#514 Packers Unscripted: Deserved honors

done that for the last several selections. He's bypassed and let someone else go in his place. But along those same lines, the Packers have now had three alternates who have been chosen for the Pro Bowl to replace some other players, and that would be wide receiver Davante Adams, defensive lineman Nny Clark, and outside linebacker za Darius Smith. And uh, certainly a neat moment for Clark and Smith because this is the first Pro Bowl for either player. Yeah,

and incredibly well deserving for both of them. One Zadarius Smith had one of the finest seasons of any player in the National Football League this year. The way he was utilized, the number of positions that he played in

just his overall effectiveness at all these different spots. Kenny Clark kind of reminds me of a player that a lot of times with these defensive line and offensive line positions, unless you're Aaron don you know, Donald, it takes you a little bit of time to build up your name to get a Pro Bowl nomination, to get it, to get an addition and alternate, and then finally actually making

the team. This is a big step for him. I thought the way that he came on the second half of the season, particularly in the month of December, he

deserves that recognition in that nod. But let's talk about Davante Adams for a section, because the first thing that jumped out to me when I saw that he got it one it's very rare that any player is able to make three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances, but for Davante, it's the first time in twenty six years that it's happened as a Packers receiver, with Sterling Sharpe in the last to accomplish that feat. For Sharp, it was his last three seasons nine before he ended up prematurely retiring.

So yeah, so I mean, just a tremendous honor for Davante And and the thing that stood out to me, you know, I pulled up his stats, and he had a remarkable postseason mike a hundred catches, one thousand two yards, seven touchdowns if you count his four teen games with the postseason. I think what we're seeing here. You know,

Aaron Rodgers has had some phenomenal receivers. I'm not going to get in a thing here where we start ranking them, sure, but Davante Adams has a real opportunity here to become something special in this franchise history and in this league. I think he's in the shorthand right now five six guys that I think are the pre eminent receivers in the National Football League. And he does it with everything. His athleticism, his skill, his footwork, his tenacity. He is

a complete football player. So to see him despite the turf toe that wiped him out for October, to see him get this accolade very well deserved. Well. When you look at Adam's stats, you subtract the four games he missed in the regular season, he played two postseason games. If you look at that as his season fourteen games, which is still not quite a full season, but fourteen games that he played he had was that a hundred catches catches, I mean, that's that's pretty impressive on the

face of it. And when you talk about the postseason two this is interesting because Adams went over a hundred yards and both of the Packers playoff games this year. He now has four one yard receiving games in the playoffs in just eight career postseason games. The four one yard games, that's already the most of any Packers player in postseason history to top a hundred yards four times.

And when you think about all of these receivers through the far Van Rogers era and Oneal Freeman, Robert Brooks, Javon Walker, Sterling Sharp, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cop, Greg Jennings, James Jones, I mean, all of these guys in just eight postseason games, Davante Adams already has more yard games in the playoffs than any of those guys. That's that's really something. And and um, as you said, the three

straight Pro Bowls certainly deserving of it. And uh, you just you wonder if not for those missed four games in the middle of the season, maybe what his regular season stats would have been. He ended up just the three yard shy of a thousand yards season again for the second time in in his career. But he's getting the recognition he deserves, and certainly the way teams are defending him, the way teams are game planning for him. Um,

he's uh, he's not going unnoticed out there in the NFL. No. And and just that he's doing this against the top cornerbacks, and he's doing it against double coverage and everything else that coordinators are throwing at him. The thing I wanted see this offseason. Uh. And I hope people don't take this the wrong way. I'm sure some will. Is. Man, it'd be great if the Packers draft a young receiver here.

