Packers Practice Roundup: August 29, 2022

A few final tidbits of information prior to tomorrow's cut down to 53.

 

MISCELLANEOUS:

 

OL Elgton Jenkins returned to practice after missing yesterday. David Bakhtiari also practiced a second straight day.  2) Matt LaFleur says OL Elgton Jenkins will be back at practice today. "He's doing good," LaFleur says.  3) Matt LaFleur says "it's a little early" to say whether Robert Tonyan has a chance to play Week 1, but the Packers tight end got his first team reps yesterday. A big step for him coming off the torn ACL.    Wood

Elgton Jenkins initially declined an interview today. He then came up to me, [and others] and asked what we wanted to know. Asked if his absence yesterday had to do with his contract, he said no. Also said it wasn’t related to the new brace on his left shoulder.  Schneidmen  [Say what: a brace on his shoulder?  TGR]

The #Lions are releasing QB Tim Boyle, per source.  Pelissero  [Practice squad Danny Etling not so fast.  Schneidman, suggesting GB might substitute Boyle for Etling.  TGR]

Some former Packers draft picks already released during cut downs: Ka'Dar Hollman (2019 - 6th) Jace Sternberger (2019 - 3rd) Josh Jackson (2018 - 2nd).  Herman

Matt LaFleur says Mason Crosby is not being activated off PUP today.  The Packers have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to activate him. Crosby kicked yesterday, LaFleur said.  Wood

Not practicing today including: Allen Lazard, Ishmael Hyman, Shawn Davis, Travis Fulgham, Marcedes Lewis. Each practiced yesterday.  Wood  [Some may not have practiced because the Packers are going to release them and didn't want them to get hurt.  Or not.  TGR]

Want to see what people come up with here… If I told you tomorrow that there was a shocking cut for the Packers - what do you think it would be? I’ll start - I don’t think this will happen but if there was a shocker, I’ll say Crosby cut w/ injury settlement - keep Ahmed.  Herman  [I proposed releasing Crosby in the thread to Jersey Al's one and only 53-man roster projection yesterday.  TGR]

#Jaguars are releasing safety and special teams ace Rudy Ford, source said. Had a role last year on defense and the new coaching staff only viewed him in ST role. Multiple teams attempted a trade but his $2M salary was prohibitive and he’s now available on open market.  Rapoport  [Ford is a free safety who joined the NFL in 2017.  From 2017 to 2020, he played at most 62 defensive snaps, but last year he played 423 snaps on defense and got a 57.7 PFF grade.  He has always played a ton of ST snaps.  TGR]

 

EDIT - Some Thoughts On Releasing Mason Crosby:

I have seen some comments on possibly releasing Mason Crosby.  I have myself made that suggestion.  Here is how I believe that would work in terms of the salary cap.

If removed from PUP and then released, Crosby likely qualifies for injury protection per Article 45, Section 2A.  One of the things that qualifies a player for the protection is a club-authorized off-season surgery.  In 2022, players get 100% of their paragraph 5 salary, subject to a maximum of $2 million.  So, Crosby would get some cash.  Section 4 of Article 45 limits the amount that counts against the salary cap to $1.2M.  Crosby likely earned his $500K workout already, and his signing bonus proration is $1.335M.  That leaves a cap savings of $1.7M for this year.  Crosby also would not earn his game active bonus of $650,000.  
 
If Crosby is still on the PUP as of game one, normally it guarantees his base salary (which is shorthand for being eligible for termination pay).  There is a possible loophole.  If he is in the last year of his contract (he has void years, so I am not sure but I think he probably would be deemed to be in the last year of his contract AND he is not physically able to play by game 6 (still cannot pass a physical), AND then the Packers decided not to activate him for the rest of the season (even if he is fully recovered), then his contract tolls.  If Crosby can't pass a physical until after game 6 and Ahmed has been good, then perhaps the Packers leave Crosby in limbo.  That saves a boatload of cap space ($4.735M).  Since he has nothing guaranteed, the packers could release him in 2023, taking just the dead money hit on the signing bonus plus accelerated void years.  I do not believe a classy organization like the Packers would follow that course. 
 
