The Green Bay Packers trimmed their roster to the regular season roster limit of 53 players on Saturday. The only real surprises came when the Packers parted company with wide receiver Jake Kumerow and left tackle Alex Light.
The Packers elected to keep Malik Taylor as their fifth receiver, instead of hanging on to Kumerow, who finished ninth on the team with just 12 catches last season.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, in a Thursday interview on Sirus XM NFL Radio, was busy going to bat for Kumerow.
“Jake Kumerow has been such a solid performer for us for the last couple years,” Rodgers said. “I love his reliability. I think he’s a fantastic, steady player who’s very heady on the field, he makes plays. He plays with a lot of confidence, and he’s a guy you love having on the squad.”
Clearly, Rodgers doesn’t have a big influence on roster decisions after Kumerow was let go.
Alex Light struggled against San Francisco last season and the Packers went out and acquired Jared Veldheer late in the year. Light took some reps at left tackle during training camp, but the Packers kept Yosh Nijman instead.
The Packers kept all three of their quarterbacks, as expected. Tim Boyle is expected to start the season as Aaron Rodgers number-one backup.
The Packers kept cornerback Kabion Ento and rookie linebacker Kamal Martin on their initial 53 man roster, despite both being hurt. That will allow the Packers to move either player or both to injured reserve and have the potentially return midway through the season.
The Packers will form their 16-player practice squad on Sunday.
Following are the players that were released by the Packers on Saturday.
CB DaShaun Amos, LB Krys Barnes, TE Evan Baylis, WR Reggie Begelton, S Henry Black, T Cody Conway, RB Damarea Crockett, LB Tipa Galeai, C Jake Hanson, G Zach Johnson, WR Jake Kumerow, T John Leglue, T Alex Light, FB John Lovett, DL Willington Previlon, LB Greg Roberts, CB Stanford Samuels, LB Delonae Scott, WR Darrius Shepherd, WR Malik Turner, RB Dexter Williams, LB Tim Williams.
The Packers also placed LB Curtis Bolton on reserve/physicall unable to perform, placed G Simon Stepaniak and RB Patrick Taylor on reserve/non-football injury, and waived/injured DL Treyvon Hester and CB Will Sunderland.