The Green Bay Packers’ 2018 offseason saw a significant brain

drain in the team’s front office. After Ted Thompson rode off into the sunset as a glorified area scout Oren Burks Jersey , Brian Gutekunst got the vacant general manager job and Eliot Wolf departed for the Cleveland Browns. Alonzo Highsmith went with him, as the team was deprived of two of its longtime personnel men in Gutekunst’s first year on the job.Today, however, an excellent scout with deep Packers ties is back on the market. The Raiders have reportedly fired general manager Reggie McKenzie, who was never going to survive a power struggle with Jon Gruden for long. Gruden’s ten-year contract and significant sway over personnel decisions made that arrangement untenable from the beginning, and the surprise is only that it took until now for owner Mark Davis to release McKenzie of his duties. On Sunday, a report emerged that McKenzie was expected to leave after the season, but according to Ian Rapoport, the team has elected to move on from him immediately.Now, it’s time for Gutekunst and team president Mark Murphy to make a phone call and get him back to Green Bay.McKenzie served in the Packers’ front office for nearly two decades, starting as a scout in 1994 and working his way up to director of player personnel. In 2012, the Raiders hired McKenzie as their GM, and he purged a roster that was deep in salary cap hell and built it up to a high-water mark of 12-4 in 2016. That year, he won the NFL’s Executive of the Year award Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jersey , largely due to that turnaround.Interestingly, Gutekunst held the director of player personnel job in Green Bay before he took over as GM. He and McKenzie worked together in the Packers’ front office for 13 years from 1999 through 2011, and should therefore have a relationship already. Currently, the Packers have co-directors of player personnel in Jon-Eric Sullivan and John Wojciechowski. However, the team could easily bring McKenzie in as a consultant for the remainder of 2018 before reshuffling the deck in the offseason to clearly define roles and responsibilities moving forward. McKenzie is a shrewd talent evaluator, and he helped identify several exceptional draft picks in his tenure in Green Bay. The Browns should also be interested in McKenzie, since he worked with Wolf and current Cleveland GM John Dorsey in Green Bay as well. Hopefully the prospect of returning to Titletown would lead him back to the shores of Lake Michigan rather than Lake Erie. The veteran didn’t even get a contract offer from the Packers this spring, and the young corps is probably a big reason why." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesAcme Packing Company homepageHorizontal - WhiteAcme Packing Companya Green Bay Packers communityFollow Acme Packing Company online:Follow Acme Packing Company on TwitterFollow Acme Packing Company on FacebookFollow Acme Packing Company on InstagramLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchAcme Packing Company main menuFanpostsFanshotsSectionsPackersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections The APC PodcastPackers Film RoomFantasy Football Adviceignoring Randall Cobb in free agencyNew,47commentsThe veteran didn’t even get a contract offer from the Packers this spring, and the young corps is probably a big reason why.CDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Packers’ faith in young receivers likely led to the team ignoring Randall Cobb in free agencyTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailMilwaukee Journal Sentinel-USA TODAY NETWORKEntering this offseason, it was a sure thing that Randall Cobb was going to take a pay cut. The eight-year veteran was coming off his worst season as a pro — with fewer receiving yards than even a 2013 season when he missed ten games — in the last year of a four-year, $40 million contract.There was no way he was going to get another contract of that level, but even so, it was a bit surprising to see the Green Bay Packers completely remove themselves from any negotiations with Cobb. He said as much on the Wilde & Tausch radio program last Friday Jimmy Graham Color Rush Jersey , noting that the Packers never even offered him a contract and that it felt “like the ex-girlfriend that broke up with you.” Cobb eventually signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys for 2019.This was the second straight season that saw the Packers and new general manager Brian Gutekunst part ways with a long-tenured receiver. In 2018, the team released Jordy Nelson with one year left on his contract, though they did make an offer to keep him around. However, that offer to Nelson was for close to the veteran minimum salary, far less than the two-year, $14.2 million deal he signed with Oakland in free agency.The decision on Cobb, however, reveals something fundamental about the Packers’ evaluation of their wide receiver corps. Specifically, it is yet another indication that they feel optimistic about the team’s young receivers and their ability to help make up for the production that Cobb has provided from the slot over his career.Fourth-year pro Geronimo Allison is back on a one-year deal as the Packers bought out his one season of restricted free agency, and he appears to be the top candidate to get the plurality of the snaps in the slot. He lined up on the slot with the starting offense more than any other player during spring practices, and #1 wideout Davante Adams compared his abilities to Cobb’s last month. “(Allison) and Cobb have a similar skill set. You haven’t really been able to see it as much because G-Mo played outside for the most part.” Can Allison directly replace Cobb’s contribution to the offense in 2019? It seems that the Packers think he can, and he comes with a cap hit of about half of Cobb’s this year.One reason that Allison is freed up to move inside is the continued development of Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the boundary. While Allison was in the slot for the most part this spring, MVS lined up on the outside opposite Adams and was impressing the coaching staff and fans alike. In fact https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Muhammad-Wilkerson-Jersey , when the Packers lined up with two receivers in a 12 or 21 personnel grouping, it was Valdes-Scantling playing ahead of Allison.In addition, Equanimeous St. Brown looks like a candidate to play both inside and outside, while Jake Kumerow has looked good on the boundary as well. J’Mon Moore has a chance to prove himself anew this spring to a new coaching staff as well.Finally, LaFleur appears primed to rotate players through the slot position all season long. Adams is one player expecting to receive a larger workload inside, while tight ends like Jimmy Graham, Robert Tonyan, and Jace Sternberger should each get a handful of snaps there as well.After the Packers let him walk without even a cursory offer, Cobb did pretty well for himself. His contract with the Cowboys will give him a chance to bounce back in his age-29 season, which will see him playing alongside Amari Cooper and catching balls from Dak Prescott. A productive year in Dallas will give him an opportunity for a bigger, longer-term contract again next season.But that lack of an offer is a clear sign that the Packers think that his production can be replaced by the options currently on the roster. If one assumes that to be the team’s mindset, paying $5 million for Cobb would absolutely be a luxury that the team could not afford to pay.