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When Jay Glazer broke the news early yesterday afternoon of Seattle’s acquisition of RB Marshawn Lynch for a 2011 4th round pick and a conditional 2012, I bit my tongue.

It’s too easy to say “go get a guy.” It’s too easy to say “we could have had him.” It’s too easy to say “we never try.”

Behind the scenes, General Managers (including Ted Thompson) are always making calls, always trying to bolster their existing rosters. Conventional assumption is that if we didn’t get the guy, we didn’t try. That’s a load of garbage.

We hear of the deals that get done. Rarely do the failed attempts make ink. And rarely does the critical bargaining minutia that sealed any deal surface.

So I waited to read more, hear more, see more before pouncing on the Pack. I waited for the “oh…ok…I get what happened here” moment. But it didn’t come. I don’t get what happened here. I don’t understand why Marshawn Lynch is not sporting a nice new Green Bay #23.

When you consider the 4th rounders that have come to (and gone through) Green Bay since 2005, I would have thrown two at Buffalo for Lynch. Forget that conditional crap in 2012 – take another 4th round guy. Heck, we took Marviel Underwood in the 4th. We took Corey Rodgers in the 4th. We took Jeremy Thompson in the 4th. None of those guys is even in football right now! Will Blackmon was a 4th – not doing us any good on IR (again). Allen Barbre was a 4th – no longer with the team…doin’ nothin’ for Seattle. In fact, of our eight 4th round selections since ’05, only two are actually contributing - Brady Poppinga and Josh Sitton. T.J. Lange has yet to find the field in 2010.

I am dumbfounded that we didn’t land Lynch. I am livid that we didn’t land Lynch. I don’t see the premium attached to a 4th round guy, a sight line even more obstructed by the 1st round talent of Marshawn Lynch. I would have spent a 3rd rounder to get him. I think he’s worth that. But I’m not the GM of the Green Bay Packers.

On the field, all Marshawn Lynch does is pick up 4 yards per carry. Solid. Off the field, all Marshawn Lynch does is pick up 4 misdemeanors per outing. Of course that’s an exaggeration, but not by much. Long rap sheet short, Lynch is one incident away from being suspended for a year.

I disagree with Thompson’s offer. But it is defensible.