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Packers To Bring Back Tom Clements

By | at February 17, 2022 3:22 pm

Following a short retirement, Tom Clements is coming back to the NFL. The longtime Packers assistant will return to Green Bay to become the team’s quarterbacks coach, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com notes. While Clements has not signed a contract just yet, the parties have agreed to terms, ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky adds (on Twitter).

Previously with the Cardinals, Clements has been an NFL QBs coach since 1997. Much of that time came in Green Bay. The 68-year-old staffer spent 11 seasons with the Packers, working as their QBs coach and serving as one of Mike McCarthy‘s offensive coordinators during the 2010s. This move could impact Aaron Rodgers‘ forthcoming decision, with The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman positing (via Twitter) it is unlikely Clements would agree to return to the Packers unless Rodgers would be in the picture.

Clements served as Green Bay’s QBs coach from 2006-11, beginning his tenure when McCarthy arrived and when Brett Favre was still the Packers’ QB1. This involved two years of Rodgers development and his ascent to the MVP tier. Clements was on the Packers’ staff for the first two Rodgers MVP slates, staying on through the 2016 season, and the veteran quarterback has offered Clements extensive praise over the past several years, Schneidman adds (via Twitter).

Clements will replace Luke Getsy, whom the Bears hired as their offensive coordinator. A former Heisman candidate at Notre Dame, Clements served as the Bills’ OC for a time in the 2000s and spent two seasons helping Kliff Kingsbury as the Cardinals’ passing-game coordinator.

It is certainly not a lock Rodgers returns, but Matt LaFleur bringing Clements back to Wisconsin cannot hurt here. And Rodgers’ relationship with the Packers has undoubtedly improved compared to where it was during the 2021 offseason. While the Packers have seen the long-QB-needy Broncos hire Nathaniel Hackett and stay in the mix as the likely top outside Rodgers suitor, the NFC North champions continue to receive positive signs their 14-year starter is interested in coming back.

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Packers Hire Byron Storer

By | at February 16, 2022 2:49 pm

  • The Packers are supporting new ST coordinator Rich Bisaccia with Byron Storer, reports Matt Schneidman of The Athletic (Twitter link).The 37-year-old has worked with Bisaccia in each of his other three NFL coaching locations, and even knows Aaron Rodgers dating back to their college days.

    [SOURCE LINK]
1 comment Atlanta Falcons Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings Seattle Seahawks

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

By | at February 14, 2022 8:57 am

With Super Bowl LVI finished, the final two places in the 2022 Draft have been finalized. The Bengals’ top pick is locked into 31st, while the Rams will not have a selection until the third round. For the rest of the league, the focus has already shifted to free agency and the draft, of course, so now all eyes will be on the offseason maneuvering teams do to reshape their rosters.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Pending trades, here is the final first round order of the 2022 Draft:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
  2. Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
  3. Houston Texans: 4-13
  4. New York Jets: 4-13
  5. New York Giants: 4-13
  6. Carolina Panthers: 5-12
  7. New York Giants(via Bears)
  8. Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
  9. Denver Broncos: 7-10
  10. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  11. Washington Football Team: 7-10
  12. Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
  13. Cleveland Browns: 8-9
  14. Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
  15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
  17. Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
  18. New Orleans Saints: 9-8
  19. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
  21. New England Patriots: 10-7
  22. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
  23. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
  24. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
  25. Buffalo Bills: 11-6
  26. Tennessee Titans: 12-5
  27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
  28. Green Bay Packers: 13-4
  29. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
  30. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
  31. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7
  32. Detroit Lions (via Rams)
2 comments 2022 NFL Draft Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

Latest On Aaron Rodgers’ Future With Packers

By | at February 12, 2022 9:43 am

While it’s still uncertain if Aaron Rodgers will be sticking around Green Bay, it sounds like his relationship with the organization is improving. According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Rodgers has “made it clear that the animosity he felt toward the organization at this time last year is gone.” However, the MVP still hasn’t made a decision about whether he wants to return to the Packers next season.

The issues started about nine months ago when things gradually bubbled over during a long-term contract negotiation between the Packers and Rodgers. Rodgers had reportedly been unhappy during the proceedings and became so disgruntled that he told members of the organization that he didn’t want to return to the team. This frustration continued throughout an offseason that saw loads of trade speculation, including a report that Rodgers was under the impression that the Packers had promised to trade him before reneging on their deal. The offseason also contained a Rodgers hold-out that ended with a deal that some saw as a “Last Dance” contract that would help set up his departure after the season ended.

