INDIANAPOLIS—Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson probably wouldn't be a good poker player. He may be guarded and tries to put up a veil, but once you get to know him, he's easy to read.

When faced with the decision, would you raise and push all your chips to middle of the table for a chance to win a big pot or would you call, it's clear what Thompson would do.

In 2014, Thompson had a full house. At the poker table of the NFL, it was a better hand than 29 other NFL teams. But he didn't know if it would be a winning hand. As it turns out, only the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots had better.

Leaving roughly $10 million in salary-cap space unused, Thompson held firm. He could have put that $10 million to work, acquire more talent, but he didn't.

"We don't necessarily look at it like that," said Thompson. "We feel like we understand what the cap means. It doesn't mean we're going to roll over money every year. It doesn't mean we're going to spend everything up 'til the last penny. We're going to run our business the way we think it should be run. We'd like to get ourselves in a position so, and I've said this before, that we make football decisions. We don't really make any economic decisions. They're all football decisions."

Maybe the Packers should have signed free agent tight end Owen Daniels when they had the chance. In retrospect, it would have been a beter option than Brandon Bostick. But that's just one example of many Thompson didn't make.

But it's not as if Green Bay's general manager held firm like he usually does in free agency. He uncharacteristically signed Julius Peppers to a blockbuster deal. He also added Letroy Guion, who played a big role on the Packers defensive line.

Thompson might have lost at the poker table, but he will roll over that nearly $10 million in unused salary-cap space over to 2015. The Packers will use it to re-sign their own players set to become free agents, starting with wide receiver Randall Cobb.

"We're working on several different levels with several different people, and like I say, it's no secret," said Thompson. "We say the same thing every year. We mean it. It's no secret that we try to keep and maintain our own guys as much as possible. We feel that's a good investment for the organization. We feel like, especially if we have good people like we do, we like to do that and we're trying to do that with Randall."

There's also offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga, who along with Cobb, appear to be priorities A and B for the Packers this offseason.

"Bryan has always been a good player for us, and yeah, he had a good year," said Thompson. "He's another player that we'd like to have back."

The argument can be made, however, that Thompson didn't need to roll over that $10 million to afford Cobb and Bulaga.

For one, there's an expected increase in the salary cap over this past year's $133 million limit. The Packers can also clear over $7 million by relasing linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones. Then there's the possibility of restructuring Peppers'' deal, which has a cap impact of $12 million in 2015.

The tradeoff might have been that Thompson wouldn't have enough money to sign his other free agents such as cornerbacks Davon House and Tramon Williams or nose tackles B.J. Raji and Letroy Guion.

Either way, it's an interesting debate. Might have one more talented free agent made the difference this past season? After all, the Packers were arguably one play away from beating the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game.

Alas, we know the route Thompson chose to take. Now he enters an offseason with 12 players set to become unrestricted free agents and three more restricted ones.

"You can't really look at the whole pile," said Thompson. "You take everything that you've got to do, every single task, you separate them and put it in a little section and you go at it. And that's the way we do it, and we add it up at the end. You can't get involved with looking up all the stuff we have to do or the big picture. You have to go at it small picture: We got to do this; we got to do this; we got to do this. And that's what we're trying to do."

Packers fans can rest assured the Packers are set up for sustained success under Thompson's direction. Barring an injury to Aaron Rodgers, there's no end to their six-year playoff streak in sight.

The question remains, however, whether the Packers are merely a Super Bowl contender or whether they're good enough to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2015.

It's the difference between a full house and a royal flush.

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].