Who belongs on the Green Bay Packers’ Mount Rushmore? (And who doesn’t?)

Who belongs on the Green Bay Packers’ Mount Rushmore? (And who doesn’t?)

I put together a Mount Rushmore of the Green Bay Packers players and there’s at least one name that didn’t make it that will shock you. You are Locked on Packers, your daily Green Bay Packers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. You are locked on Packers, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. I’m Peter Bowski and I cover the Packers for the Leap, a newsletter I would love for you to subscribe to. Follow me on Twitter, Peter_Bukowski. Follow the podcast on Twitter, locked on Packers. Like us on Facebook, subscribe to the podcast, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast, wherever you find podcast, you will find Locked on Packers, the number one Packers podcast on the internet and the show for fans who know what happened. They want to know why and how. Thanks to everyone who makes locked on Packers their first lesson every day. We hope you like starting your day with us as much as we like starting our day with you. Today’s episode brought to you by our friends at Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first ticket purchase. The four most important players in Packers history. That to me was the assignment when I put together the Mount Rushmore for the Green Bay Packers franchise. It’s not the four best players. There was one player I knew had to be on it. That was Bart Star. the first two Super Bowls, part of the the core piece, the chorus player piece of the Lombardi dynasty, the dynasty that had the trophy named after the coach of the Green Bay Packers. And Vince Lombardi, had he been eligible, would be on this Mount Rushmore. There’s no doubt about it. But he wasn’t. This was players only. And and you’ll go across the Lockdown podcast network. Everyone everyone did their Mount Rushmore. This was mine. If you have a different one, let me hear it. Send them to me. Let me know. And I heard from a lot of you about it. I put it out on socials at the end of last week. It was kind of Friday news dumped it, but not I wasn’t I wasn’t afraid of it. I I believed in the four players that I put together. Bartar was the easiest one and he was the one player that I did not hear a single solitary peep about. So, everyone seems to agree Bart Star belongs on the Packers Mount Rushmore for players. After that, there was not a ton of agreement. Now, I had Brett Favre on my Mount Rushmore. That was the other one where everyone seems to understand, yes, Brett Favre deserved to be on there for for a number of reasons. And I understand people wanted Aaron Rogers on the Mount Rushmore. I did not have him on the Mount Rushmore. And I didn’t for this reason. What Brett Favre did for the Green Bay Packers when the Packers traded major draft capital based on nothing to get Brett Favre. Favre won three MVPs in back-to-back seasons, two Super Bowls, and pulled a team that had been in the doldrums for 25 years out of the Dark Ages. and the the cultural attachment both in the Packers fan base and nationally was attached to Brett Favre in a way that even before some of the late career shenanigans that got Aaron Rogers caught up in a number of different um I I I I don’t even know the the proper terminology to try and describe some of the reasons why some fans have moved away from him, but but some of the weirdness that has uh encircled and ens snared Aaron Rogers. Putting that aside, he never captivated the hearts and minds of Packers fans by and large or the NFL fan base by and large the way Brett Favre did. And again, we have to set aside the late career exit in a little bit, but in some ways, the late career exit is instructive. Brett Favre wanted to play in Green Bay. Ted Thompson said, “No, thank you.” And so Brett Favre wanted to go play somewhere where he could prove and stick it to Ted Thompson that you made a mistake. And I saw and still see purple four jerseys in Wisconsin. And I know for a fact a lot of those belong to otherwise Packers fans. Favre got Packer dyed in the wool cheese heads to wear purple jerseys. That is saying something. That is remarkable. So Favre deserves to be on there. Now the question about where what why whether or not you would have Rogers on there is a different one. But I think Favre in terms of the importance in terms of you want to put together a Mount Rushmore, the most important players, the most um impactful players, Aaron Rogers carried on a legacy that was started by Brett Favre. So I I think that has to matter here. I have Reggie White on the Mount Rushmore because number one, I felt like I needed a defensive player, but number two, Reggie White signing in Green Bay, when God told him to sign in Green Bay, I understand he played more years