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Ted Thompson comments on Aaron Rodgers’ contract

During his press conference ending the second day of the draft, Packers GM Ted Thompson was asked to comment on the contract extension signed by QB Aaron Rodgers on Friday. Here’s what he said:

“Really glad it worked out. I think Aaron has proven himself to be a very fine quarterback, a very fine leader. As an extension of that, the Green Bay Packers and Packer fans have been very lucky to have Aaron Rodgers come in here and do the job he has, following a legend in Brett Favre, in the time that he spent from 1992 forward. To have those two guys as your two quarterbacks for that long a time is a remarkable thing, and it’s the record I think is a reflection of that.”

Statement from Packers GM Ted Thompson on John Dorsey

“I would like to thank John Dorsey for his 27 years of service to the Green Bay Packers. First as a player, and later as a member of the personnel department, John has been a loyal member of the Packers family and the Green Bay community for more than half of his life. The Chiefs have hired a good man and John has earned this opportunity. We wish John and his family all the best.”

A kickoff note to the greatest fans in the NFL

Thompson discusses Harrell, difficulty of decisions

Graham Harrell locked up the backup QB job with a stellar outing on Thursday against Kansas City (13 of 15, 223 yards, 2 TDs, 158.3 rating), and GM Ted Thompson said on Saturday what stood out about his performance was the plays he made with his feet.

“You could see his ability to ad-lib a little bit, which is a huge thing playing quarterback in the NFL,” Thompson said. “Obviously some guys made some plays for him down the field, and I thought we protected pretty decent. It was a good showing.

“He never lost his confidence during this whole time. I know he’s been sort of the focal point, but Graham has a sometimes quiet, sometimes not-so-quiet confidence in himself to play the position, and our coaches have been behind him the whole way.”

One of the close calls in the roster cutdown that Thompson mentioned was the sixth and final spot on the defensive line. It went to Phillip Merling, a 6-5, 315-pound end who was a former second-round draft pick of the Dolphins, over Daniel Muir, a 6-2, 322-pound nose tackle who had made the Packers’ roster as an undrafted rookie back in 2007 before playing four seasons in Indianapolis.

“In the case of Daniel Muir, very difficult. Very passionate young man,” Thompson said. “But the NFL is like a wheel, it goes round and round, you never know when someone might be back.

“In the case of Phillip, we thought he played very well. We thought especially he gave us a little inside push in that last game, (plus the) body type, a little bit longer and taller.”

That decision was one of many difficult ones, Thompson said. Without naming the player, he told the story of one player who was released on Friday who told Thompson what a thrill it was to simply play a preseason game in front of the Lambeau Field crowd.

“I patted him on the back and said, ‘How did it go last night?’, talking about the game, and he said it was the greatest time, it was the most fun he’s ever had in his entire life to be able to play at Lambeau Field. I think sometimes we’re so conscious about trying to win and compete on such a major level as the NFL, we forget it’s guys playing the game, and I thought that was pretty cool.”

There’s been nothing fun about these last couple of days for Thompson, though, who has often said that roster cutdown days are the worst days of his job.

“We had a fairly strong 90-man roster I felt,” he said. “These guys competed and played hard, and eventually you have to cut down. It’s just awful, the experience of going through that.

“You say a little prayer and hope you have the wisdom to make the right decision. Tough times.”

For the main story from Thompson’s Saturday press conference, click here.

Thompson comments on Harrell, upcoming roster cuts

In his weekly training camp briefing with reporters on Tuesday, Packers GM Ted Thompson was asked what he’d like to see from Graham Harrell in the third preseason game, and Thompson acknowledged that a backup QB doesn’t have it easy in the preseason.

“Just continued improvement,” Thompson said. “There’s been a lot of criticism. I think Mike mentioned he graded out much better than you might expect. It’s not always easy during the second half of a preseason game and the chaos is coming at you pretty good.

“He’s a very hard worker. He really likes playing the game of football. He knows the nuances of playing that position. We have faith in a lot of our guys.”

Thompson and the Packers must make the first mandated roster reduction of the preseason by Monday, trimming the roster from 90 to 75 players. The final roster cut, to 53 players, is after the fourth preseason game.

Thompson has spoken often in the past about how much he dislikes releasing players, particularly because he entered the league as an undrafted free agent and was always on edge at cutdown time. Thompson managed to survive and put together a 10-year career in the league, but he knows that’s the exception, particularly for undrafted players.

“Any sort of mandated cuts are always difficult, because you have people that are trying hard to make an impression, and sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” he said. “It’s a hard time.”