 

 

 

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10 points
 

Comments (20)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
Since'61's picture

August 29, 2022 at 09:55 pm

Great work again TGR! Good news about Jenkins. Hope he is on track for week one. Interesting thought about Boyle but I think the Packers should stick with Etling at this point. I don't see any advantage in bringing Boyle back over Etling.

My first thought about a surprise was Darnell Savage. but why would they release Savage rather than trade him. I considered Lowry as a possibility, but again why not trade him rather than cut him. Any other players that I thought of would either be a cap hit or should be traded rather than cut with the exception of Crosby already covered by TGR. So I'm going to stick with my initial thought of Savage but I doubt that it will happen.

I would have no problem adding ford to our STs. Anyone who we can pick up to improve our STs in fine with me. Thanks, Since '61

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Coldworld's picture

August 30, 2022 at 07:07 am

Why on earth would we go back to Boyle? There’s nothing wrong with him as a 3rd stringer, but I don’t see too much wrong with Etling either. Boyle’s trip across the lake has hardly done much to inspire. I think Etling could manage a game pretty well if needed.

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Matt Gonzales's picture

August 30, 2022 at 10:08 am

GB would be in trouble if any #3 QB was taking significant snaps. The one upside with Etling is his athleticism, and he is a good scout team option to prepare for offenses that run more zone reads.

Savage and Lowry are both safe for the initial cutdown, I would think, but Lowry could be a surprise trade during the year if another team gets hit with DL injuries.

I expect there will be at least 1 new face on the Packers 53, and a couple more on the PS, by the end of the week.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 29, 2022 at 10:01 pm

Not a lot of new info. Jenkins, Bakh, Crosby and tonyan are iffy for game one. Jenkins is wearing a brace on his shoulder.

Boyle is interesting. I wonder if some team will put him on a 53 after he clears waivers.

I know nothing about Rudy Ford. As it happens, he plays free safety and is an ST teams ace who got paid to do it, or almost did. He is much like Leavitt. Both guys signed contracts in the $2M plus area only to have their teams decide that the salary was too high. But Ford got $600K guaranteed, whereas Leavitt got zip guaranteed. I don't know: just interesting and possibly a fit for GB. Is he a centerfielder type? Guessing he can tackle buy not cover, though I don't know that.

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Johnblood27's picture

August 29, 2022 at 10:13 pm

Shocking cuts...
1 - Randall Cobb
2 - Jake Hanson
3 - Tyler Davis
4 - Dallin Leavitt

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Coldworld's picture

August 30, 2022 at 06:05 am

Rhyan: Just not ready and if the packers have doubts about him they may be willing to risk waivers and move him to the PS. Hard to imagine his film making a team want him for their active roster at this point.

Amari Rodgers: Despite working really hard to get Rodgers going this off season, his yards and targets per route run are poor. The Packers had to resort to scheming him open or designed plays against seconds or worse. His increased athleticism this year still is marginal and his versatility hasn’t improved. He’s been consistently outperformed in the slot by both Toure and Winfree. His returning is ok, nothing more.

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splitpea1's picture

August 29, 2022 at 10:19 pm

Ford will likely get swooped up by another team quickly. He's great on kick coverage. As a defender, he had a really nice game vs. Buffalo last year, including a pick. He would probably be an upgrade over Leavitt in both areas.

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Coldworld's picture

August 30, 2022 at 05:51 am

Leavitt is Bisaccia’s guy and was essentially a coach in the field before injury. I don’t know too much about respective defensive merit, but I don’t see a swap for STs.

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Ryan3468's picture

August 29, 2022 at 10:32 pm

Injury settlement Mason Crosby. They go ten offensive linemen. If wide out is your thing it shouldn’t be 8. Hell running back shouldn’t be two either. Two quarterbacks, three running backs, the H back/fb/te, three additional tight ends, eight wide outs, and chances are Cobb or Watkins are cut, but even if they aren’t it won’t truly matter since neither will last the whole year anyway. Five defensive linemen, four outside and four inside linebackers, six corners, four safeties, punter, kicker, long snapper

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GatorJason's picture

August 29, 2022 at 11:02 pm

A Mason Crosby cut shocking? Not when he hasn't yet been activated all preseason and the Ahmed kid has been rock solid this preseason and has leg strength to kick through the end zone. Ahmed will be gone if cut. Crosby has literally been on his last leg for a year. Keeping Mason over a younger, stronger more consistent kicker would be shocking to me. He's had an amazing career. Time to play golf full-time.

