Tracking the 2023 Green Bay Roster

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Hang on...what? He is presently as a rookie 6'3' 252lb

Just going from memory or pulling edge guys leading in sacks...I think you're thinking DE size rather than OLB.

Clay Mathews - 6'3' 255lb
Preston Smith - 6'5' 265lb
Nick Bosa - 6'4' 266lb
Leonard Floyd - 6'5' 240lb
Bradley Chubb - 6'4' 275lb
James Houston - 6'1' 225lb
Za'Darius Smith - 6'4' 272lb
Darrell Taylor - 6'4' 267lb
Rashan Gary - 6'5' 277lb
Danielle Hunter - 6'5' 263lb
Matthew Judon - 6'3' 275lb
Alex Highsmith - 6'4' 242lb
Haason Red**** - 6'1' 235lb
Micah Parsons - 6'3' 245lb (hybrid type player)
TJ Watt - 6'4' 252lb
Eric Kendricks - 6'0' 232lb
Will Anderson - 6'4' 243lb
Bud Dupree - 6'4' 269lb
Maxx Crosby - 6'5' 255lb
Josh Sweat - 6'5' 265lb
Yannick Ngakoue - 6'2' 246lb
Carl Lawson - 6'2' 265lb
Khalil Mack - 6'3' 267lb

I didn't know he had put on weight. I had him at 6'3 235

 

[Voyageur]

I think the cap has a lot to do with this. A lot of teams find themselves stretching the cap, and need to jettison mid-range contracts for minimum contracts to make up the difference. They're hopeful they can find enough talent in that group that it will make up a fairly sizeable amount of talent they lose, in the guys they're forced to cut.

There is where I believe the salary cap needs to change. Front loading contracts as heavily as they do, it removes a lot of players from teams that shouldn't be lost. Idiotic decisions, like the money thrown at a guy who shall remain unnamed is a prime example. Two years of battling cap hits, and not being able to shore up weak spots is too much of a hit.

The problem is, there's always some idiotic GM out there that thinks some guy is worth an enormous amount of money, because he's going to fly in like Underdog and "Save the Day!"

 

[Half Empty]

Totally worth it and then some. How many 2023 UDFA's are even on teams right now? How many of them will have much of an impact, if any? He made the 53 and if he gets out there and contributes, it is all gravy from here on out.

Had to do a little research B4 I post this. This was actually shocking to read. It is from 2019, but guessing the stats haven't variated a ton. 30 of NFL rosters being made up of UDFA's? If it is correct, way higher than I would have guessed.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

If they have something like % of minutes played by UDFA/round, I'd like to see that.

 

[tynimiller]

If they have something like % of minutes played by UDFA/round, I'd like to see that.

That I bet would illustrate the swing the other way - while tons are here, typically they're your depth, Special Team snap guys.

 

[tynimiller]

Practice Squad signings: Austin Allen and Keshawn Banks

 

[PikeBadger]

I think the cap has a lot to do with this. A lot of teams find themselves stretching the cap, and need to jettison mid-range contracts for minimum contracts to make up the difference. They're hopeful they can find enough talent in that group that it will make up a fairly sizeable amount of talent they lose, in the guys they're forced to cut.

There is where I believe the salary cap needs to change. Front loading contracts as heavily as they do, it removes a lot of players from teams that shouldn't be lost. Idiotic decisions, like the money thrown at a guy who shall remain unnamed is a prime example. Two years of battling cap hits, and not being able to shore up weak spots is too much of a hit.

The problem is, there's always some idiotic GM out there that thinks some guy is worth an enormous amount of money, because he's going to fly in like Underdog and "Save the Day!"

These types are what we generally refer to as "former GM's".

 

[Krabs]

The surprises were as follows:

Deguara - Even with depth an issue I thought he'd done enough to get himself cut.

