I usually do not find myself getting too involved in off-season discussion because so much is conjecture, and in the end, I simply just get disappointed, as we don't always make the sexeh moves. Far too often, we live in a fantasy land during the off-season, believing that making such moves is as easy as it is on Madden.

Still, after watching the Cowboys get embarrassed in Texas Stadium for the last time and after putting down another glass of Woodford Reserve, I started to get excited about the prospect of the Packers procuring Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator--just one of the items on my 2009 off-season wish list. So, here is the rest of that list:

• Switch to a 3-4 defense. I think this makes the most sense considering the Packers' personnel and whom they can get in both the draft and free agency. Kampman can play in a 3-4, and Jenkins seems to be fit for it as well considering his ability to play both DE and DT. However, the Packers would probably need to get a better DT, someone with 3-4 DT experience such as...
• Sign Tank Johnson.
• Sign one of the following LBers: Terrell Suggs, Bart Scott, Channing Crowder, Carlos Dansby (in that order)
• Make a serious effort to sign Jordon Gross and/or Julius Peppers. Either one would be a major coup (as would Suggs).
• Trade for Tony Gonzales; give up a second if need be
• Fire Sanders, Stock, and Campmen
• And, as I said above, hire Wade Phillips as DC.

I know this is a lot, and probably none of it will happen. Still, I think even half of these moves would put the Packers back on the fast track to NFC dominance.

Like most of your list, big ror, though a couple of comments:
1. Agree on Wade Phillips, though the last 4 minutes of the Ravens game (and those 2 bizarre runs by McGahee and McClain) provides somewhat of a counterargument.
2. Dunno about Tank Johnson, just because of the possible character questions.
3. I didn't realize that Baltimore has three LBs headed for new contracts right now. Which means it is all-but-certain that at least one of Suggs/Lewis/Scott will be available for someone willing to spend. Unfortunately, these are just the sort of players that the "usual overspending suspects" are liable to give a lot of attention to. And so even if TT changed his approach, which I'm not confident about, my guess is that he simply couldn't stay in the financial ballpark. Sigh.
4. Gross is near the top of my wishlist....personally my own "unrealistic" dream has them picking up two starter-quality OL via free agency and then drafting OL with 2 of their first three picks.
5. Not sure about Gonzalez. I know he's great, but for some reason I've never warmed to that particular "big name" pickup. Same with Peppers.

Completely understand your comments, but I don't know how much stock I put in the following:



I don't know how anybody could but those two plays on Wade Phillips. Everyone and their mothers knew that the Ravens were going to run the ball, and as such, Phillips had his defense stack the box. I guess there is an argument to be made for keeping a safety back, but on both of those runs, Ken Hamlin (their safety) ended up being the goat. He had a great shot to bring down McGahee, but he took a poor angle and decided to arm tackle instead of wrapping him up, and on McClain's run, he got stiff armed to the ground. On both runs, Hamlin was the last line of defense, and he failed miserably both times.

Nonetheless, I consider those two plays, especially back-to-back, to be quite flukish. Furthermore, I don't think it says anything about Phillips as a DC. If anything, it says that the Cowboys are piss-poor tacklers--especially Ken Hamlin.