PACKERS SQUAD SHOW: Packers Get SURPRISING NFLPA Ranking | Fair or Overblown?

welcome in to the locked on packers squad show i am your host my name is brandon snide the nfl pa released their rankings the packers coming in and not a great spot but i don't know about you i am putting zero and i mean zero stock into that report card you know there's always a gripe from somebody so i'm looking forward to digging into this one tonight and as my dad used to always say they're not happy unless they've got something to complain about. Go Pack Go! It's the Packers Squad. Everything Green Bay Packers every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from Titletown. The way only the Locked On Podcast Network can. From the frozen tundra with all the cheeseheads, the Packers Squad Show starts now. You are locked on Packers, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. Follow the podcast on Twitter at locked on Packers. Like us on Facebook, subscribe to the podcast, wherever you find audio podcasts, you will certainly find locked on Packers. The number one Packers podcast on the internet and the show for the fans who know what happened. They want to know why and how, thanks to each and every single one of you who continues to make Lockdown Packers your first listen each and every day. It's the offseason, but it doesn't matter. We got a packed one here for you tonight. We're opening the questions back up for Ask Coach Jags Anything. I got one already in store for Coach, so we're going to dive in. If you got a question, you're on the live stream right now, get your question turned in. I will read it to coach Jags all and any questions are welcome to not before we get to all of that though we're asking a bigger question what actually defines a successful 2026 offseason in Green Bay is it splash moves is it draft is it what is it it's is it something deeper we'll dive in to all of that and speaking of taking a deeper dive the NFL PA report cards are out and the Packers coming in at 21st, gentlemen, in the entire NFL. 21st. So what does that say about the organization? Is it just fluff? Does it reveal something more real about the direction of this team? Let us start there, shall we, this evening on the Lockdown Packers Squad Show. And, Coach, no better person to talk to about these grades than the guy who actually was in those facilities, in the cafeteria, in the weight room, in the medical facilities. Coach, can you speak on your time in Green Bay on some of these areas in which the Green Bay Packers got graded? I don't know if it was necessarily unfairly, but I'll give you a couple of areas they got graded on. The food and dining area for the Green Bay Packers, they were graded on. A B+, nutritious and dietician. A B, locker room. That was just redone, Coach. And A, training room and training staff, Coach. Both a C, the weight room, and A-. Linus, how was your time in Green Bay when you were there, Coach, when it came to these facilities and these parts of the organization? You know, it's funny. You just said that the locker room was already just upgraded again. I mean, it was as nice of facilities and organization. I've been in three. So I was in Atlanta and I was in Tampa Bay. And they're all good. Guys, they're all good all over the league. There's not one that's like, God, these are what a bad deal that we have here and I don't want to be here type of deal. But I read that same article, Brandon, and I was really kind of shocked, actually, like players griping. But here's the thing. You're never going to keep everybody happy. You know, we were talking about like the nutritional deal. They have a cafeteria for the players, and it was first class. Everything that they did, you know, when Ron Wolfe came, he changed that whole dynamic on what the Packers were. So it was really surprising when I saw some of that. And one of the other ones is like the no child care. Who cares? That's the one. Brandon, you're the probably guy griping. You want to go drinking and. Well, and I hear this coach. I hear, well, it's standard across the NFL. Like it is. I, again, cool. That's great. However, most of this team, I understand not everybody's making a million dollars, but a good chunk of this team. I think everybody on this roster coach is in six figures. I think like the childcare thing, like you got, you know, corporations that, that, that hire employees that don't, that make billions of dollars. I know the NFL makes billions of dollars. I know that's an argument being a throne around on the internet that don't, you know, give their employees childcare. I don't, I guess this sounds a little bit cold coach. I don't really care if my team isn't providing childcare for a six figure employees or millionaire employees. No, I mean, I either. And again, I get out when I kind of saw, It was kind of a ridiculous deal. But the other ones, like the facilities and the – I want to just talk about the training staff. They're always, always top-notch. Let's just talk about the orthopedic surgeon that they had, Pat McKenzie, who just retired after 25 years. As respected orthopedist as there is in the country. You know, he trained with Andrews down in Birmingham. That's where he learned. So he's the guy that everybody goes to, like, for knees. But Pat's helped so many players and get those guys back on the field again. And that's what they do. And then, you know, as far as like the trainer, Flea, Flea was there when I was there. But he was like young, young when I was there. And, you know, he's worked his way up, took over for Pepper Burris. That was there forever when Ron brought him in. And, you know, they do not spare a cent in those professional teams. And there was not one thing I could see that Packers go, this is kind of subpar. I just don't believe that at all. Jacob, there's an article out there, and I just want to read a little bit of it, which I thought was very, very interesting when it comes to the Green Bay Packers head coach. And then I want to get your overall thoughts on the Packers NFLPA report card coming in at 21st in the entire National Football League. It says, and I'm quoting the, or I'm reading the article, Head coach Matt LaFleur dropped a full letter grade this season and ranks second to last in the league in respect for players. Jacob, am I crazy? Because you've been in that locker room. You were there all season long. I vividly remember Micah Parsons. I vividly remember Jordan Love, Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs, Zach Tom. Tucker Craft. Tucker Craft. I remember all of these guys raving for Matt LaFleur to get that extension and be a part of the Green Bay Packers organization going forward. I guess I don't, I'm scratching my head, Jacob. I don't really understand this grade for the Packers when it comes to the head coaching. Matt LaFleur coming in for the head coach at a B minus. Jacob, your thoughts on that part of it, but overall also as the Packers coming in at 21st. Yeah. So the, the thing about respect for players, I do know that I believe it was last year's report card. If memory serves too, that said like players didn't feel like their input was received or taken, like taken in fully or whatever it was. And maybe that's what that means. I don't, I don't think, I think the way people are spinning that is LaFleur doesn't have the respect of the players, which is two, those are two different things. Like the players can respect him without, and also say like, Hey, I wish that we had more input on, you know, X, Y, Z or whatever. And I do know LaFleur is kind of a control freak and wants to control every little thing. A very good example of that is the story that has come out since the championship game years ago against the Bucs where Patton called a play and LaFleur kind of