Training Camp - Day 1

[NCF]

I'm kinda with Lupe here.

I am generally against players holding out, but this new era of "hold ins" are sort of a compromise thing. Love shouldn't take snaps before securing his future, and the start of camp was a very well-known deadline and the negotiators failed to get it done. I'm not fully on "it's on the team," but it's on the negotiators on both sides, with more on the team because they know the deadline and they had to know it would be used as leverage, so this should be accounted for.

I agree completely. It is in the best interest of both parties for this to be done, so when one is winning dragging this thing out. Just get it done, but yeah, not one ounce of resentment towards Love for his stance.

[BF004]

Packers FO, especially under Gute, shown they are stone cold negotiators.

I do believe they are close, but Packers still fighting for just a few more wrinkles that can potentially give them the most flexibility to build the best team and I support that.

So I think it'll come in a day or two. Guessing both sides already gave a handful of concessions to get this closer.

Just as long as its end of the week, no harm done.

[BF004]

Also, cut out all the rifraf and get directly the packer related tweets.

Use the official packers-huddle twitter list. https://x.com/i/lists/1684218548535562244

No payments for 90 days and free ninety-nine a month after that.

[BF004]

[Pckfn23]

I expect the team to get the best deal they can in resigning Love. Period. If that takes a few more days, so be it. I don't resent Love in the slightest for holding In and trying to get the best deal he can.

[Cdragon]

Okay Clifford looked good. Jenkins getting time at C. Not a bad first day.

[Scott4Pack]

I may be a crotchety old man but if I'm Jordan Love and I want to lead this team to the Super Bowl do I really care if their offer is less than my agent's as long as it is close? Let's say it's $50m/year vs $55m/year. Big freaking deal,10 years ago he would have given his left nut to ever get paid $50m/year. It's just unfathomable to not practice over this kind of money.

If they weren't close then I would assume they would have brought in another QB.

It will get done soon. 5 million is a lot of money for everyone. Also incentives and bonuses I am sure are being discussed. I am okay with it being a few days holding out. I would feel differently if he was not on the sidelines and in meetings

It might be about guarantees. Some recent QB contracts have been VERY guaranteed and Green Bay doesn't like to do that.

[Scott4Pack]

Very disappointed in Love. He isn't showing leadership by "holding in."

And the team is just as likely to keep him off the field until a deal is finished. Two parts...

[Scott4Pack]

Packers FO, especially under Gute, shown they are stone cold negotiators.

I do believe they are close, but Packers still fighting for just a few more wrinkles that can potentially give them the most flexibility to build the best team and I support that.

So I think it'll come in a day or two. Guessing both sides already gave a handful of concessions to get this closer.

Just as long as its end of the week, no harm done.

Thanks for NOT being the knee-jerk voice.
:-)

[Pckfn23]

100% it is the guarantees that is holding this up. Packers are the most stingy when it comes to them and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[go pak go]

Very disappointed in Love. He isn't showing leadership by "holding in."

And the team is just as likely to keep him off the field until a deal is finished. Two parts...

Your statement makes no sense. Why would the Packers keep him off the field? The Packers have no reason to keep him off the field. He is under contract.

[Drj820]

Almost everyone here assumed that If Love played well, he would not play on year 2 of his little extension he signed. Well he played well. Time for Packers to pony up. Price is only going up. Love is in total control of the situation. If he wants guarantee after 1st year, time to get with the times.

[Cdragon]

From Acme Packing Co.

Defense
The base defensive starters today were Rashan Gary and Preston Smith at defensive end, Kenny Clark and T.J. Slaton at defensive tackle, Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson at outside linebacker, Quay Walker at middle linebacker, Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes at cornerback and Xavier McKinney and Javon Bullard at safety. The most notable news here is that Javon Bullard, who has mostly received first-team snaps as a sub-nickel defender or safety, has finally received a look over Anthony Johnson Jr., the lone safety on the Packers’ roster who has any significant experience actually playing defense for the team.

In nickel sets, per USA Today’s Ryan Wood, the starters were mostly the same. The only difference was that both outside linebackers (McDuffie and Wilson) were subbed out for rookie second-round linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and nickelback Keisean Nixon. The Packers are always slow at getting their rookie players involved in camp, but the fact that Bullard and Cooper are getting real first-team looks with the defense is promising for their path to playing time in the regular season.

Stokes and fellow cornerback Carrington Valentine saw a few snaps outside together, too, which is interesting. Obviously, Jaire Alexander is going to start at one of the cornerback spots, but one of Valentine or Stokes will likely be on the bench to start the season, as Nixon is the assumed starter in the slot.

