Back To The Backup Question » Brats & Beer

August 13, 2008
posted under: free agency, Packers, Ted Thompson

Remember back to those heady days of spring when Brett Favre retired and we thought he would stay retired? Ah, those were good times. But there was also the question of whether or not the Packers should be in the market for a veteran QB to back up Aaron Rodgers during his first year as a starter, a question that seemed to get answered with a resounding “no” by Ted Thompson because he didn’t sign anyone.

Now that we’ve had a chance to see Rodgers and his understudies play in an exhibition game, it’s fair I think to revisit the question because neither Brian Brohm nor Matt Flynn showed anything to suggest they could be an adequate backup at this point. Jason Wilde in today’s Wisconsin State Journal managed to ask TT about this and got the stock “we’re comfortable with our guys” answer, but the general manager also left himself some wiggle room by saying, “You can never say never.”

I read this to mean that Mike McCarthy still thinks he can turn one of those guys into a servicable backup in the next couple weeks. And who knows, maybe he can. I also think that neither TT nor MM is too thrilled with the talent out there looking for work, which by my reckoning is a pretty small group consisting of Daunte Culpepper, Tim Rattay, and Chris Weinke. Culpepper, of course, visited Green Bay this spring without any deal being done and just turned up his nose at a backup job in Pittsburgh, so I doubt his name is being discussed much. There didn’t seem to be much interest in Rattay at 1265 Lombardi Ave. earlier this year despite the protestations of Cheesehead TV. Minds may have changed, but probably not. Weinke? We might be better off with Flynn.

There is, of course, Craig Nall still waiting out in the wings. He might have a better grasp of the system than any other free agent candidate, he’s got some playing experience, and I’m guessing he still has a reserved seat at Brett Favre’s Steakhouse. Could Nall get his third act in Green Bay? You can never say never, I guess.