When it comes to the big, wide world of sports, I haven’t said much as of late. Not that my layman’s opinion means much in that big, wide world, but my absence of commentary doesn’t mean that I’ve totally disconnected. Rather, in the midst of the NFL offseason, and standing in the midway points of the NBA and NHL seasons as well as the infancy of the MLB, there hasn’t been a whole lot to talk about.

At least, not a whole lot I saw worth talking about. While the NFL would like to try and control as much of the sports calendar as possible by holding their annual draft at the end of April, I resisted the urge to jump on top of the myriad headlines that ESPN and the rest were pumping out.

But, with the news that my hometown Packers have signed former Jaguars’ tight end Marcedes Lewis to a one-year deal, I felt now was the perfect time to comment on the state of their roster.

In short, I like it.

If you’ve followed any of my previous articles, you’ll know that I was highly critical of Ted Thompson’s last few years in Green Bay. Imagine my giddiness then, when news broke that Ted Thompson had bowed out of the general manager role in Green Bay and the mantle had been passed on to longtime scout and personnel man Brian Gutekunst.

Imagine my joy when Gutekunst not only drafted two of the draft’s top cornerbacks at the end of April, but also gamed the Saints out of their 2019 first round pick, and for the measly price of moving back four slots from the 14^th to the 18^th overall pick in 2018.

And imagine my pure, unadulterated bliss when Gutekunst picked up Jimmy Graham and Muhammad Wilkerson, as well as Packers veterans Tramon Williams and Davon House, in free agency.

Now, if you know anything about the state of Packers roster-building in the Ted Thompson era, then you would know that these sorts of gems had become foreign concepts, especially over the last five years or so. The Packers rarely pursued free agent big fish like Graham, unless you count aged veterans like Julius Peppers or Jeff Saturday.

Gutekunst, seemingly, has changed that.

Now, granted I don’t entirely agree with everything that Gutekunst has done. I was blindsided by the Demarious Randall for Deshone Kizer trade, which I still hold was a poor decision, no matter how better the Packers’ secondary is even without Randall or how badly the team thought Aaron Rodgers needed a better backup (is Deshone Kizer really “better”?). I was also bowled over by the Jordy Nelson release. While I understand not paying him his original contract, which had far outpaced his actual ability, keeping Jordy would’ve meant one more senior cog in an already deadly passing attack.

Yet, despite my misgivings about some of his decisions, I still think that Gutekunst’s affect on the team has been a net positive. On paper (which is always a sticking point) the Packers are much improved over where they were a year or two ago, on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

The latest cap in this feather being Marcedes Lewis. With the signing of Lewis, the Packers tight end corps is now one of the most senior in the league, with a combined 27 seasons of experience between the top three ends. Additionally, every one of the Packers new tight ends was drafted in either the first or second rounds.

With the blocking ability of Marcedes Lewis and the deep strike potential of Jimmy Graham, alongside the speed of Davante Adams on the outside, Randall Cobb out of the slot, and an intensely talented stable of running backs behind Aaron Rodgers, I feel confident that this offense will be able to tear through the competition like nothing else.

Lewis seems likely to be thinking the same thing, as both Graham and Rodgers were the catalyst in helping persuade him to come over to the Dairyland. There seems to be something in the water in Green Bay, and Lewis seemed to want a piece of it.

Now of course, this too is all the conjecture of a layman. Maybe this team crashes and burns. Stranger things have happened. Yet, with all of the changes in the franchise from the front office on down to the field, I would be very, very surprised if the it didn’t all result in the most competitive Packers team that’s been seen in years.