guys re-up. If we’re at the cap now and he has to give $200 MM to the remaining name players that come up in the next two years, how is he going pay anyone else that blossoms? I now, Pickett, Hawk and Woodson are long for the NFL. At that point, all our money will be locked in the offense plus TW, CM, and Raji. And our K/P. No, this part has been easy, it’s teh next few years that will be hard.
Have a happy vacation, you do a fantastic job of GMing this team for this blog!
It will be interesting to see if TT can keep doing this. It’s clear that players like being in Green Bay, and they do believe that the team will take care of them in the long run. That may be the real message sent by Driver’s new contract–Driver took a cut, but still makes good money, and he wasn’t released.
At some point, good players will leave in free agency to keep better players. That happens every year. And there has to be constant (and broad) success in the “draft & develop” process as injury, age, and free agency take their toll. Last year, there was a hole in the DL (may still be). We are seeing TT’s strategy put to the test this year with S, ILB, RB and OL. As all the attention given to Harrell shows, QB may actually be the hardest position to manage. Flynn looked good last year, but was 0-2 with the Super Bowl champions. A year earlier he would have been worse, and now that he’s proven himself, he’s gone. I suppose that is really the process at practically every position on the team. It’s just that there is only one viable sub for QB. And unlike Ks and Ps, QBs get hurt.
I know Flynn lost the New England game in 2010, but which other game? The Detroit game where he replaced Rodgers? He looked bad in that game but so did Rodgers and the whole offense. The New England game the Packers defense held New England to like 250 yards, and Flynn and the offense had the ball almost 40 minutes of that game. Flynn had the Packers at the Pats 11 when time ran out and M.M. was blamed for not having a 2nd play called after a completion and time ran out. That was also the game where the special teams gave up a 70 ard kick return to a offensive lineman. Flynn did everything to win that game he could. M.M. had a excellent game plain. Slocum I thought, was the worst special teams coach in the history of the NFL.
Don’t worry Michael……we’ll feel free to talk about you while you’re away.
Cheers!
Maybe so, NP. My point was that it is hard to “draft and develop” 2nd string QBs. Once developed, they’re gone. And you have to wait some years to get to that. TT might be better off finding a vet who would be happy to hold a clipboard most games.
Starks? Underpaid? If Benson has anything left Starks should be cut.