overruled him essentially is what has been reported since then. And it's like, well, did you hire a defensive coordinator? Or did you hire someone that you need to babysit? That's kind of the question that's worth asking on that. So that part doesn't fully surprise me that maybe he's not taking the input. And the other thing about this is, is maybe he's not taking the input because the, you know, players are young. You know, how much, how much input and how much trust do you have of youngest roster three years? It's easy to say like, oh yeah, I trust Aaron Rogers, the 20 year pro four-time league MVP and stuff like that. But it's like, Hey, are you asking for input from Matthew golden who I'm just picking a name, but like, he's a rookie. And how much input do you give a rookie? Probably not a whole hell of a lot. Right. So that part was interesting to me. I will tell you him getting a lower grade. This happened before the team went on a five game losing streak to finish the season. So with that in mind, it's not like players just have a bitter taste in their mouth of a bad end of the season. And I will tell you one of the point that you just made about craft and Jacobs and love and Parsons and all these guys saying they wanted the floor back as someone who said he would have moved on after that Chicago game. This does not give the warm and fuzzies of, well, you know what? He's got the full throated support of the locker room. Everything is still there. Like, I'm not going to say their 2026 season is doomed and it's over. And like before it even starts or anything crazy like that, because that would be silly to do. So there's not a game for another seven months that matters or six months that matters. Right. But if it doesn't go well next season, this is something that we will point back to and go like, man, you know what? Maybe that mattered more than what we let on. The other thing I will say, it is so hard to coach, you know, this as well as anybody, right? There is so much that goes on and we have more information now than we ever have when it comes to what's going on inside 1265 or any NFL organization in the world. Maybe not as much as like the Dallas Cowboys, but that team is a reality show on its own, right? Literally quite figured. Quite literally. Yeah. So that, that part to me still it's, there's so much that we don't know. Right. And there's so many ways that something I can tell you just from conversations I've had with the general manager, the head coach, the actual people that make these decisions, and everything like that. They think so differently than what the average fan, and I'm not saying the average fan, that's all I am, right? The only reason I'm doing this stuff is because I was an average football fan who likes watching the team play on Sundays, right? The average fan, however, thinks emotionally and everything like that. And these players or these teams, the people in charge have to do their best not to do that. So that's where some of this stuff, it's like, it's just hard to know who does what, what does when, why does this lead to whatever? And how does it all tie in to what you see on Sunday afternoon. So with the team finishing 21st in rankings, I think some of that is being dragged down by the grade that you were talking about at the training room, which is now being remodeled as we correct. So that's something. And they just did the locker room. They did get an a for that at least. So the parking lot was redone coach. I know in your time, it was, it was essentially public parking where you guys parked, but now it's, it's kind of, it's all redone coach. There's some names in here. I want to read Matt LaFleur got a B minus Say what you want about Matt LaFleur. Again, is some of it valid? Yeah, I suppose. Some of it is valid, I guess, right? But he does win. They have gone to the playoffs. He did usher in the Jordan Love era and a seamless transition and has turned Jordan Love into an MVP candidate. Matt LaFleur, the fifth lowest ranked coach in the NFL. A couple names in front of him, coach, that kind of stick out to me. Raheem Morris, who got fired. Fired. A B+. it's going to be funny because he's on the coaching staff now jonathan gannon coach ahead of matt la floor he also got fired this one's hilarious the titans and they just say titans in front of matt la floor coach because they had multiple head coaches in that year get a better grade than matt la floor dave canalis out there in carolina i know they had a fun uh you know season they got to the postseason so i guess that can be warranted todd bowles also ahead of matt la floor as well i I have a theory for you guys on this, and I'm curious, coach, you were in the college game, Jacob. I know you pay close attention to the NFL, excuse me, to college. Obviously the NFL, you're right for SI, but also for college football. So everything that I said before is, are things that they got graded on. They got great on strength coaches. They got to be position coaches, B plus offensive and defensive coordinator, a C and an a minus in those categories. Jeff Halfley, no longer here. He gets the best grade for the entire team, special teams coordinator, got a better grade coach than Matt LaFleur, who got a B minus, Rich Versace, got a B plus team travel B minus. We mentioned the head coach at a B minus general manager, a B plus coach, you know, I disagree with that one. Team ownership for Mark Murphy last year in a minus, or excuse me, at policy. Let me ask you guys this, or at least let me present this to you and why I think my theory on some of this team travel and the nutritionists and the food and dining area, has college football skewed these guys coming in to the NFL a little bit? Like when you're a college athlete nowadays, you're getting wined and dined. People are kissing the ground. You walk on. We've seen, I mean, my goodness, coach, some of these facilities in college football, Georgia, Notre Dame, Alabama, like they blow the NFL out of the water so that when guys come up to the NFL, they see these facilities and they're like, eh, it's not that great. Like, oh yeah, they just had steak and lobster and they didn't have anybody to watch my kids. So I could, you know, do this or that. It has college sort of ruined the way that these NFL facilities are being judged on, in your opinion. You know, that's really a great, great question, Brandon, because these colleges are spending so much money. There's so much money. And here's, and here's the thing is everybody's got to keep up with the Joneses. I, the last sec school I was at was at Kentucky and it was like, unbelievable unbelievable how the facilities were and those were just middle of the road in the sec and you look over a place like florida or alabama or auburn georgia i mean it's just unbelievable the amount of money that and there's a lot of glitz and stuff in those deals and here's why though because if you fall behind in like the recruiting in that you know you bet you have to have as good or better facilities than everybody else. And players really liked it. Now it's a little bit more about just the dollar and how much money those guys are making and they're going to the highest bidder. And hell, I heard that tackles are making in like at Ohio State, like $2.53 million. You're making more in college than when you're first, unless you're a high draft pick, you're making more in college than you are in the pros. Yeah. But you know what? You might make a valid point because those facilities are so over the top on these, especially the fact. Huh? They're insane. Like the one in Alabama and Georgia are just absolutely crazy. Here's something else that I want to talk both of you on. Coach, you've been in this. You coached at Lambeau Field. Jacob, you've traveled around