I don't care what round it is, but man, you're able to get as many young guys as you can into that room right now with Davante Adams to see how that guy works. I was talking with Alan Lazard about this during clean out. I mean just the the improvements that he feels he's made just by being in Adam's presence, being able to ask him questions, Uh, seeing the way that he approaches the game mentally. Uh, this

I think Davanta Adams is a sum of all the parts. One, he's a phenomenally talented player and he has a great head on his shoulders. But being able to share that that room with Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, and having the relationship that he did with James Jones, all of that has manifested into what I feel is like the ultimate Packers receiver at this point. And the man, the more young guys that you can get in there with them,

that'd be really that'd be really special. That I was going to say, you have to start, you have to continue the pipeline here, right. That goes back to say Donald Driver, who is Donald Driver and Greg Jennings were really the two receivers who sort of made the transition from far Over to Rogers. You know, they played and James Jones as well, although Jones was only here for um for far as last season before Rogers took over

as a starter. But you had those guys, and you know, they were the ones who brought along, you know, the Jordy Nelson's and the Randall Cobbs and then and then Nelson and Cobb at different times rose into those leadership roles now it's Davante Adams. You have to keep that pipeline going, right, I mean it's about it's about that leader setting the example for the other guys. And um, yeah, you'd certainly you'd certainly like to see the who who's

the next Davante Adams. You know, who's the next Randall Cobb? Who's the next Jordy Nelson? That that Aaron Rodgers is going to be throwing too here at the at the tail end of his career, and we'll just have to wait and see. Yeah, it's it's just you go back to two thousand fourteen, right when they drafted Davantae, they didn't really need a receiver quote unno, well they need Jordy Nelson when they drafted him in two thousand and eight either with all the with all the u the

weapons that they had. But look how that draft book turned out. When you have a house like that and you're able to bring that kind of talent in there,

it's just neat to see that all messed together. Honestly, when the press release got announced on Tuesday morning and they sent it out that it was DeVante Clark in Zadarius, I know there are certain things within contracts and how it's different from making the Pro Bowl as an alternate as as far as first back, right, yeah, all those incentives and things like that, but just being able to get that on their resumes. To say that Kenny Clark is a Pro Bowl defensive tackles, Zadarius Smith is a

Pro Bowl linebacker. I think it would have been an ultimate travesty if we would have gotten through this whole gamut here Mike and Zadarius Smith. He just had a normal season, no huge accolades. I mean that it's good to at least being able to the silver line and the consolation whatever description you want to throw on it, that that guy gets to be able to have that type of recognition and now he doesn't get to wear

the snubbed shirt anymore. Sort of just a little edit editing job on the on the Okay, all right, well we'll go We'll go with that. Well, the other thing we definitely need to talk about today is Monday. Yesterday was locker clean out day, which is always It happens every year, right, I mean, the season ends, at some point, the players are cleaning out their lockers, saying their goodbyes.

It's our last chance to interview some players for some stories and whatnot before they all disperse and head into their offseason vacations. And it was there was an interesting I don't know if interesting is the right word. There was. There was a whole mixture in terms of the vibe in the room because a lot of guys were talking about just the camaraderie of that locker room and how

close it was and everything like that. But at the same time, they're processing the fact that you know, the season's over and they came so close to a Super Bowl and don't always know who's going to be back there.

There is inevitable change year to year in the NFL in terms of the roster, in terms of the makeup of the locker room, So all of those things were kind of swirling around, uh during these interviews, and it's it's kind of a difficult day in a way for the players to to process, but it's interesting to to get their insights in it when you know they themselves are are are kind of going through it when everything

ends so abruptly as it always does in the postseason. Yeah, it was it was, you know, when I was walked in there, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Yeah, you know, these locker rooms, they can go a lot of different ways. The the overall theme that I took from it, I don't know if you'd agree with me or not, was uplifted. It just seemed like guys were pretty upbeat for the most part, compared to what I felt to be a pretty emotional and not downtrodden but

just exhausted locker room the night before. Yeah, you know, just talking to Mercedes Lewis a little bit and first and foremost, he said he fully intends to play next year would be his fifteenth NFL season if he does. But this is a guy that a year ago, and I wrote about the some Packers dot Com is that he stepped back and he took two months basically to decide whether or not he still wanted to do this.