in Philly than he did in Green Bay. When he signed in Green Bay, it was and remains the most consequential free agent signing in NFL history. And it might be the most consequential free agent signing in American sports because it validated the league’s smallest town. It said this place where no one wanted to go forever was now a place free agents could say, “Well, if Reggie White went there, I can.” And they won the Super Bowl. He was a defensive player of the year, carried on his allp pro and pro bowl streaks. He was an incredible defensive player the entirety of his career in Green Bay. And it cannot be overstated the impact that he had on the franchise simply by saying, “I will accept, not just I will accept, I will choose to be a Green Bay Packer. Aaron Rogers didn’t choose to be a Green Bay Packer. In fact, eventually Aaron Rogers chose not to be a Green Bay Packer. And that choosing was monumentally important in the viability of this franchise as a free agent destination. Reggie and Brett pulled this team from the also ran division in the NFL. I know it’s easy to think of this most the most storied team in NFL history and they are but from 1970 to 199 what four they did not matter. They did not matter as an NFL team. Reggie White and Brett Favre changed that. And then I do understand I cheated with the fourth one. It’s it’s Curly Lambo and I feel like okay you want to take him off. I I heard the most the name the two names I heard the most Aaron Rogers needs to be on there and Don Hudson needs to be on there and I interesting that like no not one single person suggesting Don Hudson ever saw Don Hudson play Don Hudson is one of the great Packers. There’s no question. But if I’m going to take someone from that era, how can I not have it be the the person who is essentially responsible for the Packers existing at all. Don Hudson was a better player much like Aaron Rogers was a better player than Brett Favre. Brett Favre was a more important player, a more culturally impactful player. Curly Lambo wanted to move the Packers to Milwaukee, but realized the fan base in Green Bay was something special. His name is on the freaking stadium for a reason. So, he has to be on the list. So who Okay, so if that’s Shrin, again, I get I understand I’m cheating because as a player, he probably doesn’t deserve to be on the list, but his his total impact, we can’t ignore the other stuff. We can’t ignore the founding of the freaking team for all intents and purposes. So, who are you taking off the list? And I understand some people want to balance it. that they want to say, “Okay, we got have someone from the, you know, the Lombardi era, someone from the 90s, someone from the 20 2000s, someone from the 2010s.” You don’t have to do that. the most impactful players in Packers history. It’s Lambo with the founding of the team, the establishment really and truly of the Green Bay Packers. Bart Star, the Lombardi Dynasty, and then the return to glory, Brett Farre and Reggie White. Two of the most beloved figures. Reggie is arguably the greatest defensive player in NFL history. won a a defensive player of the year at 37 years old in Green Bay. And then Brett Favre, who if you if you search your feelings, Luke, search your feelings. For those of you age to have lived through the Brett Favre era, fans did not feel the way that they feel about Brett Favre, about Aaron Rogers. They just didn’t. His impact on the culture was unmatched, second to none. In fact, there will never be another NFL player that captures the attention and the minds and the hearts of NFL fans like Brett Favre did for as flawed and problematic as he was. And we knew in real time he was. And then we got a glimpse into some more issues later. But that’s my four. What are your four? I want to hear from you. Let me know. Now, Anthony Belton, not not the most delicate segue, but we got to we got to make it there somewhere. Anthony Belton, the Packers second round pick, is unsigned. One of 30 unsigned second round picks. What the hell is going on here? It’s a big story. We’re going to talk about it next. Unlocked on Packers. We’ve all been there. logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale only to lose your spot for a show you’ve been dying to see. Live music should be about making memories, not dealing with the stress of ticket shopping. That’s where Game Time comes in. Game time makes concert tickets faster and easier than ever. 