Making sense of free agency

Andrew from Mount Dora, FL
Vic, what am I supposed to feel about what Gutekunst has done so far?
He had some money to spend and he spent it on players he believes will make the Packers better in 2018. Isn't that what everybody wanted? Loosen up the purse strings, right? Well, that's what he did. In the best-case scenario, Jimmy Graham becomes a playmaker in the Packers offense and Muhammad Wilkerson becomes a difference maker on defense. In the worst-case scenario, the Packers just wasted a lot of money on two over-the-hill guys looking to score one more big hit. Hey, that's the first week of free agency. It's risk for reward. You can't have one without the other.

Buford from Detroit, MI
Well, I'm a Lions fan and we finally got rid of Eric Ebron. Can you believe we drafted him ahead of Aaron Donald? How bad was that pick?
The Lions aren't alone in their mistake. In my mind, Aaron Donald should've been the first pick of that draft. It's not as though he didn't prove himself. He won the Outland, Bednarik, Lombardi and Nagurski awards at Pitt. He was by far the most dominant player at the Senior Bowl. Guys I've known for a long time said they had never seen anything like Donald's performance in Mobile. I'll never forget Zack Martin kissing Donald on the top of his head following the final one-on-one pass-rush drill of the week. Donald was throwing people through mid-air. Then he turned in a killer combine. What were the scouts thinking?

Ben from Visalia, CA
Do you have any predictions as to where Jordy Nelson will end up?
Look at the teams with need at wide receiver. The Bears are one of them. Wouldn't that be a kick in the butt?

John from Sheboygan, WI
After Sean Jones was let go, I clearly remember Ron Wolf saying the worst thing a GM could do was to fall in love with his players.
If you're not replacing your guys, you're not getting better, because the competition is replacing its players with better players.

Angel from Oceola Springs, CA
Can you believe the amount of money average players are getting in free agency? Unbelievable!
If you're going to participate in free agency, you better get it right. Otherwise, it's a trap for fools.

Justin from Titonka, IA
What is your favorite Jordy Nelson memory?
I think it's the back-shoulder catch he made down the sideline in the Packers' game-winning drive against the Giants at MetLife Stadium in 2011. The back-shoulder is his signature catch. I think it's how most Packers fans will remember him.

Braden from Waukesha, WI
Well, looks like we got more than socks this year. How do you feel about the Jimmy Graham signing?
Graham is the big receiver in the middle of the field Mike McCarthy covets. If he can overcome his injuries of recent years and get back to where he was in New Orleans, he can be a game changer for the Packers. He almost has to be a game changer because as a first-day-of-free-agency signing, he'll be a cap changer.

Sam from Jacksonville, FL
What's the incentive for staying so low under the salary cap? The Browns led the league last year in lowest salary and they fielded a winless team. How can you justify selling tickets to fans for a team that did not do all it could to field a competitive product?
The incentive for a crummy team to stay well under the cap is it can create room in future caps, when the team might be a playoff contender, to spend on players that can put the team over the top. A cap-conscious team creates a long-term plan.

Patrick from Burlington, IL
Which teams have helped themselves the most and which have hurt themselves the first days of free agency?
All of the participating teams think they've helped themselves but, in fact, most of them have hurt themselves. Next fall, we'll find out who the lucky few are.

John from Belle Plaine, MN
Vic, the Jordy Nelson release has left Packers fans with a lot of broken hearts. While I hate to see him go, I understand the business decision that was made. You must have seen this quite a bit. During your time covering the NFL, which released player was taken the hardest by the fan base?
Franco Harris.

Scott from Milwaukee, WI
What are all of these free agency moves doing to the Packers' cap?
Ask this question again after the Packers sign Aaron Rodgers to a new contract.

Roger from Gillette, WY
The Bears are being very active this offseason. It could be a real dogfight for the NFC North title this year, couldn't it?
The days of two guaranteed NFC North wins are over.

Josh from Tucson, AZ
Vic, Paul Posluszny has retired. Reading his retirement letter, this portion about growing up in Western Pa. caught my eye: "As a young boy, with tears in my eyes and afraid of contact, my first football coach approached me on the practice field and stated with a steely-eyed glare, 'Either stop crying or get off the field.' Thankfully, I wiped my eyes and continued to run and hit for the next 25 years." It's a tough game for tough boys and men. I'm glad I got to see him play for the Jags the past few years, and especially glad he finally got to the playoffs last year.
So ends the unheralded and largely unappreciated career of one of the best form tacklers in football history. Posluszny is the poster player for what a football player is supposed to be: Tough, dedicated, humble, productive. He looks like a football player. Former Jacksonville trainer Mike Ryan, whose contributions often appear in this column, recently told me a story of Posluszny's toughness in playing with an injury he didn't even divulge to the training staff. A good player isn't hurt if he doesn't think he's hurt. No one has ever referred to Posluszny as a "drugstore cowboy."