Now, Rodgers is coming off his fourth MVP season, with the 38-year-old leading the organization to their second-straight first-round bye in the playoffs. After accepting the MVP award the other day, Rodgers addressed his future, and he said he’d make a decision before long.

“I think you’ve got to take some of the emotion out of it and then kind of lean into understanding what it takes to revamp and feel like what’s the best place,” Rodgers said. “The best decision for me moving forward — not really place — more just what does it feel like to commit to a season if that’s what I want to do? The good thing is I still feel like my body is in a good place.”

Immediately after the season ended, Rodgers made it clear that he has no interest in staying in Green Bay if he doesn’t think the team can win in 2022. Part of that had to do with the issues detailed above, but Davante Adams‘ free agency and Nathaniel Hackett‘s move to Denver certainly wouldn’t help the Packers’ cause. However, Rodgers is seemingly leaving the door open to playing another season in Green Bay.

If that happens, the Packers will need to rework Rodgers’ contract, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirms that that club is willing to go “all in” by spending to the cap and spreading out cap charges into future years to give Rodgers as competitive of a roster as possible (Twitter link). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests that a two-year deal worth over $45MM per year and with voidable years tacked onto the back end for cap purposes could be in play.

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Steelers To Interview Packers’ John Wojciechowski For GM

By | at February 9, 2022 4:02 pm

The Steelers continue to move on their GM search, with more names surfacing Wednesday. One of them is Packers co-director of player personnel John Wojciechowski.

Wojciechowski will interview for Pittsburgh’s soon-to-be vacant post, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. This would be a chance for Wojciechowski to return to Pittsburgh, where he began his personnel career in the late 1990s.

To start Brian Gutekunst‘s GM tenure, the Packers installed Wojciechowski and Jon-Eric Sullivan as his top lieutenants. Wojciechowski has been with the Packers for nearly 10 years, being hired as a scout during the 2012 offseason. He rose to a player personnel director post in 2017.

Prior to his Green Bay stay, Wojciechowski spent nine years with Dallas. His Steelers tenure predates Kevin Colbert‘s arrival, having left before the current GM took over in 2000. This is the Wojciechowski’s first known GM interview.

The Steelers sent out an interview request for Colts exec Morocco Brown earlier Wednesday. Here is how Pittsburgh’s search to replace Colbert looks:

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NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 2/7/22

By | at February 7, 2022 2:42 pm

Today’s Reserve/Futures contracts signed around the league:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Giants 

New England Patriots

3 comments Buffalo Bills Cincinnati Bengals Green Bay Packers Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs New England Patriots New York Giants Transactions

Packers To Hire Rich Bisaccia As ST Coordinator

By | at February 7, 2022 10:51 am

Green Bay looks to have their latest special teams coordinator in place. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Rich Bisaccia is set to be hired by the Packers. 

[Related: Packers Eyeing Rich Bisaccia For ST Coordinator]

The move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given the interest the Packers had in Bisaccia and their stated goal of dramatically improving their ST unit moving forward. Not long after the season ended, it was announced that former coordinator Maurice Drayton would not be returning. That marked the eighth consecutive time the top ST coach either retired or was forced out of Green Bay.

Bisaccia was a candidate for the Raiders’ head coaching job, but was always thought to be a longshot for the role. He also interviewed with the Jaguars for their HC vacancy, but he will now be making a lateral move to Green Bay. The 61-year-old will be joining his fifth NFL team, holding the title of ST coordinator with each of the Buccaneers, Chargers, Cowboys and Raiders previously.

While the move isn’t a promotion for Bisaccia, it looks like it will nevertheless be a lucrative one. Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune tweets that his contract is expected to “set a new compensation bar for special teams coordinators”. Perhaps this will bring an end to the cycle of underwhelming performances in the third phase of the game for the Packers, while also giving one of the league’s most well-respected coaches a position on a Super Bowl contender.