He needed that after what was a really turbulent year in which he only played seventeen percent of the offensive snaps. He didn't know if this is what he wanted to do anymore, and with everything that happened this season for him individually and most specifically as a team. Within twenty four hours of that game ending against San Francisco. He's like, yeah,

I'm back. I want to be back. And regardless, he says he sees a lot of bright, you know, bright future here for this team in this locker room, in the direction they're headed. But there was a statement that I thought stood out to me more than any other in this locker room, and it actually came from Jared vel Deer, and it was over to our friend Bill Huber with s I and he said, this is one of the most fun years he's ever had. Jared veld years been here for about a month and he's played

ten NFL seasons. Yeah, for him to come into this locker room and feel that energy and to have that as his lasting impression. Guy who didn't know if he wanted to play this game anymore when he retired in may to say something like that, and he probably and I'd have to double check on his background, but he might not have known a soul in that locker room before he arrived. Billy Turner was Turner, and Turner was

the only I mean, he didn't know anybody else. There was almost there was no familiarity there at all, but go ahead. He caught Turner for one I think one season, two seasons and no. One season in Denver, and then he played half a season with Tremont in Arizona. That was But you're right, this guy didn't know these offensive lineman. I think he had a little bit of a background with Brian Bulaga because they came out in the draft the same year, and you you kind of, you know,

notice other players at your positions. But here he is getting welcome in that locker room and then being able to have the success that he did. I mean jumping in twenty minutes for the Seattle game, starting at right tackle in a pivotal playoff game, finishing that game against Detroit, when when Balaga left with the knee injury or with the concussion, excuse me, It's just this was a special team. It was a special year, and no matter what piece

they brought into it, it just fit perfectly. So on one side, that's the thing that hurts, because you had a locker room that probably was as tight as it's gonna be. Yeah, I that seem almost utopian the way

it ended up working out. But on the other side of it, it's a young core, there's motivated players, and you're going into the second year now is with the head coach in place, there's optimism and appreciation I think for what happened in Yeah, there definitely is and uh and as tough as it is to to see the season end, and you know, these guys that they're realist to West, they know they are absolutely no guarantees that they'll ever get that close again. You don't know if

you're going to get that shot again. Obviously, as you said, there's there's optimism that the Packers can get back there. But just because you think so, just because you have the talent to do it, um, even if you put together the regular season to do it, the playoffs are the playoffs, and you just don't know if you'll ever get back to that point. But you mentioned Marcedes Lewis.

He's one of thirteen, I believe is the number of pending unrestricted free agents that the Packers will be making contract decisions on over the next couple of months, with free agency officially starting in I believe it's the second

week of March um. But just to rattle off a few of the bigger names on that pending pending free agency list as far as the unrestricted guys, Marcedes Lewis Brian Balaga, Blake Martinez, Tremont Williams, Kyler Fackrel, who else Mason Crosby, Yes, absolutely, and then you got your Ibraheim Campbell's, your Tyler Urban's. Yeah, some of those guys who haven't been here as long, but they are also a vested veterans and and at the to their contracts and they

will be unrestricted as well. So thirteen of them all together, and you know how this works West, There's absolutely no way there is enough money under the salary cap. As much as the packers would love to keep this whole group together and say, hey, let's make another run at it, that's not realistic. That's not how this is going to work. We don't know who's going to be back and who

won't be out of those thirteen players. If we did, we wouldn't be doing this show, right, Yeah, If if we did, we'd be spending our time doing some other things. But um, the locker room cohesion, the chemistry, the camaraderie.

I think that's an interesting thing because that it'll be it'll be a challenge next year, um for you know, to repeat that, and I I I just hope for the player's sake that as much as everything this year with that, locker rooms seem to just seem to just happen organically and naturally based on the personalities of the guys who were leaders at certain position groups, whether you're talking the Smiths or whether you're talking the Bolaghas and bok Trs, you know, on the offensive line and Davante

