It was a little more than a month ago that Ron Wolf announced his
retirement after a supremely successful nine-year run as general manager of
the Packers.
Silly us, we believed him.
Wolf said at the time that he and second-year coach Mike Sherman would
share the general manager duties until after the NFL draft in April, at which
time Sherman would take over control of the football operation and Wolf would
quietly fade away. But to the surprise of absolutely no one, Wolf was not
content to sit on his legacy.
In a series of signings over the last three weeks that defied logic, not to
mention the NFL salary cap, the teacher-pupil tandem of Wolf and Sherman kept
the Packers virtually intact at a time when many of their NFC rivals were
unloading starters like day-old doughnuts. And by trading backup quarterback
Matt Hasselbeck to old buddy Mike Holmgren in Seattle, Wolf and Sherman have put Green Bay in position to make a killing in the NFL draft, an exercise
that, if successful, could put the Packers on a return path to the Super Bowl.
|  | | The Packers finished 9-7 in Mike Sherman's first year as head coach. |
In the process of adding to his legacy even as he packs his bags, Wolf has
given Sherman a priceless how-to lesson that should bode well for the Packers
in years to come.
Wolf's legacy, of course, is that he turned Green Bay into a place where
players wanted to play for the first time since Vince Lombardi was winning
titles 40 years ago. For a long time, NFL coaches used the Packers as
leverage with their players, threatening them with things like, "If you don't
play harder, I'll ship your butt to Green Bay."
Today, players are taking pay cuts just to stay in Green Bay. Proud
veterans wearing Super Bowl rings have agreed to have their compensation
slashed just so they can remain with the Packers.
The Packers' offseason master plan was hatched by Wolf, Sherman and
director of player finance Andrew Brandt in October, even before a fast
finish made it a promising 9-7 season instead of a descending 9-7. By the
time the free-agency period began, the Packers brass was ecstatic because the
plan effectively had been implemented.
The plan began to kick in immediately after the season when safety LeRoy
Butler agreed to work for a reduced wage. Then, safety Darren Sharper and
kicker Ryan Longwell, two had-to-keep-'em players, were kept out of the
free-agency pool with generous new contracts. Sharper signed for six years
and $30 million, Longwell for five years and $7.5 million.
Last week, halfback Dorsey Levens and center Frank Winters followed
Butler's lead, even though the injury plagued Levens went from $6 million to
$1.4 million in salary and roster bonuses for 2001 and the aging Winters was
told he would lose his starting job to Mike Flanagan. Soon, oft-injured
tackle Earl Dotson, cut due to a contract technicality, is expected to
re-sign for substantially less pay.
Indeed, only talented but injury plagued linebacker Brian Williams declined
to take a paycut to stay in Green Bay. However, Nate Wayne had arrived via
trade with Denver and effectively replaced Williams last season, which made
Williams expendable.
That meant that guard Ross Verba will be the only full-time starter the
Packers will lose during the offseason. The Packers like Verba, but he was a
quality left tackle before moving inside to guard last season, which means he
will probably get tackle money elsewhere and the Packers simply won't be able
to fit him under the cap.
The final piece to the puzzle, and the one that made all of the above
possible, was signing quarterback Brett Favre to a 10-year, $101.5 million
contract that will replace the final three years on Favre's old deal. Favre's
contract saved the Packers $4 million on the cap this season and will
essentially bind him to the Packers for the duration of his career.
Except for Butler's renegotiation, all of that went down in the two weeks
before the March 2 free-agency deadline. Considering the team was $12.3
million over the cap prior to that and some of the players were very
marketable, Brandt's ability to successfully complete all of those
negotiations was pretty remarkable.
"From a cap standpoint, what excites me most is we've done this without the
credit-card spending that goes on so much around the league now," said
Brandt, a rising star in the organization.
The Packers are about $500,000 under the $67.4 million cap as we speak,
but, other than finding a quarterback to back up Favre -- Doug Pederson
perhaps? -- they probably won't be players in free agency. At least not in
the foreseeable future.
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If you check the history of free agency, it hasn't worked out to the teams' and players' benefit most of the time. We want to keep the guys that we want to keep. And we did a pretty good job of that this year. ” |
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— Mike Sherman, Packers coach |
"At this present time, with regard to free agency, we pretty much have to
stay put, and that's OK," Sherman said. "If you check the history of free
agency, it hasn't worked out to the teams' and players' benefit most of the
time. We want to keep the guys that we want to keep. And we did a pretty good
job of that this year."
So how can the place once called the Siberia of the NFL keep its players at
reduced prices? Several reasons, actually.
Favre's lifetime contract assures that the team will remain a
contender. Favre won't turn 32 until October and he's made 155 consecutive
starts (including playoff games), so he should be on top of his game for
another four or five years. When players such as Levens and Butler have
already made big bucks and are nearing the end, winning often becomes more
important than money. Having Favre around ensures that.
Sherman, like Holmgren before him, has made Green Bay a
player-friendly franchise. Players receive first-class treatment, practices
aren't demanding and games are played on grass. Sherman is firm in his demand
for professionalism, but he quickly earned the respect of the players after
replacing Ray Rhodes.
Playing in Green Bay is like playing in a college setting,
something players don't understand until they get there. The fans are
supportive on the field and respectful off it. The weather in the summer and
fall is usually very pleasant, at least until mid-November.
With so many players on the open market and so many teams backed
up against the cap, there is a lot of uncertainty for players in free agency
this year. If players stay put, they know their teammates, their coaches,
their role and how much money they'll make.
