The importance of Kuhn

[Deleted member 6794]

Cut it up how you want it, but I'm merely stating that it's unlikely TT will keep two FBs again because depth at other positions is more important. My central argument isn't the specific position (those were examples), it's the roster spot.

With the way Kuhn is playing I have a hard time believing he won't be brought back for next season. Ripkowski has shown flashes of potential so it's possible the Packers will keep two fullbacks on the roster again in 2016.

 

[El Guapo]

I like Kuhn. He's a great situational player and a good leader. However, the writing is on the wall since Ripkowski's was drafted. I'm not making the call but just reading the tea leaves the way that I see them.

 

[HaHa'sRightGlove]

I like Kuhn. He's a great situational player and a good leader. However, the writing is on the wall since Ripkowski's was drafted. I'm not making the call but just reading the tea leaves the way that I see them.

I think one of the more valuable parts of Kuhn's game is his knowledge of the playbook, his awareness and ability to read defences and pick up blitzes...Ripkowski will need to work very hard to dislodge Kuhn before Kuhn's age is the reason he's replaced I feel.

 

[TJV]

True, but you can't discount how TT's philosophy played into that decision. He let our two top guards go in the offseason hoping to draft and develop younger/cheaper talent. From a cap perspective, he could have kept one of them but that wasn't the direction he wanted to go. It's a mixed bag about whether he was right. Rivera suffered career-ending injuries in Dallas and Wahl went on to play a few more above-average years before going down hill. On the flip side, it took many years before Lang and Sitton came to anchor the guard positions.

I disagree. It’s not a big deal but I think we should try to get the history of the franchise right. First remember the situation in 2005 when Thompson became VP/GM. The Packers were in need of a roster makeover and they were over the salary cap for the upcoming 2005 season. He didn’t “let our two top guards go”, he had no choice on one and IMO would have been foolish to match the offer the other received.

Wahle’s contract called for a $6M roster bonus and a $5M salary in 2005: An $11M cap hit for a team already over the cap for an OG. It was a “poison pill” in the 2001 contract he signed that meant the Packers, Wahle, and his agent all knew that contract would not be in force in 2005. They could either extend him or let him go. And extending him would have meant more than a $11M guarantee for a guard on a team over the cap in need of a roster makeover.

As I’ve posted I think Thompson wanted to keep Rivera. But Jones offered a five-year, $20 million contract that included a signing bonus of $9 million. The deal is worth $13.5 million over its first three seasons. Again, we should put this contract in the context of the time it was signed: The $9 million signing bonus tied the NFL record for largest signing bonus awarded to a guard. With the Packers situation at the time IMO it was clear matching that deal would have been a mistake, even without considering he played just one more year in the league because of multiple injuries.

IMO you are also incorrect in saying he was “hoping to draft and develop younger/cheaper talent. He didn’t draft an OL until the 5th and 7th rounds and in fact 27-year old Adrian Klemm and 32-year old Matt O’Dwyer were signed to compete with Grey Ruegamer, Kevin Barry, and Steve Morley to replace Wahle and Rivera (little known fact: Klemm was the first player Bill Belichick's NE front office drafted.). BTW, Thompson also signed free agents RB Samkon Gado, TE Donald Lee, and WR Rod Gardner in 2005. For Thompson that’s significant activity in free agency.

 

[OldSchool101]

I like Kuhn. Lol.
Sorry. After reading all this it was all I could think to say.

 

[El Guapo]

I'll just say that Wahle's contract could have been renegotiated. Extending or cutting were not the only two options. I'm sure that they tried but yes, Carolina offered more.

I agree that the cap and roster needed overhauling after Mike Sherman's inept GM work. He thought that he could follow a Ron Wolf plan by signing Klemm and O'Dwyer and then sprinkling in some low level draft picks in Coston and Whitticker. All of these were trademark TT low budget moves hoping to snag a gem. He then realized that he wiffed on all those players and had to swing high for College and Spitz in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the following draft. I'll just leave it as a difference of opinion about Ted's intentions. I don't think that I'm wrong about his draft and develop strategy just because he brought in Klemm and O'Dwyer to also compete. I'm interested in your opinion but won't take this discussion any further than I already have done. It's a side-bar from the Kuhn thread.

 

[TJV]

I'll just say that Wahle's contract could have been renegotiated. Extending or cutting were not the only two options. I'm sure that they tried but yes, Carolina offered more.

In Wahle’s situation regarding Thompson, “extending” = “renegotiating”. The balloon payment in Wahle’s contract occurred in 2005. Thompson became GM in 2005 so he wasn’t there to renegotiate before the balloon payment. So “extending or cutting” WERE the only two options. As I said before, Thompson had no choice because of the state of the cap and the roster. Because guaranteeing an OG (albeit a very good one) more than $11M would have been foolish in that situation, I’m pretty sure they didn’t try to keep him. BTW, the signing bonuses for Wahle and Rivera combined were $19M.

I agree that the cap and roster needed overhauling after Mike Sherman's inept GM work. He thought that he could follow a Ron Wolf plan by signing Klemm and O'Dwyer and then sprinkling in some low level draft picks in Coston and Whitticker. All of these were trademark TT low budget moves hoping to snag a gem.

He acquired a 27-year old OG and re-signed re-signed Grey Ruegamer. So he signed and retained three vets to compete at OG and drafted two more. This was not “trademark Thompson low budget moves”: Because of the situation he inherited, he had no choice.