Ted Thompson Continues To Get Heat From Packers Coaches

GM Ted Thompson is a man known for his conservative approach to free agency. That’s fine provided he’s able to retain his own players.

Yet even that has started to become a problem for the Green Bay Packers. Suddenly what was once a top offensive line in the NFL has suffered two grievous losses in the space of a year. Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton was cut in 2016 due to a contract standoff. Then this past March their other top guard T.J. Lang left in free agency after the Packers reportedly low-balled him. Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports where the two sides began to drift apart.

"“At that point, Thompson and Ball should have been proactive, gone to one of their best and most popular players and signed Lang to a new deal.On the contrary, Lang never heard one word from management until after undergoing hip-impingement surgery Jan. 27. Eventually, the Packers made an embarrassingly low offer laden with injury clauses protecting the club. As expected, Lang was more than a little offended.Remember, this was a player who played when he wasn’t healthy much of last season and put out some bad tape that didn’t help his market value.”"

There was still a chance to salvage the situation if they upped their offer, but the Packers dragged their feet. So Lang sent out feelers to other teams and became the second guard they would lose in free agency to an NFC North rival. Lang joined the Detroit Lions on a three-year deal, returning to his home town and leaving Green Bay grasping for answers on the offensive line.

Coaches are not happy

Concerns are understandably high. The depth up front is suddenly not good at all and the 2017 draft is reportedly thin with quality offensive linemen. It also seems the coaching staff is not happy with Thompson over the decision.

"“Lang had been talking to James Campen, his position coach for all eight seasons, throughout the process. You’ll be subjected to all that “next man up” happy talk for months to come. The truth is that the Packers’ coaches were incensed, and no doubt some of the players were, too.”"

Their reasons are obvious enough. Lang was a really good player they could depend on. Now one could say at least two and maybe three of the offensive line positions are unsettled for Green Bay. Considering Aaron Rodgers is the only reason this team remaining a playoff contender, that is not a good piece of reality to digest.

Over the past few years it has looked and felt like the Packers have slowly declined. Even though they made the NFC championship again in 2016, they were absolutely hammered by Atlanta. They started that season 4-6 before Rodgers led them on a late run to slip into the playoffs. This is not the dominant team of five years ago and one could say the stubbornness of Thompson and his money decisions is a reason for that.