I wonder he Mike McCarthy sat down with Ted Thompson after interviewing Mike Nolan and got a bit of an education on how long it would take to draft all of the necessary personnel to run a 3-4.  I say draft because Thompson isn’t going to sign free agents.  Everybody talks about 2006 as big years when Thompson did go after free agents.  He signed Ryan Pickett and Charles Woodson.  While both have proved to be good to excellent signings, 2 guys does not represent some kind of spending spree.

So, now McCarthy has interviewed Gregg Williams and may have his eye on others.  It would certainly be easier for Ted to sign a DT and LB and draft a few guys with a Gregg Williams defense.  It is certainly a lot more work to put the puzzle pieces in place for the 3-4.  Or is it? 

The Packers have run a 4-3 defense since the late 80’s.  According to NFL.com, they had a top 5 defense just 3 times in that span – 1993, 1996 and 1998.  In fact, its safe to say the haven’t had a defense that imposed its will on the other team since Fritz Shurmur and Reggie White left.  Would they be that bad off trying something new?

The positive news for Packers fans is that both of these guys have done it before.  They’ve proven an ability to build defenses that gang tackle and adjust throughout the game.  Even if the Packers were to switch to a 3-4, I think its safe to say they will be better off than they were this year.  A healthy Cullen Jenkins and Atari Bigby for the whole season would have made them better off as well.