GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If the Green Bay Packers become a more active player in free agency this offseason -- and that's a gigantic if -- it won't be because of an edict from team president Mark Murphy.

For better or worse, that's not how Murphy's relationship with general manager Ted Thompson works.

"Ted and I talk all the time, and he knows that he has all the resources he needs, but the way I manage and work with people, I would never tell Ted what to do," Murphy said. "My philosophy is hire really good people, give them the resources they need, and you support them. I think that's worked well for us. And yeah, we haven't been real active, but when we do go into free agency, we usually get pretty good players."

Which begs the question, why not dip into the open market more often? It served Thompson well last offseason, when he signed tight end Jared Cook to a one-year, $2.75 million contract. The same thing could be said of three years ago with Julius Peppers, who gave the Packers perhaps more than anyone could have imagined, or of Charles Woodson before that.

Thompson, in an interview last month, gave no indication that he plans to change his approach to roster building. He said his philosophy is "pretty well-stated" and there are other factors to consider when you "take on a veteran player. It's more than just the player. It's how does the salary compare to other people on your team, and does this ruffle feathers, and all those other questions that maybe your average fan wouldn't think to answer."

Still, quarterback Aaron Rodgers seemed to implore Thompson to do more when he made his "all-in" remark shortly after the Packers' loss to the Falcons in the NFC Championship Game last month.

"It's obviously Ted's decision, but you can look across the league -- there's a lot of people that have tried to make big splashes in free agency, and it ends up backfiring," Murphy said. "I think the best thing that Ted has done is obviously the draft-and-develop, but [also] identifying our key core players and extending them."

Under Thompson, who predates Murphy's appointment as team president in 2007, the Packers have been one of the most consistent franchises in the NFL. Their streak of eight straight playoff appearances attests to that.

But some NFL observers – and some among the Packers' fan base -- who believe Thompson's approach to roster building can take a team only so far.

"I would beg to differ," Murphy said. "Ted has been an excellent GM. We've had success. We've won a Super Bowl under Ted. If we make a change -- I know that Ted is an excellent GM, and we make a change, there's no guarantees. The consistent level of success that we have achieved is very difficult to do in the NFL, so I wouldn't want to just throw that out for the chance that maybe things would be better with a different GM."