National Football League

Ted Thompson Now Joins Green Bay Packers Hot Seat

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Jul 28, 2016; Green Bay,WI, USA; Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson during the training camp across from Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/ via USA TODAY Sports

For the first time in what feels like forever, the Green Bay Packers are a losing football team after a decisive 47-25 rout against the Tennessee Titans.

Experts have been scrambling for weeks to figure out what is wrong with this team. This was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender. They were in the NFC championship two years ago and came a Larry Fitzgerald away from reaching another last year. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the business with Aaron Rodgers. Yet they continue to look listless against teams they would be by double digits in years past.

The offense gets off to terrible starts and the defense suddenly is giving up over 30 points per games. Nothing about this makes any sense for a team that is among the youngest in the league and hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2008. Is Rodgers losing his edge? Is Mike McCarthy finally starting to lose his grip on the team? It’s a big reason both of them are being called to task by the local Wisconsin media.

However, they may not be alone anymore. According to Michael Silver of NFL Network, another man has joined them in the hot water in GM Ted Thompson.

“While Thompson has drafted well during his 12-year run as Green Bay’s GM, his lack of aggressiveness has frustrated many Packers coaches. In addition to his reticence toward trades (which includes an aversion to moving up in the draft), Thompson has approached free agency with a miserly mentality, acquiring a few bargains (such as veteran pass rusher Julius Peppers in 2014 and tight end Jared Cook this past spring) but essentially staying away from splashy signings.

For all of the Packers’ success during Thompson’s tenure, which included the transition from one Hall of Famer (Brett Favre) to another quarterback likely bound for Canton in 2008, it can be argued that, having won only a single Super Bowl during that span, the franchise has underachieved. It’s also true that Thompsonâs preference for building through the draft and thus relying disproportionately on young players has put an added strain on the coaches — and is a reason that the injury-depleted secondary has struggled in games like Sundays.”

It’s a fair criticism. Thompson has been at the helm for 12 years and in seven playoff trips boasts just one Lombardi trophy. Not only that but the Packers haven’t even gotten back to the Super Bowl since they went in 2010. Back then people were talking about ideas of a dynasty. That was how strong the roster was at the time. Instead they’ve accumulated a series of gutwrenching defeats since.

Going 15-1 and losing at Lambeau in the playoff opener in 2011. Going down two-straight years to Colin Kaepernick in 2012 and 2013. The collapse in Seattle in 2014 and the overtime blown coverage on Fitzgerald in Arizona last year. Everything starts with the general manager in the NFL and it’s time to wonder if Thompson has blown a monumental opportunity with his conservative management of the roster.

There is still time for the Packers to right this ship, but if this slide continues then it’s time to wonder what the future holds for the 63-year old executive.

Ted Thompson Now Joins Green Bay Packers Hot Seat

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