Deguara making the roster is not even close to a surprise. He was all but a lock. He is the most experienced TE and he plays more of a hybrid position. I've seen him listed as a FB too.

Nijman - I figured with the rise of Walker and Nijman's demotion that he would be gone...maybe as the last or 2nd to last cut, but yes, cut.

Same with Nijman. They just re-signed him. At $4 million for a season he is valuable backup material and is less that 2% of our cap. One of the more experienced guys on the team. I had him penciled in.

Newman - I went into training camp thinking there was no way this guy made the team without a break out performance in camp, which at least in pre-season I didn't see.

I could see cutting Newman. In the same respect, he is less than a million for the season. Not an expensive guy and he knows the system. I would not have been shocked if he would have been a cut. Not surprised he is on the roster.

Preston Smith - Given his age, given that he is the off-side/coverage EDGE and not the pass rusher, given the contract, and given the talent at the position I figured he would be cut.

There is absolutely no reason to cut Smith. The Packers would take a huge cap hit and he is still one of our best OLBs. There would be no cap savings. It would cost the Packers a ton of money. He is a veteran presence on a very young team. Just financially, it makes no sense to cut him. This guy is a no brainer to keep on the roster and the day 1 starter. Can't say I understand why anyone would think he is a cut.

Toure - With a not great rookie season and the depth at the position in pre-season I figured he was odd man out.

Toure is the #4 WR on the team. I knew he was a lock heading into training camp. Doubs, Watson and Reed are the top guys. Toure is the best of the rest. I will give that Heath could start stealing his snaps, but that only moves him down to the 5 spot. Wicks didn't show he was better than Toure.

Owens - From what I was hearing and seeing online he did about enough NOT to make the team, and this was a guy I had hoped would knock Savage out of the lineup.

Safety is the Packers weakest position on the team. I expected Owens to take Savage's spot. He didn't do that, which means we are pretty weak there. I wouldn't be surprised to see some moves at this position. Maybe move Douglas out there when Stokes gets healthy.

 

[OldSchool101]

Totally worth it and then some. How many 2023 UDFA's are even on teams right now? How many of them will have much of an impact, if any? He made the 53 and if he gets out there and contributes, it is all gravy from here on out.

Had to do a little research B4 I post this. This was actually shocking to read. It is from 2019, but guessing the stats haven't variated a ton. 30 of NFL rosters being made up of UDFA's? If it is correct, way higher than I would have guessed.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

Good info.
As I considered that there’s something to consider. There are roughly 30,000+ college football players across All Conferences and Divisions. Do the math just FBS alone is 133 teams and 85-105 players per program. Near 90% of those in the NFL are from FBS

NFL players by college on 2020 rosters

Here are the most NFL players by college in 2020 and a list of every FBS and FCS school with at least one player in the NFL.

www.ncaa.com

There are 259 spaces in the draft. It’s like the top 1% of college players make up 70% of the NFL rosters. The other 99% (30,000 players etc) of college players fight for That other 30% of the pie.

That speaks to how good a football player you are just to make the 53 roster, even a PS is very, very rare talent.

 

[tynimiller]

We made to waiver claims - one a rookie I loved

Ben Sims - rookie TE out of Baylor (RAS 8.39) with good size and explosiveness. From Vikings 6'5' 258lbs
Zayne Anderson - two years with KC, this year cut from Bills. defensive back 6'2' 205lb

 

[tynimiller]

Grant DuBose / Kadeem Telfort / Innis Gaines / Kiondre Thomas and Benny sapp signed to PS also

 

[mradtke66]

I think the cap has a lot to do with this. A lot of teams find themselves stretching the cap, and need to jettison mid-range contracts for minimum contracts to make up the difference. They're hopeful they can find enough talent in that group that it will make up a fairly sizeable amount of talent they lose, in the guys they're forced to cut.

There is where I believe the salary cap needs to change. Front loading contracts as heavily as they do, it removes a lot of players from teams that shouldn't be lost.