the NFL and have covered different games on the road, but you also covered all the Packers home games The own stadium field ranking Again there not a ton of content in that It could be field It could be game day experience It could be a plethora of maybe the home crowd I don't know. The Packers, you guys, we all talk about Lambeau Field being a bucket list item for so many fans out there in the NFL worldwide. A C plus, a C plus. They're kind of dead center in the NFL. Baltimore came in at number one. I, again, not really sure about that one. Miami with an A minus. Jacksonville came ahead of the Green Bay Packers. Washington came ahead of the Green Bay Packers. Arizona came ahead of the Green Bay Packers. The freaking Chicago Bears, Jacob, came in. And I know you were just at Soldier Field. They don't even want to be in Chicago. Their state doesn't want them in Chicago. They came in front of the Green Bay Packers. The Saints coming in front of the Green Bay Packers. I guess without, we don't have a ton of context. I don't know what they're adding for that calculate calculation to come to a C plus, but what are your thoughts on the Packers receiving a C plus sort of middle of the pack throughout the NFL for, for these players ranking their own stadium field? Yeah, I'll say as far as like game day experience, there's some work to be done there. um and by that i mean the presentation of the game um player introductions you know something as simple as not having to and this isn't necessarily the packers fault but not having to have a video of the quarterback telling the crowd to shut the hell up when the team is on offense because of that kind of stuff and then not having to have you know things to pump up the crowd on defense or something like that but you know i i think back to stadiums i so i was in Chicago this year I was in Minnesota this year and then I was in Green Bay and Arizona and Arizona's the worst of those four um better grade than the Packers though according to this yeah I don't I don't understand that but a full letter grade to a b plus it's interesting but I could tell Minnesota to me from a again a game presentation standpoint was the gold standard as far and that's just of where I've been this year I've heard that I've heard that and that's just where I've been this year right like if you go to last year um denver a couple years ago denver was awesome when i was there i think that was very good las vegas was brand new so it's hard to say on that um and then what's the other one that oh philadelphia um i think philadelphia was was a pretty cool little setup and a unique experience is what matt lafleur always calls that but with green bay coming in behind the packers sorry to cut you off but i think the eagles are coming in uh behind the green bay packers if i can find them i don't even know where they are on this list uh i don't and their stadium is philly philly's number three yeah you're right philly's number three yeah and their stadium's older i think they're working on potentially trying to get a new one i know the link opened in 2003 so uh that was it's a relatively new stadium but it's interesting what's new and what's old and everything like that but anyways the point i'm getting at with the vikings before the game starts they play these it's very like if you guys have watched game of thrones and actually i haven't but that's the feel that i kind of got behind dude i know i know i know i know i haven't watched the sopranos and like i haven't watched that either but you're still watch the game of thrones please i just finished breaking bad probably a couple years ago like i really am i do live under a rock and it's fine but with the vikings like before the game there's like this there's a video that comes in and it is for the fans more so than the players and everything like that but it's like the vikings are coming turn back now or you'll be sorry kind of just things like that. The horn is loud and obnoxious and annoying. And I know that too. I know the fake snow in the stadium is kind of lame, but I just think that their setup is, is really good with what they do before the game starts. Um, the fans are, are kind of into it, um, from, from the word go. And I think that part of that is a bit of a spoiled nature from this fan base. You know, like, think about it last year, green Bay goes 11 and six. They losing the first round of the playoffs. Like some cities throw a party about that. Some places talk about it. Like green Bay fans, they talk about it. Like it is the worst season they've ever had. And I understand expectations change things, but I do think there's a, when green Bay, like when green Bay got back to the playoffs in 2023, after missing for just the one season, or even like the 2019 team, after missing the playoffs, that team was easy to latch onto and fall in love with because they had been bad for basically, well, not basically for two straight years, right? Green Bay is almost always good. And that kind of makes it that point. And the other thing is there is some romance to it because of they're old, they're the same bleachers that were there during the ice bowl and all that kind of stuff. But somebody points out in the chat here that it's because of the seating. I don't think that that's a, I don't think that's an unfair assessment for people to say that like that would be a reason why the game day experience isn't as great. But for me in general, it really is the presentation of it. You know, Bill Jarts is great, but you know, I just feel like the crowds in the middle of the game, they're kind of lame. You know, and I don't, I just think the, I've never been told to sit down. So I don't know how much of that is like a straw man argument but i do think that there is something to be desired from the crowd and a given game to be in it from the word going like not every game is the same right like that first game against detroit this year there was some juice right the next game against washington there was some juice later in the year they're playing carolina on a november day whatever and it's just kind of the middle of nothing and it's just kind of whatever like i just feel like that leaves something to be desired that's coach was this ever a conversation with your time in green bay whether it was you don't have to name drop anybody if you want to obviously you can but was it ever a conversation like man this this could be better here like the packers are kind of lacking here they're kind of lacking there could it have been better in areas or maybe was it other the other way around like man we got it really good here like we have this and that were any of those conversations being had with your time in green bay coach yeah that never that never did happen it was because they i'm telling you the packers because you were worried about ball coach right and and this you weren't worried about babysitters no no we didn't worry about that i had a bunch of people too but i you know i you know what i had i had a babysitter at home and they give they used to give you uh uh money what the heck they they gave you a per diem i always we won i always gave the whole per diem to my babysitter i said we did a good job here take it all so but they never griped and the thing is for you said that the packers are like get a C plus like that's just average around the league it literally dead dead in the middle coach C plus on average really hard time and I know that like Vegas has got a sweet day and the Rams have one San Francisco's you know there's this deal but I mean as far as like the Packers facilities and everything I mean they're always top notch always always the best the Green Bay Packers coming in at 21st in the NFL, according to the NFLPA report card. So if perception inside the building matters, then the next step could become quite obvious. What does the successful 2026 offseason in Green Bay actually look like? We examine those details next on the Locked on Packers Squad Show. Tonight's episode is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. Have you ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person? Well, FanDuel is giving you the chance to turn that dream into reality with their NBA sweepstakes. Here's how it works. Use your profit boost on any NBA future and you'll be automatically entered for a shot to win an NBA finals trip for two. That's right. The flights, the tickets, the whole experience. If you're looking at the board and thinking what team can make a deep run, maybe it's the Milwaukee Bucks, eight out of their last 10. Then this is the perfect time for you to lock in. Visit fanduel.com to get started. