Troy from Menomonee Falls, WI

In addition to concerns at some defense positions, it seems like RB could be a big one next year. It’s a key part of ML’s plans and not something to ignore. Unfortunately, it’s probably the least durable position and their presumably best two candidates (Josh Jacobs and MarShawn Lloyd) have been dogged with injuries. Jacobs is also aging. Maybe Lloyd will emerge as a really good RB, but that looks less certain with each new injury. It’s hard not seeing the Packers drafting at least one RB.

The decision the Packers make with Emanuel Wilson as a restricted free agent will determine the acuteness of need.

I read an article that said that you can judge a team’s depth by the play of their special teams. My corollary is that you can judge the health of a team by the play of their special teams. When starters are hurt the first well you go to is special teams, depleting their personnel. Reasonable?

Kenneth from Lakeland, FL

With the recent discussions about GMs with ties to the Packers, I want to add another name that was not listed – Mike Reinfeldt, formerly with the Tennessee Titans as GM from 2007-11. I believe he was a very close friend with Ted Thompson.

Good memory. Reinfeldt and Thompson were roommates when they played for the Houston Oilers, and Reinfeldt was a captain on the last football team UW-Milwaukee fielded in 1974. I didn’t include him in my GM list because I didn’t know him. He left Green Bay long before I got here. Another GM from the Wolf tree is Scot McCloughan, whom I didn’t know either.

In one man’s humble opinion, this is what I have observed over the years with the Packers. Yes, we’re competitive every year because of the draft-and-develop philosophy. But, we also have to hope that those various draft picks develop to their full, or near full, potential all at about the same time in order to get that Lombardi. But, if you look at the teams that are remaining in the hunt, almost every year, those teams build in all ways. They go get those guys to make that high-level team!

Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney, Micah Parsons, Keisean Nixon, Malik Willis, Bo Melton. None drafted by Green Bay. I realize the early returns on Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs this past year weren’t ideal due to injuries, but for the umpteenth time, Gutekunst is not Thompson. He does build this team in all ways, but the cap mandates the core philosophy: draft-and-develop.

Mike, what is your reaction to the Brewers trading Freddy Peralta to the Mets for prospects? I was surprised considering he seemed to be the glue to the pitching staff the past several years.

I wasn’t surprised but I was disappointed. Unlike other top Brewers pitchers who were in line for larger arbitration salaries before hitting free agency (Hader, Burnes, Williams), Peralta was under contract for one more year at $8M. That’s below dirt cheap, practically pennies, for a 17-game winner and Cy Young contender. I would’ve thought a budget-conscious team like Milwaukee would consider one more year at just $8M way more valuable than any prospects they could get for Peralta. Wishful thinking, I guess. Plus, I’m getting tired of these deals not bearing much fruit. One of the prospects from the Hader trade turned into Contreras, which was huge. But the jury is still out on Hall and Gasser, while Durbin looks decent, Ortiz backslid, and they got nothing out of Cortes. Maybe Jett or Sproat becomes the next All-Star, that would be great. But for $8M, I was hoping they’d keep Peralta to make another run at the Dodgers. Sorry, too much baseball for most readers of this column, but thanks for indulging.

Eric from Fuquay Varina, NC

My brother and I were always huge “Cheers” fans and now joke you could never make that show arguing about trivia in this age of Google and smartphones. So it’s nice to see the II continues to address topics that elicit a banter and differences of opinion that Google (and AI) can’t answer. As Woody said when he read the old constitution, we all have the right to Life, Liberty and the “Purfuit of Happineff.”

Have a great weekend, everybody.