Ty Montgomery to Baltimore

[revo]

Well, you knew this was coming....

[revo]

GB also ships Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington

[Long John]

As a Packer fan, I get shipping out Ty. But why trade HaHa for a 4th rounder when the Packers secondary is a weakness? Not super thrilled with the new GM.

[revo]

As a Packer fan, I get shipping out Ty. But why trade HaHa for a 4th rounder when the Packers secondary is a weakness? Not super thrilled with the new GM.

Don't understand it at all. The Packers aren't dumping for next year. Maybe Chancellor can shed some light on this.

[Gregg]

The Packers know they are done. So they might as well grab some draft assets.

signed-Bears homer.

[chancellor]

Don't understand it at all. The Packers aren't dumping for next year. Maybe Chancellor can shed some light on this.

Well....there's two trains of thought:

1. Based on advanced metrics, Clinton-Dix's level of play has dropped dramatically this year. Combine that with his known tackling issues (he's heavily prone to arm tackle), the GM's belief that the dropoff in play from Clinton-Dix to the next best alternative (Josh Jones or Jermaine Whitehead) is not that great, and well worth an unprotected 4th round pick. My personal choice would be Josh Jones, but that leaves deep coverage at risk. Jones is a great physical presence, decent in zone coverage, but flawed in man coverage to a high extent. Kentrell Brice, the other safety, is almost the direct opposite of Jones - he's made giant gaffes in zone coverage, especially deep, isn't really physical, but is very good in man coverage, even against premier TEs. Whitehead is OK, but certainly not very good or great, at all aspects.

This, or some varient thereof, is what Packer management and press are peddling right now. I agree that Clinton-Dix's play level has significantly diminished this year, and he sure seems to be playing in a manner to protect his body with his upcoming free agency. While true, he's still better than all three safety options, especially in space. The better option I'd see would be moving Tramon Williams to safety, especially in clear passing situations. All I know is defensive coordinator Pettine will have a much more challenging task this week prepping for the Patriots.

2. Despite what they're publicly saying, Clinton-Dix may have done/said something following the Montgomery event that put him even further in the doghouse than his slipping play was moving him, and the Packers decided to move on. I'm highly doubtful this is the case, but emotions were running high after the game, so I'm not absolutely ruling it out.

I'll disagree with Long John a little bit - overall, I think Gutekunst has done well in his first year. His work on draft day was excellent - he secured the Saints first round pick for next year at a cost of a third and a fifth and three draft slots, and still got the player he wanted in Jaire Alexander. I do wish he'd have cleared more cap space this year by cutting Cobb, but Cobb and Clay Matthews come off the books next year. With that, and the additional $3.5 mil that comes off from this deal, the Packers will have an enormous amount of cap space this offseason. They'll burn a bit of that with some extensions, but we'll see how Gutekunst does in the free agent market next year.

P.S. And we don't need Clinton-Dix to beat the Bears. Just Aaron Rodgers.