Green Bay Packers shake up front office with unexpected move
The Green Bay Packers are making a major front-office move.
NFL insiders reported Monday that Packers general manager Ted Thompson will be moved to another role in the organization.
Sources: #Packers GM Ted Thompson is expected to transition into a new role within the organization. The team will begin a search for a new GM. Bombshell.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 1, 2018
As a result, Green Bay will be looking for a new GM.
Ted Thompson will not return as the GM of the Green Bay Packers but will remain with the team. The front office will go through a reorganization with team president Mark Murphy defining new roles for current members of front office, per league and team sources.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 1, 2018
“The front office will go through a reorganization with team president Mark Murphy defining new roles for current members of front office, per league and team sources,” tweeted Mortensen.
Thompson, who has been the team’s GM since 2005, will be with the team in an advisory role.
Bottom line: The Packers will conduct a GM search and there are obvious in-house candidates.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 1, 2018
As for his replacement, the Packers will look for internal and external candidates.
“The Packers have four strong internal candidates in Russ Ball, Brian Gutekunst, Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf, but the search also is expected to include outside candidates,” ESPN’s Rob Demovsky wrote.
“That could include former Packers scouts Reggie McKenzie and John Schneider. McKenzie and Schneider, however, are general managers with the Raiders and Seahawks, respectively, and the Packers likely would have to make a trade if they wanted one of those candidates,” Demovsky added.
Russ Ball, Packers VP of football administration, player personnel director Brian Gutenkunst and possibly director of football ops Eliot Wolf are expected to have re-defined duties as Thompson moves to another role, per sources.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) January 1, 2018
Packers team president Mark Murphy will address the situation Tuesday, according to reports.
Thompson, 64, has had a successful run throughout his tenure in Green Bay, bringing success and stability to the organization. He drafted Aaron Rodgers with his first pick in 2005, hired Mike McCarthy as coach in 2006, and built the team that won Super Bowl XLV in 2011 over the Steelers.
https://twitter.com/brennen_rupp/status/947976597797261315
The Packers have only had three losing seasons since Thompson became GM, including this year, when the team finished 7-9. Eight of those losses came after Rodgers went down with a broken collarbone Oct. 15 at Minnesota. The Packers were 4-1 when Rodgers went down with the injury.
https://twitter.com/EBrooksUncut/status/947980402639110144
Thompson’s tenure will be remembered for his strength in building championship-caliber teams via the draft, as well as his disdain for acquiring talent through free agency.
That reluctancy to add veterans pieces at key positions frustrated many fans of the team, who often believed Green Bay was just a player or two away from winning more than one Super Bowl with Rodgers in his prime.
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