For more than a decade as Packers general manager, Ted Thompson built his 53-man roster with homegrown players. Charles Woodson signed a seven-year, $52-million deal in 2006 and was a key piece of their Super Bowl XLV champion team but rarely did Thompson dip into the free-agent pool. Now one game away from their first Super Bowl appearance in nine years, the Packers are relying on free agents more than ever (e.g. Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos) but still have the most homegrown players of the remaining teams.
As noted by Albert Breer in his “How the NFL’s Final Four Teams Were Built” article, 32 of the Packers’ 53 players were drafted by the team or signed as undrafted free agents, three more than their NFC Championship foe, the 49ers, who have 29 homegrown players.