Pat from Green Bay, WI
So I agree with you expanding from six to seven playoff spots for each conference. Top team in each conference gets a bye, everyone else plays. Wouldn't mind one preseason game and maybe 17 regular season games. What do you think, Vic?
I favor staying at 16 regular season games and increasing the playoff field to 16 teams with no byes.

Mark from West Allis, WI
Can you comment on the relationship between the Saints and Drew Brees? Is there something that transcends football at play? Can you compare/contrast Brees-Saints with Brady-Patriots?
I think Brees is as much the identity of the Saints as Brady is the identity of the Patriots. Brees is the greatest player in Saints history. Beyond that, he is the savior of a region. He is the symbol of the Gulf Coast's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. He's too intelligent to taint or lessen that acclaim for a few more dollars. It's rare but it still happens. Jerome Bettis did it in Pittsburgh. It's nice to know some players love where they play as much as the place loves them.

Dan from Delray Beach, FL
As a Packers fan, I'm reasonably pleased the Vikings spent all that money on Cousins. In my estimation, he's very similar in talent to Keenum. Do you agree?
Kirk Cousins is a cut above Keenum. I think Cousins will flourish with the Vikings, especially since he's guaranteed nine dome games a season.

Dan from Burton on Trent, UK
Vic, if wide receivers are generally a dime a dozen, then what is Allen Robinson worth? Would GM Vic ever sign a free agent WR for big money?
Probably not.

Bill from South Dakota
When you covered the Packers, what did you think of Casey Hayward?
He reminded me of DeShea Townsend, who was an unspectacular but productive cornerback through a long NFL career. Hayward was never going to be a shutdown corner, but I thought of him as that reliable guy you need on the side opposite the shutdown guy. After all, he's the guy who gets tested the most. If it wasn't for his chronic hamstring problems, I think Hayward would still be playing for the Packers.

Anthony from Milwaukee, WI
GM Vic isn't as confident as he used to be his Green Bay Packers win another Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers. Do you brace yourself for the train and go all in? Would you ever consider trading Rodgers and trying a different approach?
If you're going to kill the cap to win it all, now's the time to do it. Trade Aaron Rodgers and begin rebuilding? No.

Isaac from Nashville, TN
Vic, with several years of hindsight, do you have any more thoughts on what happened during the 3:52?
They began to celebrate. Never sell; only buy.

Chad from Port Douglas, Australia
Is Damarious Randall any good? What’s your take?
The Packers missed on their projection for him to make the move from safety to cornerback. Now he's moving back to safety. This bears watching.

Mike from Perth, Australia
What were your thoughts and feelings about serving in Vietnam when you believed you were headed for war?
I didn't want to go but I did nothing to avoid being drafted. I got lucky. It bothers me so many of our recent presidents dodged military service. A patriot doesn't do that.

Lori from Brookfield, WI
Vic, trading, cutting and letting players test the free agent waters is part of the game. Which player's departure was hardest for you?
I'm not built that way. I have long accepted the fact professional football is about the money. The Brees-type players are exceptions. It's a game of replacement. I accept that fact, too.

Keith from Racine, WI
Vic, will you tell us a story about Joe Greene? Something that might help us understand the man better than we do now?
Joe is a deep thinker and football romantic. His words have stuck with me, especially the words "achieve immortality." Joe held the Steel Curtain together when the WFL tried to break it apart. His sales pitch to his teammates was: "Together, we can achieve immortality." Upon arriving at Newport Beach, Calif., for the start of Super Bowl XIV week, Joe immediately conducted a press conference, which he punctuated with the "achieve immortality" theme. Players don't speak as romantically about the game these days. They just want to contribute. It's very sad because football is a wonderfully emotional and romantic game. There is so much beauty players can convey to fans, but they hide it and I'm not sure why. Joe was a reporter's dream. He not only taught me how to watch football, he taught me how to write football. He is this reporter's all-time favorite player; always has been, always will be.