Inbox: Such a move sends a message

Frank from Louisville, KY

What will the Packers be looking for in the upcoming 2025 draft?

Good players.

Ron from Broken Arrow, OK

Mike, when will the next Wednesday question-and-answer session take place?

I'll try to do another mid-week live chat at some point once the coaching staff dust settles here and LaFleur gets everything in place for '25. If I haven't ventured off to parts unknown by then, that is.

Craig from Brookfield, WI

There's reason for much optimism in Packerland, IMHO. A proven coach and GM, a very young roster that is already in the playoff mix, a good QB who shows signs of more promise. If Jordan Morgan and MarShawn Lloyd return to full health, it will be like adding two additional high draft picks to the 2025 draft talent. Does the Pack expect both Morgan and Lloyd to be fully healthy for the beginning of training camp?

I believe so, yes.

James from De Pere, WI

Good morning comrades. Two Packers players that we hear little or nothing about are Jacob Monk and Ty'Ron Hopper. Are they progressing so to be valuable contributors next season? Any behind the scenes information that you could share would be appreciated. Thank you.

I don't have any because our ability to watch them in 11-on-11 during practice ended when training camp ended. But I would consider both of those players high on the watch list this coming spring and summer.

Josh from Seattle, WA

Which Packer UFA do you think is most valuable to bring back? Who do you think will get the best deal if they sign elsewhere? I am thinking it's Josh Myers to both questions, but could see T.J. Slaton as well.

Myers almost certainly would command the biggest contract, and I think Slaton could be difficult for the Packers to replace given how much the run defense improved. But to me the highest priority amongst the pending UFAs is Brandon McManus.

Tom from Palatine, IL

Should be a very interesting offseason in the NFC North. Minnesota starting over with a new QB, Chicago with a whole new coaching staff, Detroit having to replace their coordinators, and the Packers with stability in the coaching staff but some interesting roster decisions. Which team do you think has the biggest challenge and whom would you classify as the favorite for next season? This past season raised many questions, can't wait for it to start all over again. GO PACK GO!

I think the biggest challenge lies with any team starting over at quarterback, but that doesn't mean it automatically ranks fourth. It's way too early to pick a favorite before the offseason unfolds, but that could come down to splitting hairs anyway.

Earl from Racine, WI

Good morning gentlemen, and so begins the long wait until August and the next Packer game! If the NFL is so worried about player safety, why are offensive players who are running with the ball allowed to use stiff arms to the face but linemen are not? Also running backs can lower their heads and lead with their helmets. Confused?

We've gotten numerous versions of this question over the last several months, so I'm going to take a shot at it. First, to clarify, running backs are getting fined (usually not flagged) for lowering their heads and leading with their helmets if they're outside the tackle box or downfield. That is now illegal. Second, regarding facemasks, I think there's been a strange evolution to the penalty that has brought us to the apparent double standard. Prior to 2008, there were two facemask fouls, a 5-yard "incidental" call where the contact with the mask was minimal and released right away, and a 15-yarder that involved a pull or twist of the mask. In 2008, the league did away with the distinction, promoting the idea that "incidental" facemasks wouldn't be called anymore, and there would only be 15-yarders for the more egregious pull/twist types. But now in the player safety era, the old 5-yarders that weren't supposed to be called are 15-yarders on defenders, while the distinction still applies to offensive players who aren't flagged unless there's a pull/twist. That explanation is far from satisfactory, I realize, but that's the path the rules and their application have taken as far as I can tell.

Bruce from Jackson, WI

Mike and Wes, I'm starting to see more of an acknowledgement in submissions, and your responses, that we might not have such a great WR room as we previously thought. I'm assuming WRs drop to the later rounds when drafted because of their hands, route running and injury history. With the increased speed and intensity of the NFL can teams really improve a player's ability to catch the ball and run routes? They have played the game and been coached forever. Anecdotally, I say no.

So Jennings, Jones, Nelson, Cobb, Adams – all drafted in the second or third round, not the late rounds – didn't improve their route-running and pass-catching abilities over their careers? They were who they were from the day they arrived? C'mon, man. Did the Packers' young receivers show as much growth and progress as anticipated last season? No. More was expected. But one year that doesn't measure up and is clearly an outlier over this franchise's recent history doesn't suddenly mean the process is to be questioned as a waste of time. All this evaluation as prisoner of the moment is exhausting.

Steve from Beaver Dam, WI

I see a lot of fans insisting the Packers need to sign a veteran wide receiver, but won't they already have multiple veteran wide receivers on the roster next year? Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs will be in their fourth year, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Bo Melton in their third, and all five have playoff experience.

I tend to agree, and it's on them to prove the organization's faith is well-placed. I also think what LaFleur said in his final news conference about featuring the tight end more will help mitigate Watson's prolonged absence. Knowing not all those receivers are getting second contracts here, I see the Packers looking to replenish through the draft rather than free agency.

