When Ted Thompson was hired to take over the general manager reins for GM/head coach Mike Sherman in January 2005, he was faced with a daunting task.

Thompson came to a fork in the road from the second he laid foot on 1265 Lombardi Ave. His choice was to either put off the rebuilding period by further decimating the salary cap as his predecessor Sherman began to do or to begin rebuilding the club with younger players and let higher paid players hit the road and hope his team can remain competitive.

The team had a head coach who lost his front office job to him, but would remain his head coach. Think Thompson’s job was easy? Nothing could be further from the truth. A general manager needs at least two and a half seasons for his performance to be evaluated. In other words, give him one more season before you rip the man.

In Thompson’s first months on the job, he chose the route of rebuilding. Long-time Green Bay stars such as safety Darren Sharper and guards Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera left Titletown after it became apparent the Packers would not be able to afford their lucrative contracts.

Thompson drew much criticism but he responded with a solid 2005 draft by bringing in Brett Favre’s heir apparent, Aaron Rodgers. He also drafted current defensive starters and solid players in safety Nick Collins and linebacker Brady Poppinga.

A full slate of injuries and several tough losses led to the Packers first losing season since 1991 as Green Bay went 4-12. And despite the fact that he gave Sherman a two-year contract extension before the season started, he fired the six-year coach who won three NFC North Division titles.

Soon after, Thompson hired Mike McCarthy, a relative unknown offensive coordinator from San Francisco. He coached Favre in 1999 when he served as the Packers’ quarterbacks coach.

Now, the roster features 30 players with less than two years’ experience, a league high. And the pains of last season are starting to fade away into promise for tomorrow.

Thompson brought in promising young players such as starting guards Darryn Colledge and Jason Spitz, plus key reserve lineman Tony Moll, all from this year’s draft.

Also, Thompson’s controversial move of resigning running back Ahman Green has paid dividends and has further bolstered the backfield by trading for Vernand Morency and signing a long-term fullback in Brandon Miree.

At receiver, he took a small-school wide receiver in the second round of this year’s draft in Greg Jennings. All Jennings has done is given himself a chance for offensive rookie of the year.

On defense, many people thought he overpaid for Aaron Kampman and Charles Woodson but both have played well. (Kampman leads the NFL with 9 ½ sacks.) A.J. Hawk has proven he is worthy of his high-round draft status at outside linebacker. He may have misfired on the signing of safety Marquand Manuel, but GMs cannot hit it rich constantly. The defense is vastly improved from last year.

The Packers lack of winning falls on the shoulders of Mike Sherman, not Ted Thompson. In four years of drafting, only three of Sherman’s players are starters. Thompson has the Packers headed in the right direction.

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