The Packer Pundit

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THOMPSON NOT LIKELY TO TRADE TOP PICK

Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Monday there’s a strong likelihood he will use the No. 5 pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on Saturday rather than trade it.

In the general manager’s annual pre-draft news conference, Thompson said he believes it would be difficult to move down even if he wanted to.

“There’s a high probability — in fact, it’s almost a certainty — that there’s going to be a really good player there for us at No. 5,” Thompson said. “There’s a lot of times when people are at the top of the draft and want to trade backwards, but it’s difficult to do because you have to have somebody who really wants to come up there and to come up there, you have to realize the price of playing poker has gone up because of the salary and that sort of thing. So there’s not that many people who want to come up.”

Thompson also said he wasn’t sure if he would hear from quarterback Brett Favre, who still hasn’t announced whether he will play this season, before the draft. He insisted Favre’s uncertainty — and receiver Javon Walker’s claim that he wants to be cut or traded and won’t play for the Packers again — won’t impact his decision-making in the draft.

“I don’t think it can or should,” Thompson said. “You might think about it, but the draft, as I’ve said before, is a long-term thing, a long-term process for your organization. It’s an investment in the future, and I don’t think you can look at it in the short-term point of view.

-- Rob Demovsky, PackersNews.com