Packers release cornerback Tony Brown, per report

The Green Bay Packers have released cornerback Tony Brown.

Here’s some surprising news ahead of the Green Bay Packers‘ final game of the regular season. According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers have released cornerback Tony Brown.

Brown hasn’t played since Week 12 against the San Francisco 49ers and has been a healthy scratch in recent weeks. The Packers have gone with second-year cornerback Josh Jackson ahead of Brown. According to Pro Football Reference, Brown hasn’t played a defensive snap since the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9.

Many had high expectations for Brown entering the season after he impressed in 2018 and throughout the summer. Last year, Brown played in 11 games, starting three, and finished third on the team in passes defended with five. He also forced two fumbles.

Brown seemed to be part of the plans on defense at the start of the season, playing on 37 percent of the defensive snaps against the Chicago Bears in Week 1. But he then played almost exclusively on special teams up until the Chargers game, where he played on just over a quarter of the defensive snaps.

Most of his work came on special teams this season, but he’s been inactive for all of December. Brown did block an extra-point attempt against the Minnesota Vikings back in Week 2.

Even though he’s been inactive for the past four weeks, it’s still surprising that the Packers have released Brown. While they have good depth at cornerback, Brown has shown he can step up on defense when they need him. Instead, general manager Brian Gutekunst has decided to free up a roster spot. Perhaps Gutekunst plans to bring someone in ahead of the playoffs.

Brown is talented enough to find another team in the near future, and he’s shown over the past two seasons that he can contribute on defense.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Packers plan to use the roster spot they’ve now created.