The Green Bay Packers are one of
the most winning, well respected, and most successful organizations in the
National Football League. They won the first two Super Bowls ever, had the most
well known coach in NFL history (Vince Lombardi), and has been fortunate enough
to have some of the best quarterback play in recent history with Brett Favre
and now, Aaron Rodgers.
Strengths
The Green Bay
Packers have several key strengths that allow the organization to continue to
be successful. These include: the team is owned by the fans, the tradition of
the organization, their ability to save money by building their team through
the draft instead of signing free agents, and they have arguably the best
quarterback in the league.
Green
Bay, currently, is the only team in the NFL owned by the fans. Every other team
has an owner that oversees every line of business. Fortunately, for Green Bay
the team is owned by the fans, while a General Manager does run their
operations, the fans have a say in the direction the organization is heading.
This is a huge advantage considering the fact that the team isn’t dominated by
one voice. Instead, they are ran by a collective group of people that has the
interest of the organization at heart. This allows them to stick to the
traditions that have always made them a top organization in the league. The
traditions are the organizations next strength. Green Bay plays all their home
games at their legendary Lambeau Field also known as the “Artic Tundra.” As the
season progresses, no other team in the NFL plays in colder or more harsh
temperatures, and the team excels when playing in the cold weather. Many people
are left to wonder, “How does this team attract fans in such poor weather
conditions?” However, this is when the fans are at their strongest. They love
the cold weather, and every single game is sold out, even if, the temperature
drops below freezing. In fact, the wait list for season ticket holders exceeds
that of most people’s lifespans! It is the hardest stadium in the NFL to obtain
season tickets and also has the most die-hard fan base of any team in the NFL.
Clearly, this is a huge advantage for any organization. Likewise, the tradition
of Green Bay has led to them retaining this loyal fan-base. No other
professional organization has tickets sell-out as quickly as Green Bay. The
city is just over 100,000, which makes it one of the smallest markets in all of
professional sports. However, nationwide, it boasts one of the largest fan
bases of any professional sports team. This displays the loyalty and the
tradition the Green Bay Packers have at their disposal. Next, Green Bay has one
of the best strategies in place to maintain good finances, yet remain
competitive: they build their team through the draft. Many outsiders do not
understand the significance of this philosophy, but it allows them to remain
below the salary cap, year in, and year out. Due to this strategy, the Packers
never overpay for their players. Instead they draft them, and pay a league
minimum for quality starters at nearly every position. What exactly does this
mean? Well, most teams pick-up free agents, in which they pay millions of
dollars because they bid against other teams to acquire them. However, the
Packers do not participate in this. Most teams heavily overpay for free agents,
which places them near or well above the salary cap. Instead, the Packers make
good choices in the draft and forego the process of signing expensive free
agents, allowing them to continue to be successful as a championship contender.
However, the organization does spend money when they deem necessary, most
importantly when one of the players in the organization performs well since
being acquired by the organization. In fact, since the NFL is a quarterback
driven league, they invest heavily in their quarterback, who is potentially the
best in the business. Just like a good business would pay their top executives
well, the Packers treat their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers in the same respect.
In fact, a current deal is in place with him, to make him the highest paid
player ever in NFL history. Considering the fact that he is the best
quarterback in the league, and the fact that Green Bay can afford to pay him
top dollar (it really helps now, not paying too much for other players) Green
Bay is able to reward their top talent with huge dollar amounts, yet still
remain below the salary cap. This remains to be Green Bay’s biggest competitive
advantage. They are smart at deciding which areas they dedicate money to, they
sign players to big contracts that deserve them, spending money keeping them
instead of on free agents, and build depth through smart and concise draft
picks. Many organizations are trying to implement this model of success, yet
very few are able to execute to the extent Green Bay does.
Weaknesses
Although the Green
Bay Packers have been extremely successful, several weaknesses still exist
within their organization. For one, since they are team owned, they must raise
funding publicly, they build their team through the draft, causing them to lose
key free-agents that could help their team, and their defense is subpar.
