Sam Shields

Just rear an article about guys we will lose for next year, no big suprises except Sam Shields is a restricted free agaent, I like the way he played recenlty for the Pack and hope they keep him, I know you cant believe everything you read especially after the season there is so much speculation, Any thoughs on possibly losing Shields

He is a RFA so we can tag him and if someone wants him they owe us a first round pick

Apparently he outperformed Tramon Williams last year and the conventional wisdom is that he'll be in competition for the number 1 spot.

Hope he does compete for number 1 job, not trying to be a hater but Williams looked poor this year, like he is afraid to tackle

Would like to see us keep both. I like Shields as the 5 back. Williams was coming off his injury this year, so maybe he can put all that behind him now. I like what Hayward brought to the team. He should be even better next season.

Go Packers!

Just hope he doesn't sign an offer from a team like Dallas or the Jets that guarantee money only if he plays less then like 4 games in the state of Wisconson. 

I don't think teams can use a franchise tag on RFAs...not sure though. 

First round tender tag. For RFAs

Don't worry Sheilds will be back,the Packers will have roughly 55 to 60 million to spend on FA's and draft picks after cuts and releases and free agency.

Shields is fast, but can't tackle worth a chit. In the long run, he hurts the Packers more than he helps.  The undersized defensive backs on the team are soft players who are not physical and can't tackle. The Packers need to upgrade this area badly in my opinion. I'm tired of watching games where these players can't make the tackle. 

Right on GBA. Shields was supposed to be the cover guy on the opponent's fastest WR. He was average. Add his poor tackling on top of it, and he is not worth a big bucks extension. Maybe keep him for one more year and let him go if he does not improve..

He played pretty well last year, giving up only 2 TDs in his 10 games. He's getting better and while he's not CharlesWoodson he's been willing to stick his nose in there which is more than I can say for Williams.

It's unfortunate that we know how poor our cornerbacks are at tackling.

Agreed I think thats one of the biggest problems is they do not tackle well, same was said last year, its not just the cornerbacks
though.

He played pretty well last year, giving up only 2 TDs in his 10 games. He's getting better and while he's not CharlesWoodson he's been willing to stick his nose in there which is more than I can say for Williams.

According to Joe Witt, Casey Hayward probably "played better than everyone".  But let's also remember that he was typically covering their #3, while Shields was covering the opposing teams #2 and Williams was covering their #1. 

With House we have 4 starting caliber CBs, at least in ability. 
BTW, Shields' tackling heavily improved this season.  In fact, just about every part of his game improved in 2012 over 2011.

You don't let good cover guys go.  Make them compete to see how they rank.  House and Hayward are going to be in the mix next year higher than Williams. 

I can remember a few examples of Shields bringing down a running back in the open field. Whilst he missed many tackles the previous season, he made a concious attempt to improve this season and succeeded.


Given Hayward's ability to cover in the slot and that House performed well in training camp and played injured all year, corner could be a position of strength for years to come.

Shields had 28 tackles this past season, and that wasn't an improvement over the year before.  The guy comes in at 184 pounds and isn't scaring anyone on the other side of the line.  He's usually the smallest player on the field, and he's not very physical, which means he gets abused often.  The guy needs to be in the sub package or let go for better talent.

Maybe if we had decent LB's they wouldn't have to tackle so much?

^^^^^ Exactly. Hence my previous post in this thread.

Getting Bishop back will help with some of the tackling issues, but we need at least one ILB who can cover. We didn't have Nick Perry or Jerel Worthy for the post-season, either. We also need to make a significant upgrade over M.D. Jennings.