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Packers add fourth quarterback to the mix

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Kurt Benkert signs contract

The Green Bay Packers added veteran quarterback Blake Bortles to their roster last week, then signed rookie free agent Kurt Benkert to a contract after he went through the team’s two-day rookie minicamp over the weekend.

Benkert spent the 2018 and 2020 seasons on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad and 2019 on injured reserve.  The Falcons released him in February.

Benkert competed with Chad Kelly during the rookie minicamp before the Packers offered him a contract.

Jordan Love is expected to take part in this week’s rookie development program but wasn’t eligible to participate in the rookie minicamp over the weekend.  By rule, he can join the rookies this week because he played less than 25% of the snaps as a rookie.

Phase 2 of the teams offseason program starts Monday with organized team activities (OTA’s) starting May 24.  Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn’t expected to report for the voluntary program and to date, nobody’s sure if he’ll be on hand for the team’s mandatory minicamp in early June.

Packers adding veteran QB Blake Bortles

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The Green Bay Packers are expected to sign veteran quarterback Blake Bortles to a one-year contract.  The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Shefter on Wednesday.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said on draft weekend that the Packers would be looking to add a veteran quarterback and possibly another rookie quarterback to fill out the roster at the position.  Heading into this week, the Packers had just two quarterbacks on their roster with Aaron Rodgers and 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love.

Bortles was the third pick in the 2014 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was the quarterbacks coach and eventually the offensive coordinator for Bortles from 2015 to 2018.  They reached the AFC Championship Game after the 2017 season.

Bortles last played in 2019 with the Los Angeles Rams and spent time with the Rams and Broncos as a backup last season.

In 73 career starts, Bortles has a 24-49 record with 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions.

To date, Aaron Rodgers hasn’t participated in the Packers offseason program.  They’ll start OTA’s on May 24 with the team’s mandatory minicamp scheduled for June 8-10.

Packers to play five times in 2021 in Prime-Time

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The Green Bay Packers will open the 2021 NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 12, in New Orleans against the Saints.  The game is a Fox doubleheader game that kicks off at 3:25 p.m.

If the NFL is concerned about whether or not Aaron Rodgers shows up wasn’t reflected in the number of prime-time games on the 2021 Packers Schedule.  The league gave the Packers the full amount of five prime-time assignments, the first of which comes with the Packers first home game of the season, Monday, Sept. 20 against division rival Detroit.

The Packers will follow that with another prime-time matchup in week three on Sunday night, Sept. 26 at San Francisco. [Read more…]

Packers to open the 2021 regular season at New Orleans

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Bit by bit, the NFL is unveiling details of the 2021-22 regular season schedules on Wednesday with the announcement of the full schedule coming later in the day.

The Green Bay Packers will open the 2021 regular season in New Orleans, against the Saints.  It’s a 3:25 p.m. kickoff on Sunday, Sept. 12th and is the doubleheader game on Fox.

At the moment, neither team is sure who will start at quarterback.  If the Packers and Aaron Rodgers end their standoff, then Rodgers will start.  Otherwise, it could be Jordan Love, or a veteran quarterback not yet on the roster.

The Saints are expected to have a competition between Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston.

According to a CBSSports.com report, the Packers will also host the Cleveland Browns on Christmas Day (Saturday, Dec. 25).

The Packers won’t play any London games this season.  The NFL announced that Atlanta will play host to the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 10 and Jacksonville will host Miami on Sunday, Oct. 17 across the pond.

NFL releases dates for offseason workouts

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The National Football League released offseason workout dates for its teams.

The Green Bay Packers will start phase three of their offseason program with OTA’s on May 24.  OTA’s will run May 24-25, June 1-2, June 4, June 7-8 and June 10.

The Packers mandatory veteran minicamp is set for June 15-17.

All NFL teams are in phase one of the offseason program, which runs from April 19-May 14.  Activities during that period are limited to strength and conditioning, virtual meetings and physical rehabilitation.  The Packers have been going through phase one activities virtually.