Getting more wins tends to come from your super stars, whoever they are. Mid-range players probably don't contribute to wins as much as we'd like to think. You need your 3-ish supers, 10-ish really-goods, and everyone else is largely interchangable.

This isn't a knock on those mid-range players, but rather acknowledging that even the worst player in the league is phenomenal athlete and a great football player.

 

[tynimiller]

Empey also signed to PS

 

[tynimiller]

Demovsky is saying one guy releasing to make room for the two waiver claims is Tariq Carpenter

 

[RicFlairoftheNFL]

Deguara making the roster is not even close to a surprise. He was all but a lock. He is the most experienced TE and he plays more of a hybrid position. I've seen him listed as a FB too.

Same with Nijman. They just re-signed him. At $4 million for a season he is valuable backup material and is less that 2% of our cap. One of the more experienced guys on the team. I had him penciled in.

I could see cutting Newman. In the same respect, he is less than a million for the season. Not an expensive guy and he knows the system. I would not have been shocked if he would have been a cut. Not surprised he is on the roster.

There is absolutely no reason to cut Smith. The Packers would take a huge cap hit and he is still one of our best OLBs. There would be no cap savings. It would cost the Packers a ton of money. He is a veteran presence on a very young team. Just financially, it makes no sense to cut him. This guy is a no brainer to keep on the roster and the day 1 starter. Can't say I understand why anyone would think he is a cut.

Toure is the #4 WR on the team. I knew he was a lock heading into training camp. Doubs, Watson and Reed are the top guys. Toure is the best of the rest. I will give that Heath could start stealing his snaps, but that only moves him down to the 5 spot. Wicks didn't show he was better than Toure.

Safety is the Packers weakest position on the team. I expected Owens to take Savage's spot. He didn't do that, which means we are pretty weak there. I wouldn't be surprised to see some moves at this position. Maybe move Douglas out there when Stokes gets healthy.

What I don't like about your post is you seemingly being ok with spending over 11M on contracts for below average or past their prime players.

 

[tynimiller]

What I don't like about your post is you seemingly being ok with spending over 11M on contracts for below average or past their prime players.

Below average - relative to what?

Deguara $1.34M - try signing anyone out there with his experience and production when asked to play snaps (Tonyan injured year)...this is still his rookie contract deal to boot too....

Nijman $4.3M - with Bakh's health and Yosh's starting experience the tender they used was very wise, and you're not going to get a cheaper alternative with proven experience anywhere on waiver or such. Yes you might hope Walker delivers, but Yosh has proven in game multiple times to be a serviceable at worst tackle for this team and has progressed each year here.

Newman $1.06M....rookie deal, starting experience and is now a reserve guy. That is an incredible deal to have setting there in reserve - for the record I don't think he stays around for long at some point released I bet, but still that hit is incredibly LOW for a someone with starting experience.

Smith $6.37M....for the record with our space I think they should shift a little to this year on his hit to lesson future. His hit in 2023 is crazy LOW for a starter of his caliber....LIKE CRAZY LOW.

Toure $889K....WR4 for pennies....

Can you expound where you are going to cut any of these and make the team better by then spending the same or a few hundred thousands less? Count me as curious.

 

[Krabs]

What I don't like about your post is you seemingly being ok with spending over 11M on contracts for below average or past their prime players.

Below average - relative to what?

Deguara $1.34M - try signing anyone out there with his experience and production when asked to play snaps (Tonyan injured year)...this is still his rookie contract deal to boot too....

Nijman $4.3M - with Bakh's health and Yosh's starting experience the tender they used was very wise, and you're not going to get a cheaper alternative with proven experience anywhere on waiver or such. Yes you might hope Walker delivers, but Yosh has proven in game multiple times to be a serviceable at worst tackle for this team and has progressed each year here.