Jason from Mt. Prospect, IL

This is not a brag. I knew that the 2024 Packers' defensive pass rush was nowhere near capable of a playoff run by probably Week 4 or 5 of the season. I find it strange that I felt this way so early on this season, especially because last season it didn't seem to be a major cause for concern. The Packers fired their defensive line coach immediately after the season ended. My question is, how much of the Packers' pass rush struggles were due to coaching, and how much of it is simply on the players?

It's never all on one side, even if it's the position coach who gets dismissed. Such a move sends a message beyond simply that the coaching must improve. It's an indictment of the entire group not getting it done, and it puts a position on notice. The players know if they'd performed better their coach wouldn't have been fired, and they're expecting more competition for playing time now, too.

Kyle from St. Charles, MO

Do you think the successful signings of Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney on the heels of two players either entering the final years of a contract or free agency will encourage Gutekunst to take a couple more swings at top-tier free agents? Are there even current FAs on par with those two at their respective positions? Would a potential trade to improve positional needs be more likely? Or do you sense more of a desire for natural progression at particular positions?

We'll have to see what the landscape looks like in mid-March, but in one of our last "Unscripted" episodes I stated there's a good chance no one available in free agency this year will be of Jacobs'/McKinney's caliber. Last year wasn't normal and Gutey pounced. There will inevitably be guys "at the top of the market," but that doesn't mean the contracts that status commands will be worth it. Maybe he grabs a guy right when the bell rings again, or maybe he waits to see if some prices come down. I honestly don't know how it's going to go. Whatever the case, he'll look for meaningful value, whether they're top-tier or mid-level guys.

Adrian from Oregon City, OR

Spoff, your face is blue, I know. But replay didn't ruin baseball, as many predicted. The automatic strike zone is coming. What's so hard about getting the call right, so the competition is fair? What's wrong with the NFL? Why can't the refs or "eye in the sky" just ask for assistance when they need it? They delay the game for commercial breaks anyway. What's so difficult?

That's the rhetorical to beat all rhetorical questions.

Thomas from Cedar Rapids, IA

Love may be clocked a tick faster than Mahomes but that is immaterial. The real thing that separates the two is being able to slow down at the right time to get the extra 15 yards.

Nicely done.

Harry from Rochester, NY

In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills had the 10th pick. They traded that pick away to the Kansas City Chiefs, who selected Patrick Mahomes. The Bills will be forever cursed, just like the Boston Red Sox's were for trading Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.

Maybe the Bills will get their Super Bowl the way the mid-'90s Packers did – by having someone else knock out their nemesis, and then they usurp the throne. Just saying it's happened before.

Dwight from Brooklyn, NY

I imagine Bill Belichick's suggestion of renaming the Lombardi Trophy the Brady Trophy will spark a lot of comments. So, I'll toss my 2 cents' worth in: Name the Super Bowl MVP Trophy the Brady Trophy, since he won it five times.

With the first and last coming 19 years apart (2001, 2020). I wouldn't have a problem with that. Mahomes may be about to win his fourth already, but I don't know if we'll ever see a QB win Super Bowl MVPs 19 years apart again.

James from Appleton, WI

The Super Bowl, for me, will be all about Saquon Barkley. Can he get enough yards to be named the MVP, which hasn't been a running back for XXVII years? And we don't want to think about who that last running back was.

Has it really been that long since a running back won it? Wow. I was sitting in the auxiliary press area in that end zone where TD scored the winning (losing) TD. That feels like a lifetime ago.

Paul from Ledgeview, WI

Mike, do you think this recent postseason is the next step in diluting the NFL brand? Based on the Q&As this week in II, it would appear football is beginning to lose its center. The direction football is taking is moving the appeal away from serious football fans and away from football, towards entertainment. Can football survive without the hardcore fans of the game? Owners it would seem are banking on that. Give me a 16-game season, 55-man rosters, only six playoff teams...

Sports leagues will always count on their hardcore fans to be there, and they'll look to grow the game by appealing more to casual fans. That's just the nature of the business, not specific to the NFL. Expanded postseasons and certain rule changes are always part of that casual fan equation. In the NFL, overseas games fit that growth motivation, as do rules geared toward offenses. More scoring generally equates to larger audiences, even though many traditional fans are fine with 13-10 final scores. The promotion of gambling provides "something else" to capture interest among those who may not know or care who Bart Starr or Joe Montana was. And if some hardcore fans get turned off while the volume of casual fans captured exceeds the loss, they look at that as an overall plus. But they're pretty sure the hardcore aren't going anywhere, by definition.

Tom from Southfield, MI

II, somehow "jackwagon's clickbait" has to make it onto a T-shirt.

That's my new sub for "banana in the tailpipe … I ain't fallin' for no jackwagon's clickbait."

Matt from Las Cruces, NM

Is all of the money from the complaint jar spent on buying root beer for the office?

No, it's for Wes's celebratory Saturday morning coffee now that Friday is the last Insider Inbox of the week for a while. One of us will talk to you Monday morning. Have a good weekend, everybody.