Restating the obvious, Dorsey learned from Ted Thompson

[ct]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/03/packers-prefer-compensatory-picks-over-unrestricted-free-agents/


Packers General Manager Ted Thompson has a formula for building his team, and he’s sticking with it.

Thompson believes in building through the draft, not free agency, and that includes acquiring more draft picks by declining to sign unrestricted free agents. In the NFL, teams that lose more in free agency than they acquire get compensatory picks, and the Packers’ moves in free agency this year indicate that they’re already thinking about acquiring compensatory picks for next year. The NFL doesn’t public the precise formula used to determine compensatory picks, but the simple version is that if the unrestricted free agents you lose are better, higher-paid players than the unrestricted free agents you sign, then the NFL will compensate you the following year with compensatory picks.

As the Green Bay Press-Gazette points out, even the one big name the Packers have signed this offseason, Julius Peppers, was a free agent because he was released by the Bears, not because his previous contract expired. That means he won’t count as an unrestricted free agent addition for the Packers for the purpose of determining their compensatory picks next year.

Last year the Packers lost two key players, receiver Greg Jennings and linebacker Erik Walden, as unrestricted free agents. And the Packers didn’t sign any unrestricted free agents last year. As a result, this year they’re getting an extra third-round pick and an extra fifth-round pick as compensatory selections.

This year the Packers have again not signed away any players whose previous contract expired, but they have lost four players, center Evan Dietrich-Smith, receiver James Jones, defensive lineman C.J. Wilson and offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse. That means the Packers will almost certainly do well when the compensatory picks are passed out a year from now.

Building through the draft and declining to overspend in free agency would be a smart strategy even if the NFL didn’t have a compensatory pick system to reward frugal teams. But when compensatory picks are added to the equation, it’s easy to see why Thompson declines to go after free agents. The Packers have been successful this way. It’s surprising more teams haven’t copied them.


May not be popular here but Dorsey is doing exactly the same thing Thompson and Ozzie Newsome are doing, stockpile draft picks and let UFAs get overpaid elsewhere.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

So who was responsible for a NINE WIN swing

My answer: the schedule, the absence of Romeo Crennel and staff, and a 180-degree shift in on-field luck from 2012 (turnovers going our way, primarily) much of which I believe can be attributed to the loss of Cassel and/or the addition of Smith.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

My answer: the schedule, the absence of Romeo Crennel and staff, and a 180-degree shift in on-field luck from 2012 (turnovers going our way, primarily) much of which I believe can be attributed to the loss of Cassel and/or the addition of Smith.

See, this looks like someone downplaying Smith's contribution to me.

[SeeingRed]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHell

Well, many would like to see the Chiefs build through the draft, and I guess I'm one who agrees with that. It might not be pretty at first, but I'm willing to let this front office do their thing.

I agree with this....its not exciting for fans but i like and respect the approach.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I think it's more about being upset because the chiefs haven't done exactly what people want. It happens every year, usually more with the draft. "I want (insert player name) but they didn't do that so I deem this (draft/free agency period/off-season) a complete failure."

I do it, too. I thought (and still think) Andy Reid was the wrong hire. I've been pretty vocal about that. They identified what they believed was the best available short and long term option at quarterback, which is something I should agree with philosophically, but I didn't like Alex Smith, so I wasn't happy there either. I was never really a dick about it but I wanted them to give Geno Smith a look. Which I believe they never did - not for a second. And if not him, then I would have gone Austin or Patterson. Fisher was a move I will never, ever like, short of the guy making the Hall.

Is that fair? Probably not, but that's the way it is. That's the way fans are. We aren't rational no matter how much we try to cloak our arguments in logic and stats. We believe that we know how things should be done, better than anyone else, be it owners or gms or other fans, and that's every bit as true for those of us who think the chiefs should never be questioned and everybody who does is an idiot as is it for the ones who thinks they're incompetent clowns and anybody who approves is a homer.

At the end of the day this is mostly emotion and we're mostly throwing tantrums because we didn't get the toys we want, or we're bitching out people who disagree with us, or we're slapping people on the back and hailing them as geniuses if they say something we actually like.

Pretty simple really. It's the internet and that's how things are done.

Originally Posted by Dinny Blues

Wow, keg. Just wow.

This is the greatest post in the history of Chiefs Planet. Absolutely brilliant!!! I know I am rarely serious and always clowning around, but not this time.

Brutality meets honesty inside a person big enough to type it outloud.

Beautiful.

Dinny

Oh, the irony...

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

See, this looks like someone downplaying Smith's contribution to me.

I actually left the most important part off the list: the defense.

Which I'm sure sounds crazy now, but the defense was essentially the main reason they started 9-0, and I don't think it's a coincidence that the team struggled to win the second that the defense began having issues.

I do think Smith was a dramatic improvement from Cassel, but I also believe that his contribution was more about what he didn't do (namely turn the ball over) that it was about what he did. Which is important, no question.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by SNR

Oh, the irony...

[Simply Red]

a team should do both - FA and Draft for building a roster, plain and simple - this shouldn't be such a mental hurdle for these execs - it's simple mathematics.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

a team should do both - FA and Draft for building a roster, plain and simple - this shouldn't be such a mental hurdle for these execs - it's simple mathematics.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I'm also pretty sure he called you fat when he said, "Brutality meets honesty inside a person big enough to type it outloud."

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by SNR

I'm also pretty sure he called you fat when he said, "Brutality meets honesty inside a person big enough to type it outloud."

[Messier]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

a team should do both - FA and Draft for building a roster, plain and simple - this shouldn't be such a mental hurdle for these execs - it's simple mathematics.

Absolutely.

[philfree]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

I don't really care which approach they use. I would like to see them pick one and commit to it.

I don't think it's that much different but as a fan I was hoping for a more aggressive approach this year. It ain't happening. Last year they needed a QB and they did what they had to do to get the best one available. IMO that wasn't done with a win now mentality as much as we just had to get a QB.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by philfree

IMO that wasn't done with a win now mentality as much as we just had to get a QB.

6 of one, 1 half dozen of the other. Either way, you're talking about a short term process.

Of course, Alex Smith could very well be (IMO most likely is) part of the long-term solution as well.

That's not bad. At all. But it's also absolutely NOT what Ted Thompson would do.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by SNR

I'm also pretty sure he called you fat when he said, "Brutality meets honesty inside a person big enough to type it outloud."

Well, I am fat, so I can't fault him there.

[planetdoc]

Green Bay and KC are both small market teams.

Building a roster through the draft is a wise strategy since they cant compete in recruiting FA compared to a larger market team (which can offer incentives outside the confines of the salary cap).