A standout on defense today was 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, who Herman said had “a couple pressures” in a red zone period. Wood also mentioned that he views Van Ness and Smith — as well as Slaton and Devonte Wyatt — as players who are essentially interchangeable in the first-team lineup.

[Cdragon]

From Acme again.

Offense
With Reed out of the lineup, the starting wide receivers on the team were Dontayvion Wicks, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, per Packer Report’s Andy Herman. That shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, as the four receivers worked in a rotation for most of the 2023 season.

The offensive line is where the real questions are, especially with Tom still working in a limited role in practice. Initially, the team’s starters were Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan and Andre Dillard (left to right) with the first-team unit. First-round rookie offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, who played his entire college career at left tackle, did receive reps at right guard, though, which seems to be the most wide-open position on the Packers’ front this summer. On top of that, Packers.com’s Wed Hodkieweicz reported that Jenkins, who has previously played all five spots for Green Bay, got some first-team reps at center, too.

In truth, there are up to seven potential Week 1 starters that could make up the Packers’ offensive line. Until Tom returns to the lineup and we see whether or not he’s going to lock up the right tackle position or if the team is going to allow him to get some center snaps to push Myers, questions are going to remain up in the air. We’re far from these battles being won just yet.

One player who stood out on the offensive side of the ball was apparently Emmanuel Wilson, who had a “couple nice runs” per Herman. Wilson was a preseason star who did well enough last summer to make it through final cuts as an undrafted free agent. It will be more difficult for him to make the team in 2024, though, after the team paid Josh Jacobs in free agency, re-signed AJ Dillon and drafted MarShawn Lloyd in the third round.

[BF004]

Anyone going this week? Targeting making Wednesday

[APB]

Love the hot takes when people don't really know what's going on.

Let's just call it this. They should have had it done by now. That's a mistake by both sides. Let's also be real, both sides are not going to allow this to go on much longer.

Exactly.

It's on both side's negotiators. That said, I have zero worry about this having any lingering impact. It'll get done, and soon.

[NCF]

[BSA]

It's on both side's negotiators.

Yes. Sort of. Part of it is just the immensity of the deal. The future of the entire org is impacted by this contract.

There was no sense of urgency all summer and that takes away leverage from the agents who are asking for the moon
Meanwhile Love is in Europe getting engaged and Gute and his crew are also enjoying a well-deserved but brief summer respite

With the date for TC the only stake in the ground, that's when things heat up. There are approximately 37 sections to these QB contracts and each one is its own negotiating point in terms of dollars, triggers and payout dates. Its super important to the agents to get the hugest deal possible, ( in every category) that's their selling point for future clients. Their biz depends on it. And they don't care about anything else.

We also need to remember that Jordan Love played the "good soldier" for 3 years, patiently waiting his turn and honing his craft. He handled that like a real pro - and now his agents will want him to get paid for that effort.

Meanwhile Gute & Ball have an entire team to manage and spreadsheets going out 5 years with cap allocations, FA plans, cap growth etc and they want to fit this contract into their preferred structure AND find some ways to protect against catastrophe. The agents know that and will use it to their advantage. back and forth we go. All while having enough $$ left to build a talented team around their QB of the future.

Its easy enough to sit here and point fingers, but we don't really appreciate the entire process, the multiple private meetings and zoom sessions required to sign a $ 300 million 6 year NFL deal. In my career, I was involved in similar sized contracts ( clinical trials) and we typically spent 9-12 months putting it all together...finishing in a flurry when start dates were imminent. Classic human behavior.

The normal thing that happens most of the time ? Is exactly what's happening right now.

Deadlines spur action

[Pugger]

Okay Clifford looked good. Jenkins getting time at C. Not a bad first day.

As with past summers I suspect we'll see Clifford play a lot and not the starter. We all know what we have in Love so we have to see if his backup is good enough. Clifford and the others need the reps.

If this was August 23rd instead of July 23rd I could understand everyone's angst. I'm not too worried about a deal not getting done.

[Scott4Pack]

Very disappointed in Love. He isn't showing leadership by "holding in."

And the team is just as likely to keep him off the field until a deal is finished. Two parts...

Your statement makes no sense. Why would the Packers keep him off the field? The Packers have no reason to keep him off the field. He is under contract.

Simple. If the front office felt that keeping him off the field would be to their advantage, they'd do it. I'm not saying there's a large number of scenarios where that would be the case. But they were negotiating too.