Newman $1.06M....rookie deal, starting experience and is now a reserve guy. That is an incredible deal to have setting there in reserve - for the record I don't think he stays around for long at some point released I bet, but still that hit is incredibly LOW for a someone with starting experience.

Smith $6.37M....for the record with our space I think they should shift a little to this year on his hit to lesson future. His hit in 2023 is crazy LOW for a starter of his caliber....LIKE CRAZY LOW.

Toure $889K....WR4 for pennies....

Can you expound where you are going to cut any of these and make the team better by then spending the same or a few hundred thousands less? Count me as curious.

I couldn't have said it better than @tynimiller. Keeping all of those guys just makes sense in a salary cap world. Every roster has below to average players on them. Smith is the largest chunk of that $11 million you speak of and that $11 million equates to 5% of the total cap. I'm more concerned with the $59 million of dead money and the dead money that the Packers would take by cutting Smith.

All the players you mentioned make sense to keep on the roster and most of them are on the cheap.

 

[rmontro]

You're telling me you would have cut Bakh and Preston if you were in charge....alrighty then...

Jim Carrey, is that you?

 

[tynimiller]

Chris Slayton
Alex McGough
Bo Melton
Henry Pearson
Arron Mosby
Kenneth Odumegwu (IPP)
Corey Ballentine

All signed to PS

 

[tynimiller]

Oddly everyone Jonathan Ford released also today (Tariq) too....to make room for Ben Sims and Zayne Anderson....

Matt Orzech is still not signed back, because it appears Tenuta to IR not done yet.

 

[tynimiller]

There is one PS squad spot open...I'm assuming it will go to Tariq or Ford since we released them.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

If they have something like % of minutes played by UDFA/round, I'd like to see that.

Yeah, valid point. My guess is that many of the UDFA's round out the bottom of rosters and that 30% might also include practice squad players. The Tweet didn't really specify if it was the 53 or just "roster", which might include the PS.

Oddly everyone Jonathan Ford released also today (Tariq) too....to make room for Ben Sims and Zayne Anderson....

Matt Orzech is still not signed back, because it appears Tenuta to IR not done yet.

Ford is a bit of a surprise, but Carpenter not really. Tariq just didn't have a position on Defense that he was good at. Yeah, he proved his worth last season on special teams, but goes to show you that you better be at least capable to play a position or you are gone.

 

[tynimiller]

Yeah, valid point. My guess is that many of the UDFA's round out the bottom of rosters and that 30% might also include practice squad players. The Tweet didn't really specify if it was the 53 or just "roster", which might include the PS.


Ford is a bit of a surprise, but Carpenter not really. Tariq just didn't have a position on Defense that he was good at. Yeah, he proved his worth last season on special teams, but goes to show you that you better be at least capable to play a position or you are gone.

Tariq doesn't surprise me either.

 

[tynimiller]

Believe OP is fully up to date

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

We made to waiver claims - one a rookie I loved

Ben Sims - rookie TE out of Baylor (RAS 8.39) with good size and explosiveness. From Vikings 6'5' 258lbs
Zayne Anderson - two years with KC, this year cut from Bills. defensive back 6'2' 205lb

I was hoping the Packers would be able to snag TE Albert Okwuegbunam from Denver. The Eagles swooped in and traded a 6th rounder for him, before he was cut. Hopefully, Sims works out, but seems more like a place card as the #4 TE, for now. Sims is probably a better fit as a blocking TE, but Okwuegbunam was improving as a blocker and definitely more experienced.

 

[tynimiller]

I was hoping the Packers would be able to snag TE Albert Okwuegbunam from Denver. The Eagles swooped in and traded a 6th rounder for him, before he was cut. Hopefully, Sims works out, but seems more like a place card as the #4 TE, for now. Sims is probably a better fit as a blocking TE, but Okwuegbunam was improving as a blocker and definitely more experienced.

I really want a guy with some years in that room myself too. Albert would have been perfect…I’d have offered a 6th for sure