Tuesday Thoughts

If Aaron is unhappy, I don't think anyone should be upset with him.

He has the right to feel that way. We all have had times in our lives where we went to a job we HATED, but we still showed up.

I don't think that he is the type of player to demand a trade or anything like that at all, or even make his play suffer. I believe he will do his best to be as good as he can be.

I think ( okay hopefully ) that as the season goes on, he will start to like his new role, and then we will see him happy once again.


Mr Brantd, if he has incentives in his contract for this year,could those be re-done to accommodate his new role now?

Or are those incentives just as easily obtainable as they were before?

the upcoming salary year for Kampman should be interesting because to see him play only one year in a new defense might not be enough, and also he is getting older...

Aren't 2 sources needed for journalists? What 2 sources have told these media hounds that Aaron is unhappy? Never figured someone keeping quiet and going about his job would be a story.

The Bucs would do well to get on the phone with the Packers and see what it would take for Kampman to become a Buc as soon as possible. He's exactly what the Bucs need, a DE that can get sacks and stop the run.
Playing in a 4-3, Kampman is rock solid.

Are there any Packer players the Vikings HAVEN'T tried to get?!?

I'm a huge Kampman fan but he's not quite as stout against the run as you make him seem. He gets pushed to the outside leaving the B-gap wide open, way to often. This made Poppinga's job much harder because the opposing RB could take different angles through the hole instead of having to run straight north and south.

It adds to his character IMO that he is NOT carping/whining to the press. Hello, I am talking to you, P. Manning (among others).

Welcome to the business of the NFL. AK is in a tough position-pro bowler, high character guy, new scheme last year of contract. Packers-new defence, not sure if your DE/high quality guy can make the transition. These decisions this year may answer the question, "Is ted thompson the right GM?".

Up to this point, Kampman was practically incapable of resentment toward anyone.

It takes a special kind of jacka$$ to drive a class act like Kampman into such a state of angst. The Weasel was just the man for the job.

Donald Driver is all out of sorts too. It might be time for the Packers to bring in Ari Fleisher before the Weasel swims across the Rubicon again.

I can understand Kampman might not be happy about making this switch in a contract year, but:

A) I've read that 34 of his 37 sacks over the last three years were out of sub-packages, where he played as an end with his hand down. My understanding is that the 3-4 is only a base defense and that in passing downs Kampman will continue to line up with his hand down. I don't see his sack potential going down with this switch.

B) As much as I love Kampman, the team needs to do what's best for its short and long term success, and they can't delay what they feel is a positive change just to appease one individual player, no matter who it is. (Hmmmm, that situation sure sounds familiar from somewhere.)

C) If he adjusts well to his new spot, he will get a huge new contract, whether it be with Green Bay or w/ some other 3-4 team. If he struggles, there are still plenty (more than half) of teams that run a 4-3 that will give him a nice deal based on his work as a 4-3 end. He'll be fine either way.

The OTAs are open up to the media/public again tomorrow. Maybe Kampman will speak then. Harris hasn't been too happy with the media cover based on some of his quotes. Maybe Kampman is feeling the same way.

As much as everyone likes Kampman, you can't base a scheme on one player.

I can't see Thompson trading Kampman though. I know a lot of people are paranoid that Thompson only wants to keep his players. However, if anyone has read a description of Kampman one of the his strengths is often listed as having a high motor.

That describes a lot of TT's draft picks.

I have seen mentioned on some messages boards that part of the Packers problem with signing free agents is that a lot of players don't want to play in the cold or aren't fans of playing for a smaller market team.

I am not sure if I see that as an issue or not but if it is Kampman is a player that likes playing in a smaller town environment. That is probably valuable to have on a team like the Packers.

papabear

I don't think the Vikings have tried to get Tauscher yet.