What the Packers need to avoid now is the unnecessary creation of even more holes on the roster. Despite some sub-par play out of certain veterans that should be playing better than they have so far this season. Replacing them with more unproven, inexperienced rookies and UDFAs would only further exacerbate the dearth of talent on this team. Sometimes a veteran that is on the decline may still be a better option than an unproven young player. Until the veteran finally goes "Hawk" they may present the team with a better option for another season or two despite their ends clearly coming into view over the horizon.
They've got only so many draft picks with which to succeed. Realistically, it's going to take at least a few stellar drafts to find and develop even a very small handful of playmakers, plus to make-up for some tepid recent drafts. And that's a big maybe, especially if Thompson trades down only to accumulate additional draft picks (with likely watered-down abilities). Less-talented picks (but more of them) would not ensure that this team will perform any different on the field than it does in the status quo. It needs more playmakers. Plus, over the course of a couple more seasons additional holes in the roster will inevitably be created through normal attrition and unexpected injuries.
There's a well-known tool designed for use by GMs that can help them to avoid stubbornly treading the waters of mediocrity. Free agency is a TT loathed skill-set that's been needlessly ignored in Green Bay despite genuine needs. That bias may have finally caught up to this team.
While I doubt that TT will be even a little more bold with dabbling in free-agency than he has been in the past, it may be the only viable way he can return this team back to elite status before his current contract expires, and his QB gets too close to reaching the end himself. Thompson is widely considered to be a conservative GM, yet he goes all-in by risking his team's fortunes almost exclusively in the draft and UDFA acquisitions. It's of his own doing that he keeps one hand chronically tied behind his back -- shunning a most useful resource that has always been available for him to use judiciously for filling-in those pesky holes on his team's roster. He's on the most radical side of avoiding free-agency compared to all other NFL GMs. He may need to reluctantly inch closer to the middle.
