GREEN BAY — Mike McCarthy let the cat out of the bag.

Late Saturday night, the Green Bay Packers' coach let it slip that Ted Thompson, the team's general manager, doesn't always pick the best player available in the NFL draft.

You could have fooled us. In his four years as the chief architect of the Packers' roster, Thompson has steadfastly maintained he chooses value over need in the draft.

"I think you have to pay attention to both," McCarthy said, "because it gives you the opportunity to pick not only the right person but hopefully at the right time. That's the chess match that every NFL club goes through, and we're no different."

They weren't over the weekend. No matter what Thompson says about staying true to his draft board, the Packers did a solid job of filling the holes on their roster in the two-day draft.

What follows is a subjective list, in order, of the Packers' five biggest needs entering the draft and what they did to satisfy those needs.

Cornerback: The Packers badly needed a cornerback who could step into the nickel role this season and eventually replace one of their aging starters. Second-round pick Patrick Lee is somewhat inexperienced after starting only one season at Auburn, but he has the size, speed and athletic ability to play press coverage — a must with the Packers.

Tight end: With Bubba Franks' departure in free agency, the Packers needed someone who could back up Donald Lee and join him in two-tight end sets. Jermichael Finley, the third-round pick from Texas, is a talented receiver but young and one-dimensional. In time, Finley will gain weight and his blocking ability should catch up with his receiving skills.

Quarterback: Brett Favre is retired (at least we think so) and Aaron Rodgers was the only viable quarterback on the roster. Thompson struck out trying to land a veteran journeyman, so he surprisingly added two quarterbacks — second-rounder Brian Brohm of Louisville and seventh-rounder Matt Flynn of LSU — to fill up his available slots and send still another message to Favre that the Packers have moved on.

Offensive tackle: With Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher in their 30s, the Packers were looking for their eventual replacements. They scratched that itch with two developmental types — Josh Sitton of Central Florida in the fourth round and Breno Giacomini of Louisville in the fifth. As a bonus, Sitton could be a factor in the crowded but unsettled guard situation.

Defensive end: The pass rush ran out of gas when Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was slowed by injury late last season. The Packers tried to insulate themselves against that by trading up to land defensive end Jeremy Thompson of Wake Forest in the fourth round. It was the first time in Ted Thompson's nine years of running drafts that he traded up, a dead give-away that he was intent on filling a need.

The only other area Thompson addressed in the draft was wide receiver, which many thought was the deepest position on the team. Upon further review, however, the Packers were in need of a reliable big receiver, a feeling Thompson obviously held going into the draft.

The top three receivers — Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and James Jones — are in the 6-foot range, which normally isn't a problem but became one when the field conditions negated their quickness and rendered them ineffective in the second half of the NFC Championship Game loss to the New York Giants. Second-round pick Jordy Nelson of Kansas State gives the Packers the kind of tall, physical receiver they could have used in that game. Nelson also gives McCarthy another weapon in the four and five-receiver sets he used so regularly last season.

All in all, it was a good two days for the Packers. When the draft was over, Thompson admitted he had pretty much filled every need in his projected roster and then some.

"In terms of looking at it as a 53- or 60-man group, we feel pretty solid," he said.

All that remains is for the guys Thompson drafted to show they can play.