As we've seen...on an annual basis.

Bragging you have the youngest team, or one of the youngest teams, results in what?

Bragging you have the youngest team.

We need a Defensive Line.
I've been bitching about it for years.
Whether that includes a couple of veterans.
Or just a couple of rookies that want to win.
The truth is; nobody wins the super-bowl
without a good defensive Line.
So let's just stop pissing the money away.
Gute must stop ignoring it.
Pass Rush doesn't just come from the edge.
It comes with those that collapse the pocket.
Gute is Deaf and dumb when it comes to the DL.

Being the youngest team is an issue, as witnessed; signing the assumed ageless vet is also an issue, as witnessed by the many attempts over the last decade. Both of these issues have aided drastically in the prevention of obtaining the goal, an SB.

Why haven't any drafted players grown into the ageless vet status? Why have we failed in the development of many top draft picks? Why do some of our draft picks perform better after leaving GB? Why are we reading articles asking whether to keep or let go of players, and why are there so many on the pending list for future asking?

There is no such thing as an ageless vet, as Father Time is unbeatable. A few may look as though they are, but that depends on the foundation playing beside them, and GB's foundation is weak, not totally disabled but weak. The proof is in the pudding's ingredients as we get to taste it every January. This team simply cannot find the recipe that creates the winning mold for the contest.

We do have high expectations for a couple of players, and hopefully, as many do so well here, they meet those expectations while being a Packer and/or grow into our ageless vets to start a new trend in GB.

And coaching, let us not forget the coaching issues.

You don’t “win” the title of NFL’s youngest team 3 years running by chance. Being the youngest team or among the youngest teams is a feature not a bug of Gutey’s roster-building approach.

The Packers have not had an on field leader since Aaron Rodgers was traded and his influence only extended to the offensive side of the ball. But at least the Packers had some identity while Rodgers was still on the team.

As of now the Packers do not have a team identity or a team leader on either side of the ball. IMO, they desperately some veteran leadership on both sides of the ball. Maybe Parsons or McKinney can become those leaders for 2026. On offense the possible leaders include Love, Kraft and Josh Jacobs. However we haven't seen good, solid leadership on the field since Woodsen and or Nick Collins on defense and Rodgers on offense.

As for the coaching I don't think MLF provides motivational or inspirational leadership for the players. His play designs may be excellent in many situations but we rarely see inspired play or motivated play from the Packers as a team. We never see it for a full 60 minutes. Maybe Gannon will bring some for the defense.
Football is a physical game first but it is also an emotional game and there is nothing with the physical side of the game being driven or supported by the emotional side with the appropriate motivations. Unfortunately the game has become overly analytically driven as have most sports. Plus there is the fact that the players are so highly paid that the desire to win a championship is not as critical as it was financially when many of the Lombardi Packers, for example, depended on their championship bonus to help them afford to get through the off season.

I believe that it would help the Packers to have some veteran players who have either played in an SB or who have yet to win an SB and yearn to do so before their careers are over. Reggie White and Charles Woodson brought that characteristic to the Packers as part of their respective SB wins. Thanks, Since '61

Veterans have veteran contracts, which are more costly than rookie contracts. People routinely say that our veterans are not worth their contracts. Gary, Nixon, Hobbs, Banks, Jenkins, Walker, Walker.

Make up your minds. Pay your veterans, or don't have any. And here's the deal: You can only afford to pay about 10-12 guys. We have 10 guys making $12M/year. We have 5 more making between $5M and $7M. Everybody else is on a rookie deal.

And when you cut guys who "aren't good enough", that creates Dead Cap. We ate $17M on Kenny Clark this year, and now we want to eat another $17M on Gary, another $12M on Hobbs, and even $20M on Banks. That doesn't create cap room, it actually consumes cap room. But I guess that's better than overpaying some guy who isn't good enough.

Perfect, tell Khalil #52 is available.

As for team leaders, interesting that arguably our biggest leaders (McKinney, Jacobs ,Parsons, etc….) are all transplants.

Free agency splashes can be a wonderful tool to build your roster. Many examples of key free agents putting a team over the top. However, when you rely on free agency too heavily, it means you’re not drafting very well. The roster and cap just can’t be sustained using that MO.

There needs to be a guy in each position group that you just don't eff with. Someone that sets the tone as to what it means to be a pro. It's William Henderson telling a rookie to tuck in his jersey on the walk over in training camp. It's Joey Porter telling rookie Ben Roethlisberger oh yes he (Ben) will be signing autographed items for his teammates family members. It's Charles Woodson being Charles Woodson.

Culture. Not wanting to let the man next to you down. Wanting to win for the guys you sweat with every damn day. Knowing if you eff up, it's not the reaction on the sideline you're concerned with, it's that eye-to-eye you'll get from your teammates.

Wayne Simmons. Jordy Nelson. Ed West. Sean Jones. John Anderson. William Henderson. Peak Favre. Those ae the types of vets we need. Football players.

I am surprised the author didn't mention some veteran leader types at our positions of need. Calais Campbell is a perfect example of what we need. And he understands what it takes to be a leader as evidenced by his comments on that subject in recent articles, that coincidently were about him coming to GB. It's crazy to think how well this 39-year-old man is still playing, and if he has interest in coming to GB we should have a parade for him. He only made $5 million last year and produced 40+ tackles & 6.5 sacks. And even @ 39 he would have been our best IDL the last 2 years.

I have a question on comp picks. Is there a limit in dollars paid to a free agent that subtracts a comp pick. For example if we bought FA TE Charlie Kolar for projected $1.7 million per year, does that take a comp pick away. I know the limit is 4 and we have about 6 potential FAs that could bring back comp picks. Would we lose one for every FA we sign or does the contract amount come into play? I would love to see Kolar on our teams as WR2 for under $2 million per year. And Campbell for that matter @ $5 million per year.

Your article has a lot of merit and the objective is to have a good mix of players both young and veteran but of course under the salary cap and every team struggles with it but it is the best and fairest system in pro sports. What catches my eye is in your examples the word All Pro appears regularly in reference to players, whether young or old the more you have is key to the teams final placing. With that in mind, right now we have 1 second team All Pro our free safety (probably 1 more 1st or 2nd team All Pro if Kraft didn't get injured - maybe 1 more if punting in Green Bay was not overlooked). This points to the overall current talent level on the team - everyone knows who has to respond.

This is not a bad idea. Gute has been allergic to players over 30 years old in recent years. Right now, the only ones are the kicker and the long snapper. I thought Khalil Mack might have been a good addition last year (before the Micah Parsons trade), although apparently he wanted to re-sign with the Chargers and was not really available. I wasn't entirely against Davante Adams either--although again, it sounds like he wanted to play in California.

The way the team collapsed down the stretch caused me to question the on-field leadership even more than I questioned the coaching. They do have a large cohort of players who have been playing together for 3-4 years though, so I'm hoping this begins to pay some dividends. And having Micah Parsons, Tucker Kraft, and Zach Tom healthy should help too. Let's hope they don't all get injured again.

Gary should have stepped up to be a leader on defense, but he did not, invisible as a leader as well, another reason to move on from him ,maybe Mckinney will.