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. 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And one of the things that you get as a member is an ad-free version of the podcast that you're listening to right now. It works with whatever podcast app you already use. Same episodes every day. Just no ads. There's also a members only group chat for fans of your team. Plus a lot more. You can check it out by tapping the everyday or club link in the show notes. Thank you for making locked on Packers. Your first listen of the day. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcasting network. I mentioned it at the beginning of the show. It is Thursday. We are so close to the weekend. It is Ask Coach Jags Anything. Line up those questions. Get them in. If you've got a question for the former Packers coach, get it in. We'll get it on the show later on. But before we dive into all of that, Jacob, I want to begin with you here. And I'm going to give you a broad question. So you can give me a big answer, a short answer, anything you find suitable to answer this question. Because I don't really know. I feel like this can go a few different ways. I'm not really sure there's a right answer. or there's probably a wrong answer, but that can depend on who you ask. How are we measuring a successful offseason in Green Bay? Is it drafting those right guys? Is it locking up guys that you want to keep here in Green Bay a la Tucker Craft? What does a successful offseason, is it fixing the facilities, the dining facility in Green Bay? What does that look like in your opinion for the Packers entering the offseason in 2026? Well, as my good friends, Bill Huber and Jason Wildey always tell me, media starts with me. So I want to make sure that the media dining hall gets up. No, I'm kidding. But, you know, I really do. I think it's as simple as Green Bay has kind of defined their core players, right? They know who they are. Christian Watson and Tucker Craft are core players. Those guys, I think, need to be extended for the long haul. And the sooner, the better with honestly with both of those guys, because the price is only going to go up for both of them. After that, something Brian Gutekunst has done well, and I don't want to speak ill of Ted Thompson because Ted Thompson is a Packers Hall of Famer and he won a championship in Green Bay, which is something that, you know, I was five years old when Ron Wolfe built the Super Bowl team in 1996. I don't really remember that versus now, you know, I remember the Ted Thompson stuff, but something that Gutekunst has typically done better in the recent years. When Ted was in charge, you went into the draft kind of feeling like, okay, they have to do this, this, and this, because they didn't sign a free agent. They didn't grab a guy at this position that could, in theory, help solve that problem, right? can they go into the draft this year by addressing even if it's you know on the margins do they sign a tire b tyler biadich from who just got released by washington today uw baby come on come on home yeah bring a badger back home why not that guy is mean and nasty and and i think he fits in really well with what green bay's trying to do but that's not what i'm trying to get out of here but maybe it's something like that maybe it's on the smaller end someone like uh lloyd cushionberry who was cut yesterday from from Tennessee and I'm not saying that they have to do these things but can they get it to the point where you're not pigeonholed in the draft to say man we didn't get a defensive tackle this offseason we only have so many picks I have to get one at pick 52 because when you do that that's how in like you guys have seen it in recent years it's not as it's not quite the same but it's the best example that I can give is during the draft that Green Bay got Jordan love right in front of them in each of the first three rounds, it was like receivers just flew off the board. And it was because everybody kind of knew the Packers were trying to add a receiver to their roster. So when you have an obvious need like that, it's kind of like, man, I got to get in front of green Bay to make sure that I can get, um, I can get the, you know, the player that I want. Cause if I don't get them, green Bay is going to, right. So to me, it's, it's getting those guys that those core guys that they have locked in again not pigeonholing yourself in the draft and frankly the draft has to be better this year than it has been especially you know last year and these are guys that i know green bay doesn't really play rookies but they need to find some guys that make some impact and some positive impact and i don't want to say immediately but something to where you can point to and say okay this is what this guy's going to do this is what this guy's going to do and this is what this guy's going to do and above all else the biggest thing is something we won't know until the season starts or training camp starts. Put the same five offensive linemen on the GD field at the same time for the whole time. No more rotations, no more playing this guy series to series, no more playing this guy game to game. Who's my left tackle, left guard, center, right guard, and right tackle? And those guys are going to start and they're going to play as long as they're not injured. I know injuries happen. That to me, I'll get on that soapbox from now until the day they toss dirt over top of me. Continuity in the offensive line matters, damn it. Coach, how did you guys measure your off seasons? Did you have checklists that you wanted to knock out? It was it, you know, obviously you don't really know who your team's going to draft until that happens. And then, and then it kind of turns into the season, the start of the season, essentially with camps and all that stuff going on how did you guys uh from a coach and coaches uh perspective how did you guys uh measure off season whether you you did a good job or you needed to improve well you know everything was a scheme evaluation so as soon as the season was ended you got a week off and you came right back to work and you were doing scheme evaluation and you just tore your offense defense and space special teams down to the bare bare walls and just and evaluated everything so and then after that I mean it was like who do we need to improve this team through a free agency Though that's more of a quicker fix. And I know it's more money, but the philosophy of the Packers was always to go ahead and build through the draft. And I still think that they do that quite a bit. So they're going to have to find out and identify the players that will fit the Packer way. And that was the way it was always identified with Ron as he was talking and getting ready for the draft. So, I mean, you had to be a certain type of guy to be in Green Bay, too. It took a special player. And and when players got drafted in Green Bay, they