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And then over the weekend, Ian Rapavo reported that Trey Harris, the miss receiver who is now in LA, is officially a hold out. That was interesting. So, what happened was the Houston Texans gave Jaden Higgins, the 34th overall pick, a fully guaranteed deal. the first second round pick ever to get a fully guaranteed deal. Did they have to do this? No, they did not. Do I know why they did that this? No, I do not. But this could have been a one-off. The Browns gave Deshun Watson a fully guaranteed mega deal, long-term mega deal. Kirk Cousins got some fully guaranteed deals, but it’s like not not quite the same thing when you’re talking about shorter term and not top of the market money. Deshun Watson was the mega deal. Top of the market everything fully guaranteed all of it. The Browns pissed off teams like the Ravens because they’re going, “We don’t want to do this with Lamar Jackson. We don’t want to stamp your precedent.” And they didn’t. Coincidentally, it was the Browns who signed their 33rd overall pick subsequently to a fully guaranteed deal, thus stamping the president. Why did they do that? It is It is hard to know. I I can’t I can’t speak for them. they’re a foolish organization and and that’s just the reality of it. Um, and so this is holding up everybody else because basically what has happened is normally these things are slotted in. So the prices are still more or less slotted in. This is a little bit like Sheamar Stewart and the Bengals. They’re they’re arguing over offset language. So, and this is not uncommon. you know, first round picks especially were argue over this stuff. Joey Bosa once upon a time, you know, argued for this stuff. And it’s usually those kinds of things. It’s like, okay, if if I get cut, you got to pay me all the money. And if I sign with a new team, I get the new money. Offset language. What offset language allows teams to do is to say if I cut you and I owe you $10 million and you sign a one-year $8 million deal, some or all of the new money counts as money we paid you. We don’t actually owe you that money. And players rightfully are going, “That’s nonsense. We signed a deal and you cut me, so you owe me that money.” That’s generally the kind of thing that these these um negotiations center around. It’s those types of things, injury guarantees, that type of stuff. We’re talking about fully guaranteeing a 4-year second round contract. Now, it’s not for a lot of money. Like, these second round deals are are not for for any money at all. Like really relative to, you know, the $300 million that you give a quarterback, the $11 million that Jaden Higgins is going to make over four years, like that’s not going to break the bank for the Texans. And it it’s kind of makes you wonder why teams or why why agents didn’t push for this sooner because it’s really not that much money. Like even on the salary cap, it’s not that much money. you can afford to fully guarantee these deals. And it ensures that if you’re going to cut one of these players, you really got to cut, you really have to be sure you want to cut one of these players. Now, Anthony Belton is pretty far down the list. You know, if you’re one of the first five, even the first 10 picks in the second round, maybe you can argue you deserve these guarantees. Does every second round pick now believe they deserve these guarantees? Maybe and maybe not. But if you’re the 20th pick in the second round, you sure as hell are not going to be the first one to move to say, “I don’t deserve fully guaranteed deals.” You’re going to let the the players in front of you decide when that happens. And so if you’re the 35th pick, if you’re the 36th pick, the 37th, 38, 39, probably at least 40. You’re going me? Look it, the precedent has been set. The first two guys in the round got the guaranteed money. I’m the sixth guy in the round. I’m just as good as them, if not better. You should be fully guaranteeing my contract. And then let’s say those those first five six guys after Higgins and and Sushinger get there uh they’re they’re guaranteed money. Well then if you’re you get to 40 well then if you’re the 45th pick aren’t you saying well I’m five picks away. You should guarantee my salary. And then there’s this waterfall effect where it’s like well the further you go down the list the more you add to the list of players going why not me? And I don’t blame those players. I think and and here’s the problem. The closer the further down the list you get, then all of a sudden it’s like, let’s say you get to Anthony Belton and these end, you know, middle to late second round picks, now you’re going to have third round picks going next year going, “We should be getting that. What the hell? We should be getting that.” And and this is going to be the new standard. This is now the new standard. Now, where does this cut off end? This this might have to end up being something that the CBA gets involved with, something that that becomes negotiated because the owners are not going to sign up for this, but the players are going, “Look, you guys did this. We didn’t do this. Talk to the Browns. Talk to Houston. They sign those