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2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at February 6, 2022 10:15 pm

Last year, seven NFL teams opted to make a head coaching change. Sean Payton stepping away from the Saints created nine full-time vacancies available this year.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 2-7-22 (1:45pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

63 comments Arizona Cardinals Buffalo Bills Chicago Bears Cincinnati Bengals Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants PFR Originals Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Tampa Bay Buccaneers

CB Rasul Douglas Open To Packers Return

By | at February 6, 2022 12:58 pm

Cornerback Rasul Douglas was a revelation for the Packers in 2021. The West Virginia product was selected by the Eagles in the third round of the 2017 draft, but Philadelphia deemed him expendable at final cutdown time before the start of the 2020 season and placed him on waivers. He was claimed by the Panthers shortly thereafter and went on to start 11 games for Carolina in 2020.

However, he finished as a middle-of-the-road performer that year per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, and he signed a one-year pact with the Raiders last April, only to be cut in August. Sensing that he might have a good opportunity with the rebuilding Texans, he signed with Houston one day after being released by Las Vegas, but he was cut again less than a week into his Texans tenure. He subsequently hooked on with the Cardinals’ taxi squad and was poached by the Packers in early October.

Douglas, 27, enjoyed a career year in Green Bay. In just 12 regular season games (nine starts), he picked off five passes, returning two for touchdowns. He had always shown solid ball skills, having averaged 8.5 passes defensed per year over his first four seasons in the league, but his ability to convert those PDs into picks in 2021 was a major asset to the Packers’ defense.

It stands to reason, then, that the club would want to bring Douglas back, and for his part, Douglas is certainly amenable to a return. When asked what it would take for him to re-sign with the Packers, Douglas said all the team would need to do is ask. On a follow-up question as to how much more money Green Bay would have to pay him above the prorated $990K veteran minimum he earned from the team in 2021, he replied “probably a little more. Nothing crazy” (Twitter link via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic).

Of course, even a modest raise will be difficult for the Packers to accommodate. The club is currently projected to be more than $45MM over the cap, and that’s before a presumptive franchise tag for WR Davante Adams. Green Bay has only three CBs under contract for 2022, and while two of those players — Eric Stokes and Jaire Alexander — are high-quality starters, retaining Douglas on something of a team-friendly deal would be especially helpful to a defense that could lose some pass rushing prowess (Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith) in the front seven.

Douglas’ market will be interesting to monitor. In addition to his counting stats, he allowed just a 45.3% completion rate in 2021, and opposing passers had a meager 49.6 QB rating when throwing in his direction, the third-best mark in the league. So there is plenty of reason to believe that his breakthrough 2021 campaign is sustainable, and assuming rival clubs feel that way, Douglas could be priced out of Green Bay’s range.

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Bears Hire Richard Hightower As ST Coordinator

By | at February 6, 2022 10:21 am

New Bears head coach Matt Eberflus continues to fill out his first staff. Chicago has hired Richard Hightower as its special teams coordinator, the team announced.

This move qualifies as something of a surprise. Hightower had served as the 49ers’ ST coordinator since 2017, joining the Niners when Kyle Shanahan accepted the team’s head coaching post. The two men were college teammates at the University of Texas, and they also worked together on coaching staffs in Houston, Washington, and Cleveland, so it may have been difficult for Eberflus to prise Hightower away from San Francisco.

On the other hand, the 49ers’ special teams units generally struggled over the past several years and ranked 26th in the league in terms of DVOA in 2021, so Shanahan may have been more willing to let his longtime colleague depart than he might have been in years past. Still, Hightower remains a respected coach, and from 2017-19, San Francisco’s kicking unit ranked first in the NFL in made field goals (102) and fourth in field goal percentage (89.5). The club’s punt coverage ranked second in the league over that three-year span (h/t 49ers.com). Of course, Hightower’s charges also played a pivotal role in the Niners’ upset of the Packers in this year’s divisional round matchup, blocking a field goal on the final play of the first half and returning a blocked punt for the team’s only touchdown.

Rich Bisaccia was recently considered the favorite for the Bears’ ST coordinator post, and as Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets, Bisaccia was indeed the first choice. It sounds as if Eberflus would have been willing to let Chris Tabor, who worked as Chicago’s special teams coordinator from 2018-21, to continue in his role, but Tabor jumped ship to the Panthers.

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among others, believes this move means that Bisaccia will be heading to Green Bay (Twitter link). We heard just yesterday that the Packers are in talks with Bisaccia about their own ST coordinator vacancy.

Hightower, 41, worked as Chicago’s assistant special teams coordinator in 2016. He has 15 years of coaching experience in the NFL.

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network first reported that the Bears were hiring Hightower (via Twitter).

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