Digging into the Packers blueprint under Ted Thompson

I was astonished to read something about the Packers at ESPN today. Regarding the signing of Jeff Saturday it is notable that the veteran center for Peyton Manning is the first unrestricted free agent signing for the Packers in three years. That led me to do some more digging and I found that the Packers are so proud of the way that their team is built that they have a “How The Packers Were Built” page on their website. On that page it tells you that 33 of the current Packers were drafted vs. 31 who arrived by way of free agency. That free agent total sounds pretty high, but so many of them were undrafted rookies it makes sense. Donald Driver is the lone player remaining from the 1999 draft. Chad Clifton is the lone player from the 2000 draft. Then there is a scary break in the action as the Packers have no representatives on the team from 2001 – 2004. During that time coach Mike Sherman fulfilled both the coach and GM role until Ted Thompson was hired in 2005. Thompson drafted Aaro...