always they always made it feel like this is like the best place ever. Jacob I noticed uh you didn't really mention contract extensions necessarily do you think it's possible you could chalk it up as a successful offseason if you were to lock up a guy like Tucker Craft there's some conversation around a guy like Christian Watson what the Packers should do he now he did just sign an extension however that kicks in this year and he will be a free agent after that is expired. Is this also an important year where, and I know Tucker Kraft's coming off the ACL injury, but is this an important off season where the Packers need to lock up some of that future talent? Devontae Wyatt obviously could be thrown into that conversation. Is there anybody else that I may be missing that the Packers could be looking at for future contract extensions? Yeah, I think the big two are Watson and Kraft. And I think those are no-brainers. I think that the general manager, if you toss some truth serum in him, would tell you the same thing. He basically already said as much about Tucker Craft with Watson. That's a receiver market. It's a third contract, but it's really a second contract in terms of earning potential and everything like that. So finding who or where that number is going to be for him. But to me, those are the two easiest ones. And Wyatt is one where I don't know if he's earned an extension necessarily, but by necessity of keeping someone with his skillset in the locker room and to lower his cap hit number, I think he's scheduled to have a cap hit of about 15 million bucks to where if you give him an extension, it could lower that. I'm really curious to see what Green Bay does with the contract situation because general managers are paid to lie. Jags always likes to say that every single week, right? But the way he talked about like Rashawn Gary, for example, at the combine this week he's not going to go to the podium and say yeah he stunk he was awful we never mean jacob that's what fans want right right and yeah and that's how next year you get an even lower grade on the report card when you go up there and say hey this guy's terrible but i'm curious to see what they do with some of those guys that are you know the elton i think elton jenkins is an easy one but we're sean gary you you saying it's an easy one in what direction for it yeah they'll release him okay i'm almost certain of that okay um but i'm curious to see what they do from a contract standpoint, both with guys that are already on the team. What do they do with those? And then guys that are having, I mean, we talked about this last week, expiring contracts in the next two years, Christian Watson, Jaden Reed, Dontavion Wicks, Tucker Craft, Devante Wyatt, Lucas Van Ness, Luke Musgrave, Edger and Cooper, Javon Bullard. I mean, Evan Williams, I just named like 10 guys and that's off the top of my head. And some of them less important than others, obviously, but that's a war chest of players that even if you want to keep, you know, six of them that's a lot of money that's a lot of money to keep now the cap is moving up but i mean sure our salaries yeah so our salaries and and that's just kind of the nature of how this is going to work right like you can keep the guy ultimately they make plans like guys their cap spreadsheet is spread out to you know when my son is in high school he's three years old right so that's the way that these guys operate they're ahead of the game they know that's why like reporting quote unquote this week that they they want to keep romeo dobbs to me that's the agent having green bay's permission which andrew brant said they did this having the agent's permission to use the packer's name to drive up the price because if green bay keeps dobbs with the money he's going to be able to command now you're talking about that probably at the expense of one of crafter watson and if they choose romeo dobbs over christian watson i got a lot of questions as to what exactly it is. And that's not even a knock on Dobbs. It's just one player is clearly superior to the other one. That's all that is. But I'm curious what they do. Coach, how much did you have enjoyed coaching Tucker Craft? You're a tight end guy. How much would you have loved coaching a guy like Tucker Craft? I know he's coming off the injury. I expect him to be back and fully healthy at the start of the year. But what would it be like for you to coach a guy like Tucker Craft? I tell you what, I've been really, really fortunate in my career as a tight end coach. I've had a bunch of pro bowlers. I had Chewy to start out with and then Bubba Franks. And I had LG Crumpler. And, I mean, I had some really, really good – It's a pretty good room right there, Coach. It was really, really a good room too. And I think – and I mentioned this early on in the season. I thought he was as good. He was – in my opinion, he was better than Bubba Franks. A lot better. Bubba was always good inside like the 15-yard line. He was a big red zone guy. LG too, right? Or was Algie more like vertical? Algie had the best hands of any receiver I've ever been around. He was that good. I mean, he's one of those guys, like when you threw the ball to him, you could never even hear him catch it because it was so soft. His hands were so soft. But I've been really lucky and fortunate to be around a lot of good players. But I thought Tucker Craft, just watching him in the games and being able to talk about it in his podcast, I thought he was as good as any tight end in the league when he was playing at a high level early in the season. I mean, I really didn't. It was such a – it was a shame that he got hurt. But, man, we had talked about it on the last show that, you know, we don't have to sign him early or whatever. We were talking with Peter, that conversation. Yeah, Peter wasn't necessarily on board with having to do it right away. I think it should be done as soon as possible. I mean, it kind of shows good faith. I know the guy's got a knee, but those knees aren't like it used to be. He might have been. when a guy hurts his knee like that and they're maybe a little bit reluctant to assign a guy, but they know who he is and what he can do. And the thing is, when you took him out of the lineup, the tight end play was very subpar. Coach, he still led them in yards after the catch. He missed the last month and a half of the season and still led them in yards after the catch. Well, that just tells you something right there, the numbers that he was getting. But I think he is a Pro Bowl tight end all the way. And I know there's a lot of good ones in the NFC. I know there's a lot of good ones, but I think he was right up there with them. Super productive. Speaking of super productive, we didn't get a full season of them coach, but I think we saw enough of them. And I know we've kind of discussed this a little bit on the lockdown Packers squad show. Do you think, because this is the question that is asked every training camp for Matt LaFleur, really it's, it's never not asked throughout the course of the season. Do you think Christian Watson is a, a true number one receiver in the NFL? Boy, he's super productive. I think he's, and again, I didn't know him much before this season. I haven't seen him when ASU was younger, but he is super productive as well, and he's explosive. Yeah. You know, and I mean, I didn't know how big he was. What is he, 6'3"? 