Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy has "reached an agreement" with Ted Thompson to "step down and relinquish his position" as the team's GM, according to a front-page piece by Tom Silverstein of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. A source said that it was Murphy’s decision to "start the transition from the 64-year-old Thompson to new front-office leadership." Thompson's contract was "set to expire after this season" and he will "move to an advisory position within the personnel department." The Packers will "conduct a full search" for a new GM and it will "not be limited to just in-house candidates." If Murphy "decides to go outside the organization" to hire a GM, he "risks losing" current front-office personnel Dir of Football Operations Eliot Wolf, Dir of Player Personnel Brian Gutekunst and Senior Personnel Exec Alonzo Highsmith to other teams. All three "consider themselves" future GM candidates. Seahawks Exec VP & GM John Schneider "long has been thought of as a possible successor to Thompson, but he is under contract with the Seahawks" through '21. Schneider "signed a five-year extension" in '16 and at the time said that he "does not have an 'out' clause that would allow him to leave for the Packers job." This will be "by far the biggest decision Murphy will make since becoming president" in December '07, as he will "have a hard time finding someone with the level of success Thompson has had" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/2). In Madison, Jason Wilde notes it is "unclear what the conversation was like" between Thompson and Murphy, or "how much of Thompson’s decision to step aside was of his own volition." Thompson had "given no public indication" that he was "contemplating giving up the GM job" (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/2).
NEW YEAR'S SURPRISE: NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal wrote the Packers' decision to move on from Thompson "provided the biggest bombshell" on a New Year's Day "full of coaching changes but short on surprises" (NFL.com, 1/1). In Green Bay, Pete Dougherty writes the Packers "needed this shock, though alone it won’t go very far." The move ultimately is about "finding people of competence and substance to run the team, and putting good players on the field." Any complacency "that had drifted into the organization the last few years should be gone." The Packers "don’t have an owner pocketing profits, so all their resources go toward winning games and ensuring the franchise has a viable financial future." Everything "revolves around putting the best possible team on the field." The person "responsible for that is the GM, who as the Packers’ football czar has final say over all football decisions." This is a decision Murphy "has to get right" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 1/2).