The Packers will host a rookie minicamp May 14-15, before the start of OTA’s.

 

Packers agree to terms with rookie free agents

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The Green Bay Packers announced Monday that they’ve agreed to terms with seven rookie free agents.

The list includes former Wisconsin Badger Jon Dietzen.  The Black Creek, Wis. native, played his high school ball at Seymour High School before moving to Madison.  He played in 42 games with 39 starts for the Badgers.

In 2016-17, Dietzen played in 23 games with 20 starts at left guard and then in 2018 started all 12 games at left tackle.  After retiring following the 2018 season due to injuries, Dietzen returned in 2020 and started all seven games (four at left guard, two at left tackle, one at right guard).  Last season he played 437 snaps, the third most of any UW player.

Dietzen becomes the second member of the Badgers team to join the Packers after offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen was selected in the 6th round of the draft on Saturday.

The six other undrafted free agents the Packers agreed to contract terms are as follows:

Jacob Capra         6’5  300  OL    San Diego State
Coy Cronk            6’4  318  OL    Iowa
Bailey Gaither       6’0  188  WR   San Jose State
Jack Heflin            6’3  304  DL    Iowa
Carlo Kemp          6’3  281  LB     Michigan
Christian Uphoff   6’3  209   S     Illinois State

 

Rodgers draws his line in the sand, says he wants out of Green Bay

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Aaron Rodgers

Despite Aaron Rodgers telling the Green Bay Packers he no longer wants to play in Green Bay, the Packers are at least saying that they believe Rodgers will be barking out signals at Lambeau Field in 2021.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst delivered that message to reporters following day one of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Rodgers had become so disgruntled with the team that he wanted out.

The 37-year-old quarterback, coming off his third NFL MVP honor, is under contract through the 2023 season.  But he has no more guaranteed money left on his deal.

ESPN reported that Gutekunst, Packers coach Matt LaFleur and team president Mark Murphy each met with Rodgers on separate occasions during the offseason and according to the NFL Network, Rodgers had his agent (David Dunn) recently fly to Green Bay for several days of meetings about the situation. [Read more…]

NFL Draft starts tonight

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GM Brian Gutekunst

The 2021 NFL Draft kicks off in Cleveland on Thursday night (7 p.m. CT) with the opening round.  Rounds 2 & 3 are Friday night with rounds 4-7 wrapping up on Saturday.

Armed with 10 selections for the third straight year, the Packers will have some opportunities to do some moving around if they wish.

General Manager Brian Gutekunst enters his 23rd draft with the Packers and fourth as GM.  Last year, Gutekunst selected nine players overall with four players seeing action in10-plus regular-season games as rookies (G Jon Runyan, 16 / S Vernon Scott, 15 / RB A.J. Dillon, 11 / LB Kamal Martin, 10). [Read more…]

Lewis returning to Packers for 16th season

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Marcedes Lewis

Marcedes Lewis drew continual praise from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and now the veteran tight end is returning for another season in Green Bay.

The Packers are re-signing the soon-to-be 37-year old, who is known more for his blocking and his leadership, then catching passes.  Lewis caught just 10 passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns in 2020.

Lewis will be entering his 16th NFL season and is among the five NFL tight ends to play 15 seasons in the league, joining Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jackie Smith. [Read more…]

King to return to Packers on a one-year deal

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Kevin King

The Green Bay Packers have elected to bring back one of their own free agents, giving veteran corner Kevin King a one-year deal worth $6 million.  The deal was reported by the NFL Network on Tuesday morning.

King played in 11 regular season games and two playoff games last season, missing time with injuries during the regular season.  Staying healthy has been a problem for King, missing 23 of a possible 64 regular-season games during his four seasons in Green Bay.

King had a nightmare NFC Championship game and had no interceptions and just five pass breakups in 13 games last season.

The Packers have fellow corner Jaire Alexander and safeties Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage under contract.  They’ve also submitted a restricted free agent tender to keep slot corner Chandon Sullivan around for another season.  Now King provides more experienced depth to the Packers secondary heading into the NFL Draft in April.