6'4". Yeah, 6'4". Yeah. And I think he's super athletic, and he can stretch the field. I think he's everything that you want in a number one wide receiver. A couple of those names are responsible on this roster because of Brian Goodikens. That brings me to my next question for you, gentlemen. But before we get into that, at the NFL Combine, which is obviously happening as we speak, General Manager Brian Goodikens was asked, what needs to happen in order for this team to go from pretender to a contender? Here's his answer. Yeah, I think we've talked a lot about this. our ability to be more consistent in situational football and finishing off games. A number of our games the past couple of years, we've been up in the games and just not been able to close them out. And our group's got to get to that point. So I think we're on our way there. I really like the guys in our locker room, and I like the makeup of our team. But that's an area that we have to fix. That's an area we have to fix, Jacob, is how he ends his answer to that question in order how can this team get to the next level. Do you trust in the plan right now with Brian Gunnickens at the helm? Obviously him and Matt LaFleur, contract extensions in place. Are we trusting in Goody, Jacob, with what we've seen from him so far in the last few years? With Gunnickens, yeah. He has some warts, no question. Is he Howie Roseman? No. Is he John Schneider? No. But, you know, I would have loved to have heard the pulse of what the thought on John Schneider was around the Packer fan base before this season too. They had been kind of blech for, for a while. Um, but those are just two names that, you know, obviously Schneider has built three teams that have gone to a super bowl. They've won two and they were a yard away from winning a third one. So, you know, that's, he might literally be one yard away from being in the pro football hall of fame as we speak at this point, which is kind of crazy to think about, but, um, you know, there are some, there are some warts, like I, you know, like I just mentioned, he's had some misses. I was on board with Lucas Van Ness, for example, but it's a tough look when Lucas Van Ness has not been an impact player. And Jackson Smith and Jigba is one of the best receivers in football. And Christian Gonzalez is one of the best corners in football. And they were both available. They were both a position of need at the time. Don't remind us. And it didn't work. But if you go through that, there's, you know, Christian Gonzalez was picked 20th. That means there's Jackson Smith and Jigba, excuse me, just picked 20th. That means there's 19 other teams that passed on him too. So it's not just Gutekunst who did that. But like I said, that's not a great look. You know, my my distrust of this team, if you will, or whatever, is all on field stuff. And those are things that can be rectified. I do think for the most part, there are a few spots here or there. And I've mentioned on this show before the how I think the Packers get a little too precious or a little too. faithful in some of the guys that are already on the team or on the roster to make that jump or whatever, to the point where they won't pursue an upgrade because they believe in the guy who's already there. You know what I mean? Um, but for the most part, I think that their roster is good enough to win a championship. If they're relatively healthy, there's a hundred percent injury rate in the NFL. So there's no guarantee for that, but you know, the core of the team, the top of the team, if you will, Tucker craft, Christian Watson, Jordan love, Micah Parsons. I got no qualms with any of those guys. It's just a matter of, I've seen this team lose way too many of the same style of game over the last really three seasons. You know, I think one of the fair criticisms I saw you guys talking about Jordan love taking the next step that may or may not have been me on Tuesday night. And I think part of that, and I don't want to put words in your mouth because I didn't hear the whole segment, just the clip, but part of that is, when the Packers had Aaron Rodgers in his prime and they played a crappy team at Lambeau Field, it was automatic money in the bank. That's a win. Yep. With Jordan Love, it has not been that. That was part of my argument. That was part of my argument. And I know wins and losses are not a quarterback stat, but they also kind of are. And if the quarterback plays really well in a game like Jordan Love did not play really well against Carolina and Philadelphia, for example, and those games, both Philadelphia, not a bad team, Carolina, not a bad team, but Cleveland, you know, good defense but not a not a great you know team and those games were ripe for the taking and some of this i think falls on the shoulders of the head coach as well i think he needs to and we've talked about this a million times but lean into the quarterback and don't be so stubborn as we have to be able to run the football because i i understand yes in a perfect world as a coach you'd love to be able to just grind the game away with this dominant run game we didn't have that you know this past year maybe they will this upcoming year but they did not last year um so as far as again as far as the roster goes there's some things he has to fix no question offensive line not good enough defensive line not good enough competition at linebacker cornerbacks uh maybe a speed back or something you know to that kind of effect in the run game but for the most part anytime you start with Jordan Love and Micah Parsons in a given season you're ahead of the curve it's just kind of filling in the other 51 pieces around those guys and they have a good chunk of that on the roster as well but they have to start winning some of these games and and at some point if they're not winning those games it's not just the coach's fault and it's not just the you know it's kind of the player's fault which then is in turn of a question of to the general manager are you actually picking the right players or do the packers just have a bunch of guys that we think we really like but it's like the old brad pitt line from money ball if he's a good hitter how come he doesn't hit good well if they're a good team how come they don't win good which isn't great grammar, but you know what I mean? Coach, they've been the youngest roster in the NFL now for three straight years. That has to change. I don't want to cut Coach off, but that has to change. And that leads me into you, Coach. Do you think adding a couple of veterans in key spots throughout this roster, we're in the middle of doing our free agency focus, and we'll continue that next Tuesday when Peter joins the show. Do you think they need to add some veterans? And if your answer is yes or no, it can be one or the other. But what kind of benefit does it have when you add those veteran pieces to a very young roster, which we have here in Green Bay? I know. And, you know, the thing is, we keep saying about like how young the Packers are. You know, those young guys, those young guys are getting older every year. So those guys that were three years ago, I mean, they've been in the program for two years. And the postseason coach. Now the postseason. Exactly. So they do have experience and they do have limited playoff experience because they're losing in the wildcard game. But, you know, it's interesting that Goody had mentioned in that clip. He said that he goes, what needs to be fixed? Well, why are you 0-5? Well, you're not finishing games. That's one of the biggest things. You're talking about to end the season, Coach, right? Yes. I mean, I think that's one of the really big questions and things that they have to figure out. Why aren't they finishing games at the end of the season? And why aren't they finishing games when you're up 20 points in Chicago? I mean, that should never happen. It should never happen at all. As far as bringing older players in, older players cost money. And I would keep putting all my money into the draft picks and keep developing. And I know they keep saying, well, it's the youngest team in the last three years. At some point, we've got