Rick from Trempealeau, WI

“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOA NELLY!”

Statler: “Did you see that NFL game yesterday?” Waldorf: “Unfortunately, yes!” Statler: “Three hours of millionaires in tights chasing each other for a piece of leather!” Waldorf: “And look at that quarterback scrambling around!” Waldorf: “He moves like my arthritis on a good day!” Both: “DOHOHOHOHO!” Statler: “Should we watch another game next week?” Waldorf: “Why not? We’ve got nothing better to do until our funerals!” Statler: “And they’re almost as entertaining! DOHOHOHOHO!”

I was so waiting for this submission as well.

Bruce from Travelers Rest, SC

I thought we had retired “first off the bus.”

Me, too, but I’m not going to complain as long as I get to post Statler & Waldorf dialogue whenever I feel like it.

Is there a policy as to the number of years the Packers need to wait before they could host another NFL Draft?

There isn’t a policy, per se, but as Wes noted the other day in referencing Mark Murphy’s comments, 20 other teams have applied to host the draft. So I would imagine the league will sift through all those applications and award the draft to those approved before returning to a city that’s already hosted. Since the traveling road show began in 2015, only one city has hosted twice – Chicago the first two years.

For me the biggest excitement about the new players is we also have a first-round pick and a third-round pick from 2024 that barely saw the field because of injuries. Taking those two players into account, this is one of the most promising Packer rosters in a very long time.

It’s almost as though the Packers had nine draft picks last year and 10 this year, instead of 11 and eight.

Kyle from Imus, Cavite, Philippines

What is the big fuss over Week 1 at Lambeau? Sure, you’d like to get a big win to start the season, but (a) the starters use Weeks 1-3 as their preseason and the offense is not yet in sync, and (b) given a choice between more early-season home games or late-season, late is when the weather’s not so welcoming and the playoff push is in full force.

While I agree it’s overdue to finally open a season at home under LaFleur, the drawback to this year is the Packers have nine road games. So after Week 1, the road-home split would be 9-7 the rest of the way, risking a backloaded road schedule, depending on how the middle of the slate lays out.

So, next up is the release of the schedule. How do you think the Detroit and Minnesota winning seasons, along with Chicago being a major market (new coach), will impact the Packers’ primetime appearances? Does the league limit a division’s primetime appearances like they do a team?

Not that I know of. I don’t think the state of the rest of the division will have any appreciable impact, other than possibly more division games themselves being under the lights.

II, so, speaking of the schedule (home opener, yes, please), and this may have been asked/answered before, but I would think that drawing up the schedule by hand, so to speak, would be a daunting task. But done solely by computer would likely miss many opportunities to create scheduling drama. So is it a hybrid?

My understanding is a computer spits out dozens of possible schedules and the league pores over them to ultimately choose one that appears most attractive and appealing.

Greetings, II brethren and sisteren (is that a new word?). I think the trend towards domed stadiums is inevitable because back in the day, watching games meant going there because listening to a radio broadcast or TV coverage nowhere near today’s quality was the only other option. With all the streaming options available, fans will only put up with a limited amount of inconveniences to attend live events. We will be one of the last holdouts, I think.

There’s some merit to that. I also think with so much taxpayer money being used to build stadiums, year-round usage for major events, like concerts and such, is a strong consideration to maximize the public investment.

Regarding the fifth-year option for Walker, it’s my understanding that the fifth-year salaries for linebackers lump inside and outside linebackers together. Therefore the normally higher salaries for outside ‘backers skews the formula higher. So teams may view that price as unreasonable for an inside ‘backer. Therefore the team likely passed on Walker’s option to avoid overpaying and may want to negotiate a multi-year deal instead.

I was going to answer a question with this explanation but decided to let you do it instead.

Donald from Philadelphia, PA

II, thinking about your recent responses on QB ball placement and accuracy had me wondering. I know it’s tough to quantify, but in your opinion how often when we see poorly placed balls from NFL QBs is it a physical mistake (they just didn’t throw it exactly where they wanted to for whatever reason) versus a mental mistake (either the QB or the WR had the wrong idea of where the WR was supposed to be)? I’m talking in general, not Love specifically!

That’s so hard to know, and it depends on the distance of the throw, too. My best guess is that when the QB isn’t under duress, it’s more often a miscommunication or the QB/WR not being on the same page, unless it’s a deep shot, which brings in greater accuracy variance. If the QB has pressure bearing down on him or is on the move, physical inaccuracy would be more common.