I'm still holding out on an Amari Rodgers trade to Jacksonville. That would alleviate a logjam at WR. Amari has shown enough that he can play in the NFL but others on team have higher upside for every play he performs as a WR, punt returner, KO returner, or gadget play guy. The Jaguars would like the Clemson QB/RB/WR trio be reunited hoping they could recreate the magic they had together in college. They are not deep at WR either.

Big dawg is at the end of his career but the Packers do not have a blocking TE replacement for him and everyone on the team loves/respects him for who he is and what he represents.

Not sure who else would be a surprise cut (i.e. someone who is on everyone's 53-man roster). Those big OTs that shined in preseason game three will be tough cuts especially when there are so many teams desperate for OL help. I can see Dallas swoop up Rasheed Walker or Caleb Jones after Tyrone Smith got injured and is likely out for the season. Hate to lose good young talent to competitors. Wish Sean Ryan could be put on IR. He looks like a year away from providing any help at OG and cannot play OT. His cut would be surprising and embarrassing for Gutekunst but if you took away Ryan's draft position and contract and then made decision based strictly on performance, he'd not make the final 53.

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Coldworld's picture

August 30, 2022 at 06:18 am

While PFF is doing its best to baffle me with its ratings, there’s no doubt team analysts do pick them up. The composite grades for the preseason have Myers: 85.1 as our best performer on O, significantly however, Caleb Jones is second with 85.0.

A pinch of salt is needed: they had Newman at 4 with 72, but there’s little doubt that Jones’ rating and his size will have put him on the radar of other teams as a guy who could help in need this year. Do not waive him.

.

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GregC's picture

August 30, 2022 at 07:40 am

The Amari Rodgers to Jacksonville trade idea is a very interesting one that could work out well for both parties. Who knows if the Jaguars have any interest at all in that, but as you note, they very well could.

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GatorJason's picture

August 29, 2022 at 11:02 pm

dupe deleted

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veteranviewer's picture

August 29, 2022 at 11:17 pm

Cut Crosby with injury settlement and cut Amari Rodgers and put him back on practice squad if nobody claims him.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 30, 2022 at 02:44 am

I think (not as sure about this) that the Packers could reach an injury settlement with Crosby instead of just releasing him. The injury protection claim that Crosby could make is at Crosby's option. A player can only make one injury protection claim per career.

So, the settlement could be for 4 game checks ($500K but any settlement less than $1.2M helps the Packers' cap situation) and stipulate that Crosby will not make an injury protection claim while allowing Crosby to double dip if he signs with another team. [That in turn depends on how long Crosby thinks he will be out and how confident he might be about his chances to secure a contract with another team.]

I didn't bend my mind too hard to this question because I don't think the Packers will feel as confident with Ahmed coming in to make a 44-yard (or even a 35-yard) game winning field goal as they would with Crosby. Is that worth $1.7M to $2.4M on the cap? But I did see this while reading Andy Herman's twitter, and when he brought it up Ken Ingalls was kind enough to reply with some of the possible numbers. Here is a link to Andy's twitter and that particular thread:

https://twitter.com/AndyHermanNFL/status/1564302403062697988

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Thre's picture

August 30, 2022 at 03:43 am

Good post

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Coldworld's picture

August 30, 2022 at 05:42 am

Just wanted to thank you. These have been the best written source of insight into what’s gone on in camp. A lot of effort on your part, so I just wanted to make my appreciation clear.

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Todd's picture

August 30, 2022 at 06:05 am

Great stuff, TGR. Really appreciate you putting these wraps up together and enjoyed reading them.

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Crankbait's picture

August 30, 2022 at 06:14 am

Crosby's got to go now I feel. I don't think it would be wise to try breaking in a new kicker midway through the season if/when something happens to Crosby.
Too much pressure on him versus starting him now.

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PeteK's picture

August 30, 2022 at 09:23 am

Great work TGR! Now on to the season.

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