to stop saying that. And these guys still have to produce because they're all getting paid a lot of money. So they need to produce. But I would take that youngest deal, youngest team, and I'd put that off to the side. because you can't keep hanging your hat on that as an excuse. Well, to the coach and the general manager's credit, they don't. Like, those guys are very open in saying they've played a lot of football. They've done all this stuff, too. The counterargument that I have given is that I was the dumbest person I've ever met when I was 24 years old. Now that I 34 years old I would probably handle things a little differently Can you find somebody who been through not just situations in football Because the Packers have had a lot of guys who have played a lot of football now and they earned their scars or something like that is what the phrase that Gutekunst has used before. But also people that have had life experiences. Have you had to go through something difficult? You've probably gone through more things in your life at 34 than you have at 24, just for example. So can you find somebody who's in that spot to say when it's 21 to 10 now in Chicago, instead of 21 to three, okay, the buck stops here, you know, finding a guy like that, whoever that is. And the Packers say that their goal is to hope that one of the guys they have grows into that player. And I understand that, but you know, who is really helpful for the two, two of the better Packer teams that they've had in recent memories, Charles Woodson and Julius Peppers, because instant credibility. When you add a player to the ilk of Charles Woodson Hall of Famer, in my opinion, one of the greatest defensive backs ever. And I would argue the greatest defensive back ever. And Julius Peppers, when they signed him Hall of Famer, if he retired before playing a snap in Green Bay. So having guys, I'm not saying they got to sign a Hall of Famer because those guys don't exactly grow. That would certainly, yeah. If you could sign like three Hall of Famers, that'd be awesome. But getting somebody who is a little older, I'm not saying they got to be 40. It doesn't have to be Calais Campbell, but somebody who has some scars and some football, football life experience to kind of help them from melting down, if you will, not having that emotional maturity to withstand. Cause you've seen it guys when green Bay, for the most part, when the avalanche starts, sometimes they've, you know, kind of punched back a little bit from it, but when the avalanche starts, usually it doesn't stop Denver and Chicago twice. Those are two really good examples of something or three really good examples of that happening coach i want to put you in on the spot here a little bit if you don't mind and we have asked coach jags anything coming up so i know i'm putting you on the spot a hard time listening to jacob and i really want to know what he's saying so i've been having a hard time getting the audio from him so just so or so you know okay okay he sounds good on my end but i'm gonna i'm gonna get coach play a little bit of of a game here and I want to put you into the shoes of Matt LaFleur. Okay. So you are Matt LaFleur. I'm going to replay this Goody clip for you. And I want you to think if this is a shot at you, you are Matt LaFleur. Now I know you're coach Jags. You're much more handsome than Matt LaFleur, but I want you to kind of put yourselves in his shoes and, and see if, if this is more of a, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of flicking the book, the booger away from me and on to you, meaning, you know, taking a little bit of the blame as to why the Packers haven't advanced in the post season. Here's Brian Goodenkins. Once again, when asked what they need to do to go from pretender to contender, I think, you know, I talked, we've talked a lot about this, you know, our ability to be more consistent in situational football and finishing off games, you know, a number of our games the past couple of years, we've been up in the games and just not been able to close them out. and our group's got to we got to get to that point you know so I think we're on our way there I really like the guys in our locker room and I like the makeup of our team but that's an area that we have to we have to fix well games we've been up and we just couldn't win I like the makeup of our team I like those guys in the locker room we have to figure that out coach LaFleur yeah coach Jags yeah is that is that does that feel like a shot to me no I don't know I don't think so because here's the thing those guys just signed contracts together those guys all right those guys are tied at the hip and i guarantee you when those guys go up under the mic they know what the heck and they're they're speaking each other language on on what the direction of the football program is going to go so no i don't i don't think so at all and that that no absolutely not okay those guys are those guys are tied together at the hip and you know what would one fails they're both going to fail. So I mean, everything is, is gotta be that same message, whether the floor's on the mic or goodies on the mic, it has to sound the same. There's no question about it. 2026, whether it be in the off season or come September, a massive season for the green Bay Packers. We talked about trusting Goody. We talked about the NFL PA ranking the Packers 21st in the NFL. We We talked about what a successful offseason looks like. It's time now to hear from some of you. It is time for some fun. It is. Ask Coach Jags anything. Get your questions lined up. We'll break into the brain of Coach Jags coming up right after this on the Locked On Packers Squad Show. Tonight's show is brought to you by Home Chef. As the new year gets going, a lot of people are trying to simplify their routines, and dinner is a big one. those busy work days, cold winter nights, packed schedules, having an easy, reliable dinner plan makes a huge difference. And that's exactly where home chef comes in. 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Thank you for making locked on Packers your first listen of the day. Thank you for making the lockdown the number one sports podcasting network. I got a, a DM coach and it's time for ax coach, coach Jags, anything. You can open up the airwaves to you guys. If you've got a question for coach Jags, he's coach Mark Chamura, Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers, Matt Ryan, LG clumper, Bennett, Boston college, Atlanta green Bay. If you've got a question for coach Jags, get them in right now. This is from David coach. He messaged it to me over on Twitter. He says, do you think the Packers will bring back Romeo Dobbs? Now, obviously, the money comes into that equation for Romeo Dobbs. I anticipate, Coach, that he will get priced out of Green Bay. But do you think they should try to bring back a guy like Romeo Dobbs back to Green Bay? I think when you bring a guy, what you're paying for is production. And I think that he was very, very productive. Every time you looked up, the guy was making plays. And I know everyone's remembering the onside kick that he dropped on that. I think he's a very, very productive football player, and I would try to keep him in a wide receiving core. All right. Another question for you, another receiver question, Coach. And they asked, should we go after George Pickens in Dallas? And there's an and in here. And Max Crosby. I don't know if Las Vegas is in the business of trading away Max Crosby, but do you think, Coach, based off the question, should the Packers go after George Pickens, the wide receiver down there in Dallas, and Max Crosby? Yeah, well, the first thing about Pickens, it became kind of a problem over there in Dallas. So I wouldn't take, no. First of all, you