4 players the Green Bay Packers gave up on way too soon
3. Josh Sitton, guard
Josh Sitton is considered a model of excellence, consistency, and durability from his time with the Green Bay Packers. So then, why did the team cut him after trying to trade him in the 2016 offseason?
Let's take a not-so-pleasant trip down memory lane.
There was growing tension at the time for the Packers because the team wasn't winning under head coach Mike McCarthy the way people felt they should have been with a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers and a star-studded roster. McCarthy wasn't just feeling the effects of this losing in big moments from the fan base, either. Some players were voicing their displeasure with the way things were going, including Sitton.
McCarthy stated, at the time, that there wasn't "just one thing" that went into cutting Sitton, who was playing at a high level and had made it to a trio of Pro Bowls. From ESPN's Rob Demovsky back in 2016:
"The first public sign of trouble between Sitton and the organization came last season after Sitton criticized the offensive game plan after the Packers lost at Arizona in Week 16. Less than two weeks later, McCarthy responded to a question about players being critical of the offense by saying, "Josh Sitton needs to play guard" instead of bellyaching about play calling.
- Rob Demovsky, 2016
Sitton can be both charming and cantankerous and given how McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson regularly talk about the importance of locker-room chemistry, that likely played a factor in this move."
Even if Sitton's career didn't last much longer after he left Green Bay, he still played another three years and made a Pro Bowl that very season he was cut, as a member of the Chicago Bears, of all teams. The Packers made a short-sighted decision here, and thankfully have since mended fences. Sitton was inducted along with Jordy Nelson into the Packers' Hall of Fame last year.