In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Packers made some big moves as the NFL enters the free agency period. None of the moves should come at a particular surprise to anyone. There are a lot of good players leaving Green Bay, who while good are not worth what they’re getting elsewhere to the Packers. The biggest, and maybe least surprising move, is Malik Willis, who’s getting a big payday to join Jeff Hafley with the Dolphins. Willis deserves whatever he got, Oates thinks, as he did more than alright by the Packers. He was a great backup quarterback who caught some people’s attention and is getting rewarded for being a safety net the Packers could trust. The other eye catching move is Romeo Doubs, who’s also getting a big payday with his move to the Patriots. Doubs is a good receiver, but between Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and Jayden Reed, it didn’t make sense to throw a bunch of money at him.

The Packers had their biggest shakeups on defense, with Quay Walker, Kingsley Enagbare, and Rashan Gary all out. Again, these were a lot of good players who just didn’t live up to what was needed in Green Bay. Gary is a good player, but he was being payed like a great player. After his poor performance at the end of the last season (finding zero sacks in his last ten games), he needed to step up and he simply didn’t. As for Quay Walker, the newly signed Zaire Franklin is looking like he’ll just be more physical. Were any of these moves surprises? No, but there’s still plenty of time for a big splash to happen.

Meanwhile with the Badgers Men’s Basketball Team, the Big 10 Tournament has begun after the Badgers were largely left out of the all conference team. After a big win at Purdue, the Badgers will play Thursday against a yet-to-be-decided opponent. But how hard should they really be trying to win the tournament? Bo Ryan was never the biggest fan, considering that the more important NCAA Tournament begins just a few days after the Big 10 finals. Lucas and Oates have their strategy: play until you get to Saturday, then take a little bit extra rest. The Badgers have a recent history of playing in the Sunday finals, and then quickly losing in the NCAA Tournament. Ultimately, kids don’t dream of playing in the Big 10 Tournament, they dream of playing on the national stage in March Madness.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.