Adams at wide receiver. All of that you can't you can't force it, you know. So whatever the personnel changes are and whatever new faces come into the locker room, and certain guys who maybe leave and and play, you know, played big roles, but maybe they won't be back, you just have to kind of let it happen again and

and and see where it goes. And I don't think they're going to be able to repeat what they had in terms of the locker room cohesion moving forward in But that's not to say that you can't still have a locker room that works and and get what you need, get what you need out of that in terms of

of the closeness of the team. And that's always the special thing about professional football, and honestly, to be fair to other sports, many other professional sports and college sports as well, is that you can you can you can draft, you can sign, you can recruit, you can do all these things. You can go on these intangibles, you can ask all the questions, but until those players are in the locker room, you don't always know what you're gonna get. And it goes both ways. It can be positive and

it can be negative. But I think the thing and one of the reasons why Aaron Rodgers, when he was at the podium on Sunday said, you know he's encouraged by this group because of the leadership, is every piece. Is every single piece going to be back? No, is this fifty three man roster that eggs of the field at Levi Stadium could be the same one that comes out on the field beginning of two thousand. But if you have that core in place, you know there's a

reason to believe that it can be similar. And you know, let's be honest too, And I'm really excited to talk to Brian Goodakuts. At some point, I guess it will probably end up in the NFL scouting combine what this group of scouts saw in these free agents. They added not just the four big ones that we always talked about, but you know, Jared Valder and reading the stories about how you know, teams were all reluctant to to potentially, you know, claim him. You know, they wanted to work

them out, they wanted to talk to him. Packers just claimed him and they accepted the contract that came with that. And then you look at, you know, a guy like Tyler Irvin that gets brought in and you know, some of the conversations I was hearing about how the scouts they knew and Rogers said it too, that the scouts knew that they liked him and they were following him.

And then he just comes free in December and they bring him in and you know that could potentially be the kickoff and punt returner next year for Green Bay. We have to wait and see. Yeah, timing is everything right, I mean it's it's because I'm sure there were you know, it wasn't the first time Tyler Irvin had been released, but at other times earlier in his career. When he is released and if the packers have their eye on him, it's all what is your roster situation at the time,

what are your needs? Do you have an opening or you know, are you are you thinking that you know, so and so is headed to injured reserves, so then you have a roster spot available. All of those things factor into it, and sometimes sometimes it's just the timing

is right, you know. For the Packers, the roster spot was there, or at least they were planning on creating one, and they clearly had a need to try to upgrade the special teams with the return and he comes, he comes in and you know, takes the bull by the horns, so to speak, and makes an impression right away when

he steps in there. And then all of a sudden, so, yeah, now here we are talking about it like, well, if they bring back Tyler Irvin, you know, then do we go into training camp next summer already knowing who the punt returner kick returner is going to be. Maybe that maybe that ends up being the case, but we'll see. Yeah. And the thing I love about it too, is that it's not like Tyler Irvan was just doing all the

same stuff in Jacksonville. Tyler Urban was averaging like a buck and a half on punt returns during those six weeks in Jacksonville. Just the job that the scouts due to find guys character athleticism, all those different measurables is just remarkable. But you know this is this is why they have to make big decisions though this offseason. Getting back to your original question, because well, don't you resign because beyond that you have Kenny Clark coming up on

the end of his rookie deal. Aaron Jones is eligible for an extension this offseason. If you want to go that route, David baktr is going to be coming down the pipeline here in that. That's the that's the difficult job that a general manager has away who stays, who goes? How do you allocate those funds. It's just like if you're in your house and you're trying to figure out

what you're gonna do with your monthly paychecks. You know, you obviously have to pay your mortgage, in your car payment, in Netflix and all that fun stuff, But how many bells and whistles do you get to add into this? That's what makes the lead great. And that's why I said, and I mentioned on yesterday show, I wrote it an inbox, very pragmatic offseason is needed for Green Bay to decide

we have an excellent opportunity, how do we maximize it. Yeah, exactly, it's how how do you how do you go about building another roster that's going to give you the best shot. And what's interesting here with the Packers when you're talking about some of these pending free agents Mason Crosby, Marcedes Lewis, Brian Bulaga, these aren't These aren't the guys who you know, like a Kenny Clark who's just getting to his second contract.