Since
Green Bay is publicly funded, they rely on fan support to do anything within
the organization. This can be a major weakness, especially considering the fact
that they wanted to re-vamp their stadium in the past. In fact, they had to
petition to get this done and it took a long time and large donations from the
public to do so. Additionally, they cannot act quickly with decisions. It has
to be done through a long chain of ownership, which can take a long time.
Additionally, although building through the draft is a strength and an
opportunity, it is also a weakness. If they draft terribly, it can influence
the organization for years in the future. Furthermore, since they do not pick-up
free agents, they miss out on players that could easily fill the needs and holes
in their roster that they desperately need. This can cause them, like in
present years, to have a weak defense, causing them to exit the playoffs early.
Likewise, their defense has been sub-par. This is not due to poor draft classes,
instead it is due to an abnormal amount of injuries. In fact, they have potential
to have a good defense, however, they continue to get injured, which causes
them to have lackluster years on the defensive side of the ball.
Opportunities
The Packers have
several key opportunities that are available to them in the future. Some of
these opportunities include: their young roster, their available salary cap for
the present year, and their ability to draft.
The
Green Bay roster is one of the youngest in the league. Their defense features
some of the youngest players in the game. If they stay healthy, their Defense
could be one of the best in the game. In fact, Nick Perry and Jerrel Worthy from
last years draft class were some of the best college players in the country.
However, their seasons were cut short due to injury. Additionally, Green Bay
has several young players on the offensive side of the ball. Their wide
receiving core features some of the youngest and talented wide receivers in the
game. Likewise, through the draft, they were able to build a young offensive
line to protect their biggest asset, Aaron Rodgers. Since Green Bay is such a
young team, they are able to stay well below their salary cap. This allows them
to give bonuses to players that have performed well within their organization.
Furthermore, staying below the cap is extremely important considering the fact
that organizations get taxed and fined if they are above it. Another crucial
factor that exists for an organization staying below the cap is the ability to
sign a free agent in case a player gets injured. This is crucial considering
the violent nature of the game as well as the frequency of injuries. Lastly,
one of Green Bay’s biggest opportunities is their ability to draft. During the
draft, Green Bay constantly makes moves to pick players that are high on their
draft board. In doing so, Green Bay is able to sign high quality talent and
build depth to their roster. In recent drafts, Green Bay has been one of the
most effective organizations at picking the right personnel to make them a top
team in the NFL
Threats
Considering the
competitiveness of professional sports, it is extremely difficult to remain
consistently at the top of any league, let alone the NFL. Likewise, many
threats exist to the Green Bay organization. Their biggest threats exist from
other teams in the league as well as in their own division. Additionally, one
of the biggest threats any professional sports organizations is economics, and
the Packers are not immune to this threat. The
first threat to Green Bay is simply other teams in the NFL. Every organization
strives to improve every year. Many teams across the league added depth to
their roster during the free agency period. Some notable teams include, the
Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco 49ers. The Broncos began by
adding one of the best wide receivers over the last five years in Wes Welker.
He has been among the most productive at his position that the league has seen
in quite some time. Now, he is with Peyton Manning, who is a hall-of-fame
caliber player. Fortunately for Green Bay, they will not meet this team until
the Super Bowl. However, Seattle and San Francisco, are both in the same
conference as Green Bay. They both added some of the top talent in the league
to their roster and are Green Bay’s biggest threats. These threats are
compounded when you consider the fact that both of those teams made it farther
than Green Bay in the playoffs. It will be a test and a struggle for the Pack to
beat these teams that stand in the way of them returning to the Super Bowl. Most
likely, the Packers greatest threat is economics. When teams are successful,
their players are also successful, which allows them to demand more money. NFL
teams always have to understand this and know who to keep their finances under
control or else, the entire organization could crumble in just a single season.
Since the Packers are such a successful organization, many of their players are
valued highly around the league. This makes them worth more money and harder to
maintain. Since they cannot always afford to keep these players, their draft is
even more important to them to ensure that the organization can maintain talent
and depth on their roster. Finances are not only a threat to the Packers, but also
to the entire National Football League.
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