Green Bay Packers: In today’s strange news, there’s Sam Shields

Green Bay Packers news of the past 24 hours has been focused on the team’s cuts, but out of the blue comes the suspension of Sam Shields – yes, that Sam Shields.

Field Yates of ESPN tweeted about sources telling him that the suspension of Shields, though he probably doesn’t have snowball’s chance in hell of playing a down in the NFL, takes effect over the course of the first two games of the upcoming season.

Though the reason for the suspension is not known at this point, Yates believed it is from an October 2016 incident when he was arrested for possession of marijuana.

Even without the suspension there hasn’t been any interest from any team, though he indicated earlier this summer that he was available to play.

Shields, one of Ted Thompson‘s finds, was an undrafted cornerback who burst on the scene as a rookie, and helped the Packers in 2010 to a Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He was the Packers top cornerback when he re-signed with Green Bay in 2014, a $15 million deal from which the Packers got two seasons of his services. As part of that deal, Shields got a $12 million signing bonus.

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The head injuries, however, wouldn’t stop. After his fourth known concussion with the Packers, they shut him down last year after the first game and then cut ties with him at the end of the year.

Shields has been out of football for a full year and though he’s declared himself fit and ready to play, there haven’t been any suitors – nor does it look like any team will touch him.

In seven years with the Green Bay Packers, Shields had 245 tackles, broke up 55 pass attempts, and had 18 interceptions.

He had some big moments during his career, including a game-sealing interception in the 2010 NFC Championship Game, which helped the Packers earn a trip to the Super Bowl; but he was also the defender on the pass catch that was later ruled not a catch by Dez Bryant in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs in 2014 at Lambeau Field.

But Shields’ career shouldn’t be defined by a couple of plays. When he was on the field, Shields was an effective member of the Green Bay Packers’ defensive backfield – that is, WHEN he was on the field.

Shields missed a lot of games over his career – 33, to be exact – the primary reason there were some who didn’t think re-signing Shields was one of Ted Thompson’s better moves.

But that’s hindsight.

Shields won’t be a Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer, but he will be remembered as a champion, something that’s difficult to do in today’s NFL.

And if there are any teams willing to take a chance on him and sign him to a 2017 contract, they will have to wait for two games to do so.

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The Packers released Sheilds back in February after suffering his fourth known concussion in the season opener last year. Yates does not reveal why Shields was suspended, but it could stem from his arrest back in October for possession of marijuana, which he was charged for in January.