Don’t blame Walker for wanting out of Green Bay

By Connor Byrne | Tuesday, March 14, 2006 | ( 0 )

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Green Bay Packers star receiver Javon Walker has come under a lot of scrutiny as of late because he wants to be moved to another organization. Can you blame Walker for wanting out? The Packers are a dysfunctional team crippled with a quarterback past his prime, a coach with limited credentials, and a GM that refuses to give Walker a solid contract extension even though he went to the Pro Bowl in 2004.

Last season was supposed to be big for Walker and the rest of the Packers' offense. Unfortunately, Walker tore his ACL in the first game of the season and Green Bay's hopes imploded from there with a rash of injuries to key players like running backs Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport.

The Packers' new excuse for not wanting to give Walker a fair contract has to due with the aforementioned knee-injury. However, even before that, Thompson and the organization wouldn't give Walker a new deal after coming off a stellar 89 catch season with 1,392 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns. Essentially, Walker was one of the league's best receivers in '04 but Green Bay was and is hesitant to pay him like one.

Contract talks aside, Walker better get out of Green Bay before the Brett Favre era officially turns from legendary to embarrassing. Favre, one of the game's all-time great QB's, officially lost it last season as he threw one ill-advised pass after another. In total, Favre tossed 29 interceptions and finished with an efficiency rating of 70.9. Though some still believe that Favre will return to NFL glory, it is more likely that the tailspin will continue into next season. That won't help Walker's situation at all since he will be an unrestricted free agent after next season. How's he going to get the kind of money he deserves when his production falls because of a struggling quarterback?

I know that most Packers fans still love Brett Favre and want him to be their starting quarterback, but it's time to let go. Watching Favre these days is like watching Old Yeller; it's officially time for the once-legendary QB to shuffle off in favor of Aaron Rodgers or some other youngster. If not, the Packers are setting themselves up for several consecutive years of mediocrity, or worse yet, to a return the NFL cellar that they occupied in the 70's and 80's.

The other main reason why Walker needs to get out of Green Bay goes back to its new head coach, Mike McCarthy. After leading putrid New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers offenses for the last six years, McCarthy was inexplicably hired by the Packers to replace one of the game's winningest coaches, Mike Sherman. Firing Sherman and hiring a much less-proven coach to take his seat is one of the most senseless, foolish things I've seen in recent memory. It would be different if the Packers hired a good, proven mind like new St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan or new Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. Instead, Thompson and the remainder of the Packers' front-office opted for one of the least qualified assistants in the league to take over a proud franchise. Maybe Thompson is looking to be fired. That's the only way to justify firing Sherman only to hire McCarthy.

At this point, it's unclear how this mess with Javon Walker will turn out. The best thing for the Green Bay Packers to do is to either give him his big payday, or in what seems to be a more likely scenario, grant him his wish to go elsewhere.

--Connor Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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