It's one thing when Packers fans gripe about General Manager Ted Thompson's habit of eschewing the free-agent market in favor of drafting and developing players.

It's another when a respected and plugged-in Packers writer like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Bob McGinn digs in and writes essentially the same thing quite forcefully. McGinn wrote recently:

"The Green Bay Packers under General Manager Ted Thompson would rather sit on their hands than procure players … at least veteran players. Now they'll be sitting home once again as another more aggressive franchise, this time the upstart Atlanta Falcons, represents the NFC in the Super Bowl."

There's more once McGinn really gets his throat cleared: "Thompson's aversion to signing players that have been with other teams is holding hostage [Mike] McCarthy and his coaches, [Aaron] Rodgers and his teammates and members of his own personnel department."

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.