GBP - Off-the-Field Turmoil to Spill Over Into Training Camp?
Let’s face it, the Packers are enduring a miserable launch to their 2008 season.
First, the team/fans have to endure the on-again, off-again, on-again Brett Favre saga (currently, the team has compromised with Favre to try and facilitate a trade elsewhere if he’ll stay away from training camp). Nobody on the squad is benefitting from the ongoing distraction(s) created by this situation.
Also ongoing is the acrimony between last year’s surprise star RB, Ryan Grant, and the team. Grant and his agent Alan Herman termed the team’s contract offer “insulting”, with Herman elaborating “I can’t believe after 5 1/2 months, after the Packers said to us that this was a unique situation, that the Packers take care of their own, that we would get in a situation as unreasonable as this. I’ve never seen anything like that in my 24 years in the business.” Describing Grant’s reaction to the offer (a $1.75 million signing bonus on a 6-year extension, other details unspecified) “He was as mad as I’ve ever heard him. He’s really angry.” The Packers retain Grant’s rights as they made him the minimum tender offer of $370,000. However, he isn’t under contract and can’t be fined for missing training camp - a set of circumstances that may lead to a stand-off type of impasse.
Green Bay opens camp today, with media attention on the Favre drama at a frenzy. Ted Thompson hopes that the team can find its focus, stating on Sunday “It’ll be a little hectic probably tomorrow…But football is football and football players are football players. We have a lot of faith in these guys. I think Mike (McCarthy) handles the team very well.”
Color me skeptical on this front - there have to be many on this team who believe (as many others outside Green Bay do) that the Pack has the best chance to win a championship with Favre under center (and with Grant in the RB stable). How hard will it be for the coaching staff to convince this team that they are gunning for the playoffs when the front office’s attitude and moves seem to indicate otherwise?
From a fantasy football perspective, if the team struggles to find focus, a flat start to 2008 could lead to a general depression of the offense. Team chemistry is an elusive quality, and right now the chaos surrounding the Packers’ training camp will have an adverse effect on team morale.
One thing is for certain - I wouldn’t want to be in Mike McCarthy’s shoes right now…
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