Free agency never altered the Green Bay Packers’ draft plans under Ted Thompson because free agency rarely altered the Packers roster at all. Why change the approach when the circumstances haven’t, in fact, changed? Brian Gutekunst clearly skipped that lesson in Thompsonism 101, spending big each of his first two offseasons to plug gaps in Green Bay’s roster.
The notion the Packers didn’t draft for need under Thompson represents an ahistorical account of the team’s past. He allocated massive resources to fixing the defense, an accomplishment he couldn’t quite crack once Charles Woodson aged out of dominance and Nick Collins’ career was cut tragically short.