The year is 1993. For the first time in NFL history, players are truly emboldened to make decisions about their own careers, thanks in part to a legal ruling against the NFL several months earlier. True free agency has finally arrived in football, and teams are lining up to throw money at a crop of players who are hitting the open market, a group that includes numerous Pro Bowlers.
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers have been a laughingstock for over two decades, making the NFL playoffs just twice since Vince Lombardi’s teams won three straight titles from 1965 to 1967.