That said, Thompson added that he liked the offseason roster expansion from 80 to 90 players this year, even if it means more hard decisions down the road.

“I think it’s good to be able to put your hands on 10 more players in terms of developing,” he said. “You don’t get to have them a whole lot, but you can have them from draft time going forward. I think it’s helpful.”

Thompson says he won’t ‘prejudge’ roster

GM Ted Thompson said Tuesday morning that the 53-man roster for Week 1 is a long way from being decided with three preseason games still remaining. The Packers won’t make any cuts until after the third game, when the roster is reduced from 90 to 75 players. It comes down to 53 after the fourth preseason game.

“I don’t try to prejudge it,” Thompson said during his weekly training camp meeting with the media. “I let it go its course. Too many times you think, ‘This is probably going to happen,’ and all of a sudden somebody has a dynamite game and it’s completely different. So I let it run its course. We told these guys they have a chance to make our team and they still have a chance to make our team.”

Thompson also dismissed the notion that the signings of 31-year-old Reggie Wells on the offensive line and 29-year-old Cedric Benson, a running back with a checkered past, have signaled any shift in philosophy with how he goes about building a team. He emphasized that those signings were out of necessity due to injuries and questions about depth at those positions.

“A team is ever-evolving, and we felt like those were good moves at this particular time,” Thompson said. “We were very, very young at a couple of positions, like in the case of Reggie Wells, we’re very young in the backup roles (on the offensive line). Adding a guy with experience, we’ll take a look at him and see how he fits in, see if it’s a good fit. I don’t know if there’s any cosmic change in the way we like to do business.”

Particularly at running back, the injuries have piled up. When John Kuhn sustained an ankle injury Monday, the Packers were down to two healthy tailbacks (Alex Green, who’s on a snap count, and rookie Marc Tyler) and one fullback (undrafted rookie Nic Cooper).

“As we went further into training camp, we realized you never have enough horses,” Thompson said. “It’s a tough position to play. It’s a tough position durability-wise to stay out there. We think he can help that group out. What that means, whether he’s a starter, all that will be determined down the road.”

As for Benson’s off-the-field incidents over the years, Thompson said he spoke with Benson about them and came away confident that Benson is more mature now.

“I don’t want to talk about Cedric’s private affairs, but we had a conversation and I was comfortable he understands that maybe he made some mistakes in the past and maybe he’s more mature and farther down the road in terms of developing in that regard,” Thompson said. “We felt comfortable after that.”

Thompson glad punter search over

When the Packers surprisingly cut Jon Ryan following training camp in 2008, the search for a punter was on. For the next two seasons, Derrick Frost and Jeremy Kapinos held the job, but barely. In 2010, Tim Masthay and Chris Bryan competed for the position in training camp, with Masthay emerging as the winner.

There likely won’t be another punting competition in training camp anytime soon, now that Masthay has signed a multi-year contract extension. He has been the Packers’ punter for the past two seasons and has done nothing but improve, which has obviously been noticed by GM Ted Thompson.

“What was impressive to me was his continued growth,” Thompson said in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, discussing the decision to give Masthay a long-term deal. “He didn’t stop with just winning the job. He wants to be really good, and he works at his craft. He’s extraordinary in the strength and conditioning portion of our organization, and we’re glad to have him.

“It’s like a lot of things, if you have one, then you don’t necessarily think it’s so important, until you don’t have one, and we’re glad that we’ve got him.”

Thompson also likes what he has seen so far in the transition to veteran center Jeff Saturday, who was the most notable free-agent signing in the offseason. The Packers needed a center after Scott Wells signed with St. Louis, and Saturday was brought in after more than a decade as Peyton Manning’s QB in Indianapolis.

“He kind of fits in like a gently worn baseball glove,” Thompson said of Saturday. “He has a lot of respect from the locker room because of his tenure and because of the way he plays the game. He applies himself, the smarts and the toughs and the nuances of playing the position, he does all that.”