That's why Butler, Levens, Winters and Dotson agreed to take paycuts, why
Favre signed on for life and why Sharper and Longwell declined to test free
agency. Tellingly, both Sharper and Longwell said after they signed that they
never had any intentions of leaving Green Bay.
"I think it's an indication of the respect people have for Mike Sherman and
the job he does," Wolf said.
All that remains is for Wolf to deliver a monster draft as a lovely parting
gift that will only add to his legacy in Green Bay.
In the trade with Seattle, the Packers gave up Hasselbeck and the 17th pick
in the first round of the draft for the 10th pick overall plus a third-round
draft choice. The Packers turned down an offer from the Dolphins, who were
offering their first-round pick (26th) but also wanted to swap second-round
picks with Green Bay.
Wolf and Sherman saw more value in moving up seven spots into the top 10,
where they have a much better shot at landing an impact player at a need area
such as the defensive line or wide receiver. Wolf hasn't drafted higher than
14th since he took Terrell Buckley with the fifth pick in 1992, his first
draft with the Packers.
As much as Wolf loves to draft in the top 10, the extra third-round pick
gives him something else he dearly loves: ammunition on draft day. The
Packers will have three third-round picks, giving Wolf plenty of options.
"That's a significant jump, to be in the top 10," said Sherman, who worked
out the deal with Holmgren, his old boss. "We've studied the top 10 and
there's a number of guys there that we would love to have. We can solve some
immediate needs with that pick."
Wolf said, simply, "To get up to the top 10 is enormous."
The Packers know their contract maneuverings haven't moved them to the head
of the pack in the NFC. However, Wolf thinks the Packers will be a formidable
team with a good draft.
"We've got a chance to get a quality player now in this draft," Wolf said.
"We're in the top 10, we have three three's, so away we go."
Afterward, Wolf himself will go away. With Sherman to take over, Wolf
believes he's leaving the Packers in good hands. With a good draft, he'll be
leaving them in good shape,
too.
Loyalty only goes so far
Faced with even greater salary cap problems than the Packers, the NFC
Central Division champion Vikings have been unsuccessful in keeping their
players by playing on their loyalty.
| |  | |
| Rudd |
| |  | |
| Randle |
In the last week, defensive tackle John Randle signed a five-year, $25
million contract with Seattle, linebacker Dwayne Rudd signed a five-year, $23
million deal with Cleveland and defensive tackle Tony Williams signed a
four-year, $11 million deal with Cincinnati.
All told, three of the Vikings' better defensive starters signed for $59
million, including $14.7 million in signing bonuses alone. The Vikings didn't
even bother to make a competitive offer to any of the three because they knew
their value would soar once they hit the open market.
A year ago, the Vikings faced similar attrition on their offensive line
when Pro Bowlers Jeff Christy and Randall McDaniel signed with the
Buccaneers. Minnesota rebounded nicely from that because it had offensive
line replacements ready and waiting.
It's hard to conceive how the Vikings will recover from losing Rudd, Randle
and Williams from a defense that ranked 28th in the NFL. The only defensive
linemen currently under contract who have any experience are third-year man
Talance Sawyer and second-year man Chris Hovan.
Coach Dennis Green's track record indicates that he has a plan for his
defense. At this point, however, it's hard to
guess what that would be.
Offseason changes nothing new for Bucs offense
With the signing of quarterback Brad Johnson to a five-year, $28 million
deal, the Buccaneers soared right to the top of the NFC Central in any
preseason prediction.
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| Johnson |
However, keep in mind that heavy-duty offensive changes a year ago did
little to help the Bucs last season.
After scoring two field goals in a playoff loss to the Rams after the 1999
season, general manager Rich McKay and coach Tony Dungy sacked offensive
coordinator Mike Shula and replaced him with Les Steckel, then made a
blockbuster trade with the Jets to land wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
The result? The Bucs were marginally better on offense during the season
but bowed out of the playoffs in their first game after scoring only a field
goal against the Eagles.
Now, Steckel has been replaced by quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen and
third-year quarterback Shaun King, praised by McKay and Dungy as the future
of the franchise as recently as last week, will be relegated to clipboard
duty with the addition of Johnson. The Bucs also claimed troubled quarterback
Ryan Leaf off of waivers recently.
The acquisitions of Johnson and Leaf (if he reports) are an admission that
Dungy's unwavering commitment to the young, inconsistent King was a mistake.
Clearly, the Bucs were starting to worry that their magnificent defense would
grow old without winning a championship unless they got a
winning NFL
quarterback.
Rising up the charts
The stock of Wisconsin wide receiver Chris Chambers has been rising
steadily since he made a vertical leap of 45½ inches and a standing broad
jump of 11 feet, 2 inches at the combine. Chambers' vertical leap is believed
to be a combine record.
His stock went up further this week when the 6-foot, 205-pound Chambers ran
the 40-yard dash in 4.31 and 4.39 during Wisconsin's annual workout for NFL
scouts in Madison.
But what really blew scouts away was Chambers' time of 6.46 seconds in the
three-cone drill, a test of balance and cutting ability. A time of 6.7 is
considered excellent and Chambers said his best prior to Wednesday was 6.74.
Some scouts said they have never heard of anyone running 6.46.
Chambers was slowed by a broken bone in his foot early in his senior year
at Wisconsin, but was a dominating presence in the second half of the season,
even for the run-first Badgers.
Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal writes a weekly NFC column every Thursday for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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