don't want to buy a problem. You don't need that. And you're talking about, like, older guys in your locker room. All your money guys have to be leaders. So no on that. Crosby, I don't think they would let him go out of Vegas. I don't think they would let him go, and I don't think the Packers would be able to afford that contract. I got one for you, Coach. If I could get one in, if you don't mind. Sure. Rank your tight end room all time for me. calls. That's great. We started talking about it a little bit ago, so I figured I'd want to hear the rank. Give me the ranking and give me the reason as to why. I will. LG Crumpler is probably the best tight end that I had. He was, he could do it all. He could block, he could catch, he could, I mean, after the catch, he was great. And he was so sure-handed. He, I never, I don't remember him dropping very many passes. And then I'll take Bubba Franks will be the next one. And he was a Pro Bowl player. And I remember the guy at Minnesota said, Jags, he goes, he only catches three yard passes. I go, well, they still count for six. So, so, so that was, that was good. There was a guy that I hadn't mentioned, Wesley Walls was with me too. And they brought, really brought him in. And I remember when he came into the room, he really helped Bubba out, like how to be a pro because at one time Wesley was like the top tight end in the league when he's with the Carolina Panthers and he was a great guy guy played Ole Miss and played a ton of football and he really helped Bubba and then um probably Mark Chamora would be uh the fourth one but I tell you what how about that tight end room if you had all four of those guys man yeah that's uh that's that's that's pretty good um I got another one before they were all pro bowlers I mean it's It was a great opportunity to be with those guys. We got one here from Joe. It says, Jags, when you self-scout, what tendency shows up on third down that you're most concerned about? And what are you doing structurally to break that tendency before a playoff-level opponent exposes it? Great question there from our friend, Gio. That's really a good question. So when you're doing third downs, it's broken down. And third down, one to two. Third down, three to six. Third down, seven to ten. and third down 11 plus. So during the season, especially with Mike McCarthy, usually the third downs would be like day two of practice. First day would be your base passes, base runs, and all that. And then McCarthy thought that third downs were so important, we had third downs on the first day of practice during the week. So he emphasized that a lot. The biggest, it becomes almost like 50-50, is third down and four to six, offense wins, defense wins. that's the that's the one that you really have to win because the higher the third down the higher the higher the yardage uh the more difficult it is to to uh convert so third down in three to six was the big one that we really worked a lot on fantastic question there from joseph you guys got a question get him in now jacob i know you got one lined up so so go ahead yeah so i know that like now gutekunst will take like input from his coaches on players that he wants and free agency or players that they want. Like I know Mike Patton was saying like he wanted one of the Smith brothers when those guys signed in Green Bay. I ended up getting both. That was pretty cool. And a unique situation because when you were in Green Bay with Sherman, Mike was the general manager. He was. And then the first time you were here in Green Bay, Ron Wolf was, but you guys got fired after that first season there. Ray Rhodes, yes. Ray Rhodes. So my question to you is how much input, if any, did either of those guys, either Ron or Mike Sherman give you or ask you guys for when it came to player acquisitions or anything like that? A lot, a lot. Ron was very, Ron included everybody. He was very inclusive in the meetings and he wanted you to give him his opinion on really what you thought about. He didn't want to hear what he wanted to hear. He really wanted your opinion. Actually, this is really a good story. It was when Chimura ended up leaving the team because he had some problems. we had the 13th pick in a draft and we needed a tight end so Ron said Jags he goes there's two tight ends it's it's um Anthony Beck at West Virginia and Bubba Franks in Miami he's coming out early I want you to go down to Miami and meet this kid and see what you think and I went down there and worked him out and Butch Davis was down there Chuck Pagano was down there that we worked we worked together at one time and I came back and Ron goes well what do you think I said well Ron I think that Bubba Franks is the guy that you want and this is how Ron reacted goes really kind of like kind of nice but see he wanted me to give him my opinion he didn't want to what I thought he wanted to hear I said yeah I think Bubba's got a lot more upside than Anthony Beck back then up going to the New York Jets and kind of like he did okay you know and then Bubba became super super productive for us so but Ron Ron listened and he wanted your opinion it wasn't like you couldn't say what, what was on your mind. He wanted to know, and it was a collaborative effort, but then, you know, then it comes down to Ron making the final to say one final question here for you coach. This one just kind of dawned on me as you're talking about Bubba Franks and Mark Chamura, you were there with Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers. We hear a lot of things that didn't go well between the two guys, but you were in the room with them. Like you were literally in the room with them. You spent hours with them. If you don't mind, if you can, and if you can't I totally understand what's a positive story out of out of that relationship that you saw that you were a part of with your time in Green Bay well they didn't again the the relationship Brett did not want to be a mentor to to Aaron he just he just didn't want to he just thought that is that the guy that's trying to replace me and I think like as you know and I know that Aaron was a little bit different with love and maybe he learned that way he goes you know what i don't want to do it that way but brett and him it wasn't like a chili deal but brett didn't feel like he he owed aaron you know to show him the ropes but i tell you what he did do and what a hand of love ended up doing is just sitting keeping your mouth shut mark mouth shut and just watching what a pro pro bowl gold jacket looks like and it meant what amazing to have two guys underneath center in green bay for 25 years that are wearing gold jackets that's unheard of Yeah, it definitely worked out for the Green Bay Packers and for Ted Thompson with drafting Aaron Rodgers and then obviously with Brian Gunnickens drafting Jordan Love. That'll do it for tonight's edition of the Locked on Packers Squad Show. Friendly reminder, wherever you guys get audio podcasts, you can now get the Locked on Packers Squad Show and The Daily Show with our guy Peter Bukowski. They are free and available wherever you get audio podcasts, Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, and also over on YouTube. If you're watching over on YouTube, make sure you hit the thumbs up. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. And also, make sure you hit that notification bell. Get notified when we go live. We'll be back live on Tuesday with Peter. But for now, we will sign off for Coach, for Jacob, and for myself. We will be back on Tuesday night talking more Packers offseason football with each and every one of you. Thank you guys for tuning in. And thank you for making Locked On Packers part of your day each and every single day. And as always, make sure you stay locked on Packers.