Inbox: One thing's for sure with LaFleur

[Cheesehead]

Ryan from Noblesville, IN


Spoff, does Wes talking about his wee-little one give you baby fever and make you want to jump back on the saddle to have another kid?


Uh, no. I realize becoming an empty-nester in a couple of years will have its difficulties, so while I may not be desperate for that phase to arrive, it beats any desire to turn back the clock.


Braden from Aurora, CO


Mike, it's fascinating to me that someone of Michael Jordan's talent level would need to create or hold onto internal battles with an opponent to motivate himself. With Rodgers' memory, have you ever heard him mention a similar tactic?


Not specifically, but I don't recall Jordan revealing much about his internal mojo publicly at the time, either. The ultra-competitors aren't interested in telling anyone in the moment what makes them tick.


Dana from Eau Claire, WI


What is your opinion of Matt Stafford? When you watch the Lions he seems to have the talent of the top third of QBs but he doesn't win with enough regularity. Does that mean he doesn't have the same level of talent – he can't carry a team – or does it mean that his supporting cast is much worse? If Stafford and Rodgers switched teams with no other changes, which team wins more games?


It's impossible to answer the last question. I think Stafford is a darn good QB when healthy, but he's not on Rodgers' level, and several big-game losses are his black eye. He couldn't beat Rodgers and the Packers in a pair of Week 17 division-title games ('14 at Lambeau, '16 in Detroit), and he's 0-3 in the playoffs. In his defense, he likely had the Cowboys beat in '14 if an obvious DPI is called in the fourth quarter. Also, the Lions have never been able to sustain any level of success, which I don't put on Stafford. They made the playoffs in '11, dropped to 4-12 in '12; playoffs in '14, 7-9 in '15; playoffs in '16, just missed in '17 when the Packers fell off the map. They moved on from Caldwell after 9-7 in '17, haven't won more, and it sounds like it's now or never for the current regime.


Dan from Toledo, OH


Recently saw a "redoing the Packers' 2015 draft" article. It was interesting to see available players at our picks such as: Za'Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Adrian Amos, who of course are now playing for us. So it seems part of BG hitting free agency last year was because we had no rookies we wanted to re-sign from 2015. Do teams commonly look to hit free agency when rookie contracts from an unfruitful draft are up to "make up" for a poor draft class? Or was this simply coincidence in this instance?


It was not a coincidence. When you aren't re-signing your draft picks to second contracts, you have the cap space to spend elsewhere.


Levi from St. Paul, MN


In "Three Things," Rock mentioned that Wayne Larrivee is getting a much-deserved induction into the Wisconsin Broadcasters HOF. I love Wayne and Larry but I really miss Jim Irwin and Max McGee. Living in western Wisconsin in the 1980s all we had on TV were Vikings games on Sundays. Never Packers games. We were in the metro area as far as TV contracts were concerned. So I listened to Jim and Max and they were all I knew. How lucky are we to have Jim, Max, Wayne, Larry and Bob Uecker to entertain us.


I would add Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on Badgers games, as well as Ted Davis on Bucks games. Our state is blessed with top-notch radio voices across all sports.


Al from Green Bay, WI


In a league where there is equity via the salary cap, in order for teams to win, they have to have a number of players who overperform versus their cap hit. One could argue the Smith Brothers did just that last year, despite their hefty contracts. Aside from players on their rookie contracts, which players do you expect to "overperform" versus their cap hit in 2020?


I think it's difficult to gauge anyone getting paid at or near the top salaries at his position as "overperforming," but I hear where you're coming from on the Smiths. It's also tough to measure offensive linemen in such terms, though Bulaga qualified last year (and why he cashed in big-time this year). Given all that, I'll submit three veteran names to consider for 2020: Dean Lowry, Marcedes Lewis and Funchess.