Meet the Packers’ 2012 draft class

#53 NICK PERRY • LINEBACKER • SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Drafted: 1st Round (#28 overall)
Ht: 6-3   Wt: 265

• Story: Perry ready to take game to next level
  
• Editorial: Packers turn to USC, again, for pass rusher
  
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: Perry on stage at NFL Draft
• Video: GM Ted Thompson on Perry
• Video: Def. Coord. Dom Capers on Perry
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Perry’s USC Bio

#99 JEREL WORTHY • DEFENSIVE END • MICHIGAN STATE
Drafted: 2nd Round (#51 overall)
Ht: 6-2   Wt: 308

• Story: Packers favored Worthy’s quickness
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: Packers trade up for Michigan State’s Jerel Worthy
• Video: Scout Shaun Herock on Worthy
• Video: D-Line Coach Mike Trgovac on Worthy
• Video: Def. Coord. Dom Capers on the 2nd round picks
• Video: GM Ted Thompson on the 2nd round picks
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Worthy’s Michigan State bio

#29 CASEY HAYWARD • CORNERBACK • VANDERBILT
Drafted: 2nd Round (#62 overall)
Ht: 5-11  Wt: 192

• Story: The Packers defense rests with Hayward
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: Packers move up again, take CB Casey Hayward
• Video: CBs Coach Joe Whitt Jr. on Hayward
• Video: Def. Coord. Dom Capers on the 2nd round picks
• Video: GM Ted Thompson on the 2nd round picks
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Hayward’s Vanderbilt bio

#76 MIKE DANIELS • DEFENSIVE TACKLE • IOWA
Drafted: 4th Round (#132 overall)
Ht: 6-0   Wt: 291

• Story: Daniels uses hustle to reach higher
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: Def. Coord. Dom Capers on the 4th round picks
• Video: GM Ted Thompson on Saturday’s picks
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Daniels’ Iowa bio

#22 JERRON McMILLIAN • SAFETY • MAINE
Drafted: 4th Round (#133 overall)
Ht: 5-11   Wt: 203

• Story: Maine safety addresses need for a tackler
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: Def. Coord. Dom Capers on the 4th round picks
• Video: Safeties Coach Darren Perry on McMillian
• Video: GM Ted Thompson on Saturday’s picks
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• McMillian’s Maine bio

#56 TERRELL MANNING • LINEBACKER • NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Drafted: 5th Round (#163 overall)
Ht: 6-2   Wt: 237

• Story: Manning believes he belonged at top
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: Inside LBs Coach Winston Moss on Manning
• Video: GM Ted Thompson on Saturday’s picks
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Manning’s N.C. State bio

#77 ANDREW DATKO • TACKLE • FLORIDA STATE
Drafted: 7th Round (#241 overall)
Ht: 6-6   Wt: 315

• Story: Tackle, QB give offense two for the road
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Datko’s Florida State bio

#9 B.J. COLEMAN • QUARTERBACK • TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA
Drafted: 7th Round (#243 overall)
Ht: 6-3   Wt: 231

• Story: Tackle, QB give offense two for the road
• Photo Gallery
• Conference Call Audio
• Video: McCarthy on the draft
• Coleman’s Tennessee-Chattanooga bio

Thompson discusses Clifton, Collins

During his remarks to the media on Friday evening, GM Ted Thompson was asked to comment on the what veteran players Chad Clifton and Nick Collins, who were released this past week, meant to the Packers. Here’s what Thompson said:

“They are the epitome of our franchise. Chad Clifton came in as a second-round pick and has played for a very long time at a position that’s of premium value in the National Football League, the left tackle position. He’s battled through some injuries but rarely did he really miss time up until this past year. You can’t know how comforting it is to know that you have your left tackle and you don’t have to worry about him.

“Nick Collins came from a small college, Bethune-Cookman, (small) by NCAA standards. There were people that doubted him when he came in. He did nothing but impress us. He started from Day 1. In a very shortened career, I think he went to three Pro Bowls. It would have been many, many more. Both are good men. Both are good family men. They’re what we’re looking for. That’s what we’d like these young men that we drafted today to be.”

Elway says Broncos can do it either way

INDIANAPOLIS–Coaches and general managers of the NFL’s 32 teams take turns addressing the media during the NFL scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. The questions they entertain are usually topical, so they have answers ready to go.

For example, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert had an answer prepared on the potential for losing wide receiver Mike Wallace in restricted free agency, and Packers GM Ted Thompson certainly knew he would face a similar question about quarterback Matt Flynn.

Broncos GM John Elway had a smile on his face when he stepped up to the podium.

“What took you so long?” Elway said when the first question he faced was, “What are your thoughts on Tim Tebow?” The rest was probably rehearsed.

“We’re happy with his year last year. He added a great spark for us. We’re hoping he’s going to be the guy for a long, long time,” Elway said of Tebow.

Fans and media are interested to see what the Broncos will do in this draft. Will they select a quarterback to compete with Tebow? If they do, will be he a spread-offense type of running quarterback, as Tebow is, or will he be a classic drop back type?

“We can do it with either one, whether it’s a guy like Tim or a drop back guy,” Elway said.

What the Broncos do at quarterback will be one of the headline stories of this draft.