Tuesday Cheese Curds: Packers preparing for a muddled future

The offseason is upon us. Long live the offseason.

The long dark of the offseason is upon us. The Lambeau Field locker room is clean, the players are all but gone, and the coaching staff — with Joe Barry intact — is starting its year-end process.

The internal monologue from the Packers seems to reflect an organization that still believes it’s close to contending for another title. But talk is cheap, and the Packers have a bunch of big decisions to make on roster bonuses and more in the very near future, not to mention the multi-million dollar elephant in the room that is Aaron Rodgers. How the Packers handle those decisions will go a long way toward revealing how they actually think about their championship aspirations.

It might be more accurate to call the Packers a work in progress, and that work is being devoted to a very uncertain future, a future we’ll get to discover right along with the Packers. However convinced they may be right now, we’ll find out soon what they really believe that future could be.

Packers process emotions, uncertainty with season over | Packers.com

Right along with the rest of us, the Packers are trying to figure out what happens next.

Matt LaFleur open to Nathaniel Hackett returning to Packers | ESPN

LaFleur says he’d welcome the chance to work with Nathaniel Hackett again but made no assurances about his future.

Packers were destined for disappointment | Packers Wire

The Packers made a run, but remained the flawed team they were all along.

David Bakhtiari glad he pushed through retirement thoughts last offseason, finally healthy | Packers News

For a while it seemed like about even odds as to whether Bakhtiari would ever play again. He ended up appearing in 11 games and performed well, but an appendectomy limited his availability down the stretch.

Wild-Card Preview: 49ers Poised for a Run | Football Outsiders

The football world goes on, even if the Packers do not. Here’s a good look at the playoff picture.

Deer runs wild through Minnesota butcher shop | UPI

I can only assume this was some kind of deer dare.