Matt LaFleur lost his mind with Packers safety, and now they've cut him

The Green Bay Packers made a disastrous start on the opening play against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11.

Keisean Nixon made a 39-yard return to set Green Bay up with solid starting field position, but two penalties ruled it out. Both were on safety Dallin Leavitt.

Leavitt was flagged for holding, but what happened after made it worse. Leavitt received another penalty for a foul against an official on the same play.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur lost his mind with Leavitt on the sideline. He was furious with the Packers' core special teams player.

Just one day later, Green Bay has released Leavitt.

Packers surprisingly release Dallin Leavitt to make room for running back

Leavitt followed Rich Bisaccia from Las Vegas to Green Bay last year to help fix the special teams. Only Tyler Davis played more special teams snaps than Leavitt in 2022, and Leavitt leads the way this season.

That's why his release is surprising. Leavitt has been a core special teams player over the past two years.

The incoming player is running back Patrick Taylor, whom the Packers signed off the New England Patriots' practice squad. Green Bay had to make a running back move after losing Aaron Jones and Emanuel Wilson to injury against the Chargers. Taylor has already played four games for Green Bay this season and is familiar with the offensive system.

But it's surprising that Leavitt is the player to go. It perhaps shows confidence in safety Zayne Anderson to take on Leavitt's role. Anderson didn't make his Packers debut until Week 9, having missed time due to a hamstring injury. He made an impressive tackle on special teams on Sunday versus Los Angeles.

The Packers have lost a veteran and core player on special teams. Leavitt's release is a surprising one.

There's still a game to play this week and FanDuel Sportsbook is giving you a $150 bonus if the Packers beat the Lions! Sign up here, deposit at least $10 and then bet $5 or more on the Packers' moneyline odds today and you'll get an extra $150 in bonus bets if they win. It's the biggest odds boost around this week - sign up for FanDuel now!

More Packers news and analysis