Green Bay Packers practice squad: They win some, lose some
Green Bay Packers roster building continued today with the formation of it’s 10-member practice squad.
Yesterday the 53-man roster took shape.
But the shapeshifting of rosters continues across the league, including the one in Green Bay that will probably look different a week from now when the team kicks off its 2017 regular season by hosting the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field.
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But for the time being, today’s top news coming out of Packers News involved the trading of outside linebacker Jayrone Elliott to the Dallas Cowboys for a seventh round pick, the addition of the Packers outside linebacker Chris Odom off waivers from Atlanta, and the addition of outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who officially signed with the Packers after being released by the San Francisco 49ers.
But it was the formation of the practice squad that brought about the most interest.
As they say, you win some and you lose some. That was the case for the Green Bay Packers today as they retained the rights to quarterback Joe Callahan, wide receivers DeAngelo Yancey and Michael Clark, outside linebacker Reggie Gilbert, offensive linemen Kofi Amichia and Adam Pankey, cornerback Donatello Brown, inside linebacker Derrick Matthews, defensive lineman Izaah Lunsford, and safety Jermaine Whitehead.
Among the cut players who didn’t make it through waivers and were nabbed by other teams was quarterback Taysom Hill, the player whose future with the team went on the gambling table Saturday night when the team released him. By Sunday, the New Orleans Saints had grabbed Hill off the waiver wire.
Ironically, it was Callahan who was cut last year at the end of training camp and was picked up by the Saints. However, the Packers re-signed Callahan from the Saints a few weeks later.
This time around it’s Hill. Whether the Packers try to get him back into the fold remains uncertain.
Other players who didn’t stay in Green Bay were wide receiver Malachi Dupre, defensive tackle Brian Price, offensive lineman Geoff Gray, and wide receiver Max McCaffrey.
It was McCaffrey who was said to be most impressive among the young receivers this summer during training camp – a fact that wasn’t lost on the Saints, who also dipped into the Packers roster to claim McCaffrey.
All of those players were considered possible candidates to make the practice squad, but in the brutal business that is the NFL, each team must take it’s good with the not-so-good.
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Though the roster will continue to change throughout the season, the base of the 53-man roster has been established. The players who made the final roster provide the Packers with a diverse group of men who should provide longtime skills to the franchise.
Those added to the practice squad provide potential and future star power.