These are guys who they've already gotten their second and a lot of times even third contracts, and and uh, you know, they're obviously at the tail end of their careers, but they aid really really big roles on a really really good team. So those those can be tough decisions. And from their perspective, you know, they're like, well, this might be the last contract I ever signed. So they're trying to maximize on it for themselves, and the Packers are trying to decide, Okay, what is the value of

these players going forward. The business part of it is tough, you know, it's it's difficult there, it's not easy to find the right answers to all this. But as I like to say, that's why Brian Goudakuts gets paid the big bucks. Right, That's that's that's that's a job. That's that's the gig. So we're on Packers on scripted. We'll be writing Insider in box later. I'll go home at five o'clock and not have to watch any film. That's why we're in the positions that we're in. Yeah, exactly, Yeah, sure.

Well we've got a long off season obviously to talk about a lot of these issues, and we will find out later this week. At some point we're going to hear from Matt Lafleur Hill host a season ending com and I will close off this this edition of Unscripted.

I just want to go back to one thing because I had a chance to talk with Blake Martinez a little bit, getting back to these free instants and everybody else it is and one of the things that really it's incredible for me to watch now and I'm sure you feel like this to seeing a young West hot quits now in year four here with you at Packers dot Com. This league goes by so quickly, and and when I was talking with Martinez, he kind of scanned the locker room a little bit and he was talking

about how when he got in the door. Well, first and foremost, you know, he was the kid laying out in front of his locker. He always has had his film, you know, as iPad out. He was, you know, pelting rogers with questions, doing everything could be to learn. And he said he remembers, you know, there's a conversation he

had with with Clay Matthews. And you know, Matthews is making big money, he's a big contract and he said it to him, you know, somebody that's gonna be you, that's gonna be you, that's gonna be you know, going into unrestricted free agency and being able to do that. It's just insane how quickly those four years ago on rookie contracts. Well, I had just a brief moment to to say something to Mason Crosby yesterday as he was packing up. And I'll tell you, he was packing up

his shoes. I mean, I know he's a kicker, but my goodness is that man, I have a lot of

shoes in his locker. Holy cow. But anyway, I just had I had a brief moment to talk to him, and and uh, when you just when you I stopped and reflect on it, and I remember when Mason Crosby walked into the locker room as a sixth round draft pick out of Colorado and he was fighting for the kicking job with Dave Rayner, who had been the Packers kicker in two thousand and six, and it was, you know, this training camp battle and the whole thing it to think, I mean, that was so long ago, and yet it

just doesn't seem like it was that long ago. I mean, Mason Crosby is still here, and I mean we can we could spend show after show talking about a lot of these guys and and uh and all of our interactions with them, but Mason Crosby is still the same guy he was in two thousand seven. And I say that in absolutely the most complimentary fashion. He's he he's a pros pro and and you know, he's another one of those guys that whether it's sharing his own personal stories,

are facing the tough questions after a tough game. He's a guy that's always he's a guy that's always there, and he's he's been he's been great to work with and I certainly hope he's back. Just my personal my personal home. That's why I covered the NFL and any any major Sports League. It's so unique because I would argue with colleges, you don't always give a chance to really know guys because they're there for a little bit,

then they're gone. And but with with pro teams, you get to know guys for eight, ten, twelve years sometimes and that's only a fraction of their lives. It's only a fraction of our lives, but it's enough to get to know the person. And sometimes you end up seeing these people more than you do your own families, you know, around the office and things like that. But then they're onto the next chapter and it's NFL I think is

a really good, you know, microcosm of life. I just I think it's it's a perfect representation of what happens, how you build, how you learn, but so understanding how brief everything is. It was, it was cool. It's always those there's always a lot of self reflection in those final locker rooms because there is that idea, as you were pointing out earlier, that not everybody's going to be back and things will be different, and uh, I think that also makes you kind of appreciate those moments a

little more. Yeah. Absolutely, Well with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on packers dot com. You can subscribe to us, like us on iTunes and other podcast services, and check out the Packers YouTube channel for all kinds of great video content for West I'm Mike. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.