deals.” So, if you’re the 33rd or the 34th pick in the 2026 draft, you’re going to be going, “My deal ought to be fully guaranteed.” And any first round pick that doesn’t have four years fully guaranteed is going, “Why? Why is mine not fully guaranteed?” This is going to have serious ramifications moving forward. And it may make the next couple years of negotiations for these rookie contracts contentious. Frankly, I applaud Jaden Higgins and his agency for saying I don’t I don’t know those people. I don’t I don’t really care. This is not access journalism. I’m not trying to prop them up. I don’t they don’t doesn’t benefit me. I don’t know them. And even even if I did, I don’t care. they were able to get what they were able to negotiate and more and more players are going to feel empowered to do that and frankly they are worth it and this may be the first step toward more guaranteed contracts in the NFL guaranteed rookie contracts at the very least. The owners are not going to like that. They may push back. This may this this is going to become a CBA negotiating point in the future. I’m telling you right now, but we are looking at a very real scenario where the Packers open training camp and Anthony Beltton is not practicing. And Anthony Belton is one of 30 guys in the NFL that are second round picks who are not practicing because they’re going, “We got to figure this out. Now, maybe there’s, you know, there’s a couple guys that sign ahead that don’t get fully guaranteed deals, and my my expectations would be that would also have a cascading effect where it’s like, okay, oneoff’s really, in this case, a two off, and then it’s, you know, business as usual. It doesn’t seem like that’s where we are, though. Now, Anthony Belton is part of this really interesting group of players. They are foundational to what the Packers want to be because their depth is their superpower right now, but they have no chance really barring injury to start. I wrote about this group last week for the leap and I want to talk about them next on Locked on Packers. The locked on NFL top 100 will be released Wednesday, July 16th at 10 a.m. Eastern on Locked on Sports Today. The NFL 100 was voted on by NFL hosts of Locked On. And there are some stunners. Don’t miss where your favorite players were ranked. Subscribe to Locked On Sports today on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You guys, you are not going to believe where some of these Packers were ranked. Hold on to your butts. So, I wrote about these guys for the leap and Anthony Belton is one of these players as part of our ranking of of the Packers. 40 through 31 was the rankings. And with the exception of Daniel Wheelen, the punter, it is not at all obvious any of these players are going to be starters. There may be one player on this list who I would go, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started. Now we’re going to exclude Daniel Wheel and the punter. Zayn Anderson at 39 had to start a couple games last year for Evan Williams. Played pretty decent. Core special teams player. Almost no chance to start. Like there is if Evan Williams and David McKini are healthy and and Javon Bullard are healthy, Zane Anderson has no shot. He is not competing to start with anybody. Baron Serella at 38th. Same thing. Like I think he could be potentially an important part of this pass rush moving forward and could start as soon as maybe next year, maybe maybe the end of this year potentially if Lucas Vendes doesn’t take a step forward. But right now, I just don’t see a set of circumstances that would lead me to believe he could be the starter because if Lucas Vendes doesn’t take that step forward, then Kingsley Bar, who is on this list, is probably going to be the guy that takes that spot. I I have a hard time seeing Baron Serell beating him out. Uh Kings Lanny Bar was 32 on this list. Emanuel Wilson 37, the classic backup running back, good player, important part of the Packers offense last year, steady, reliable, has no shot to unseat Josh Jacobs in a in a fair fight. No shot. Now, Seavon Williams at 36, not that it would have to be an injury, but what if he and Matthew Golden look really good and the Packers do end up trading Romeo Dobs? Could he, if not be a starter, be a critical part of their rotation at wide receiver? Yeah, he could. But he’s behind Dantavian Wix. He’s behind Jaden Reed in the pecking order. certainly right now behind Romeo Dobs and probably behind Matthew Golden. So, while I think he can be an important part of this team this year and moving forward, really has no chance to start. Packers resigned Isaiah McDuffy. Could be the starting Sam linebacker on this team, the starting third linebacker on this team. Played every game last year. Quay Walker got hurt. Ed Cooper dealing with some injuries. Isaiah McDuffy was an essential piece of this defense that finished in the top 10. But if Quay Walker and Ed Andrew Cooper are healthy, he has no shot to start. If he’s the starting third linebacker, the starting Sam linebacker on this team, he’s going to play 25% of snaps in a preferred situation. He just is not going to beat out Quay or Edge. Just isn’t. I mentioned Anthony Belton at 34. Doesn’t seem like he’s really competing at tackle because of Zack Tom and then Jordan Morgan is competing with Rasheed Walker right now. Not really being crossrained. Marshon Lloyd, I think, is going to be an important part of this defense or offense, excuse me. But Josh Jacobs is the bellcow back for this offense. They’re going to find ways to get Lloyd the ball, find out ways to to scheme him up touches, but like there is a ceiling on what he can be for this offense. I think he can be a a ceiling razor for the offense in general, but there is also a ceiling for what he can be, assuming Josh Jacobs is healthy. Now, if Josh Jacobs is hurt, then I I don’t think there is a limit to what the Packers could ask Lloyd to do in this offense. The limit will be how healthy Lloyd can be over the course of the season. I mentioned Kingsley Nigbar. Probably the inside shot to start. I think the Packers would prefer it to be Lucas Vaness. So maybe in that way he doesn’t, but he was the starter when the Packers traded Preston Smith. He was the starter and it didn’t seem like there was really much discussion like it was his job and he outplayed LVN, he outnapped LVN, all that stuff. What would have changed between January and August or late July? Other than that Ness was a top 15 pick and and Ingvari wasn’t and going into last year of his deal. I don’t know why we would believe Lucas Venice would be better, but he’ll probably get the chance to start. And then 31, Malik Willis. The Packers don’t make the playoffs without Malik Willis last year. Like, think about that. The backup quarterback, and I have poo pooed the value of the backup quarterback in the past. The Packers do not make the playoffs if not for Malik Willis last year. They won two games that he started that they needed to have won. They won a game in Jacksonville when Jordan Love got hurt thanks to Malik Willis. A comeback win thanks to Malik Willis and then gave them a chance against the Bears. They go three and one in games where Malik Willis plays meaningful snaps. How many backup quarterbacks could have done that? And how many coaches could have done it with Malik Willis? I think is a good question to ask as well. But he like he is a an essential piece of this Packers team or at least was last year and yet this season has a 0% chance to push for the starting job. Now could he be part of a trade for another team starting job? Yeah, but it would take real draft capital. Like I’m talking about day two pick to to get I think Malik Willis off the Packers. Maybe a team is willing to do that. Maybe there’s an a late breaking injury and a team gets desperate. Everyone always remembers the Sam Bradford draft pick that was exchanged. A first round pick for Sam Bradford. It’s like, but those things happen. Could you get something for him? Maybe you could. Maybe you could. But none of these guys have really a chance to start. And yet the the core piece of this team this year, the thing that separates them from everyone else is they are just going to be deeper than basically every team they play. So while these players are are not going to be starters unless there are injuries, there are going to be injuries, which means some of these players are going to have to start. And how well they perform relative to the rest of the league is going to decide how far this team goes in 2025 and beyond. All right, back tomorrow as we get you set. Just days away now from training camp, from actually seeing these players on the field. Uh, more to come here. So, follow me on the social medias, follow the podcast on the social medias, go check us out on YouTube, wherever you get podcast, go subscribe on your preferred podcast player of choice so you can stay locked on Packers.

If the Green Bay Packers had a Mount Rushmore, what four players would make it? Who would we have to keep off the list? Plus, Anthony Belton is one of 30 second-round picks still unsigned. What the heck is going on there?

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Peter Bukowski, co-founder of The Leap, brings you a daily look at the Green Bay Packers year round with Locked On Packers! Go beyond the latest injury news into what you’re seeing on the field, how it works, and how it might change with new players or against a division rival. It’s the podcast for fans who know what happened, they want to know why and how!

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