Google+

Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Sports / Titletown Report

Packers announce the signing of TE Lewis

By

Packers to resume OTA workouts next week

The Green Bay Packers were looking for blocking help from the tight end position and they found it in former Jacksonville Jaguars veteran Marcedes Lewis.

Lewis is entering his 13th season in the NFL and has been regarded as one of the better blocking tight ends in the league.

Lewis did catch five touchdown passes last season, his highest total since the 2010 season when he caught 10 scoring passes.  He started all 16 games for the Jaguars last season, catching 24 passes for 318 yards.

In 12 seasons, Lewis had 375 receptions for 4,502 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Lewis joins newly signed veteran Jimmy Graham and former Badger Lance Kendricks.  Both Graham and Kendricks are considered to be below average blocking tight ends.

The Packers also have a handful of young undrafted tight ends who will battle for roster spots this summer.

 

NFL owners approve anthem policy

By

NFL owners on Wednesday, approved a new policy aimed at eliminating National Anthem protests.  The league will permit players to stay in the locker room during the “National Anthem”, but requires them to stand if they decide to come onto the field.

The NFL Players Association said it wasn’t consulted about the new policy and plans to challenge any changes that violate the collective bargaining agreement.

San Francisco 49ers CEO, Jed York, said he abstained from the vote because he wasn’t comfortable with a process that didn’t involve the players.

 

Jackson signs deal with Packers

By

Josh Jackson

And then there was one.  The Green Bay Packers announced the signing of second-round pick, defensive back Josh Jackson out of the University of Iowa.

Jackson was projected by many to be taken in the first round but went unselected until the Packers picked him in round two of this springs NFL Draft.

It leaves the Packers with just one unsigned draft choice out of the 11 selections.  Third-round selection, linebacker Oren Burks out of Vanderbilt is still without a contract.

The Packers open the first of their OTA’s next week.  They have a total of 10 OTA’s prior to the teams mandatory minicamp June 12th through the 14th.

Packers sign top draft pick, Alexander

By

#23 Jaire Alexander

The Green Bay Packers signed first-round draft pick Jaire Alexander to a rookie contract, announcing the deal on Tuesday.

Alexander’s four-year deal is worth a reported $11.6 million with a $6.5 million signing bonus.

Alexander becomes the ninth player in the teams 11-player draft class to sign his rookie contract.  Only second-round selection Josh Jackson out of Iowa and third-round pick Oren Burks out of Vanderbilt remain without a deal.

Alexander is expected to give Green Bay some immediate help in the defensive back field after the Packers finished 23rd in the NFL in 2017 in passing yardage allowed per game (236.8).

Alexander suffered through an injury-plagued junior year in which he sustained a knee injury in the season opener against Purdue and a broken hand in practice in late October.  He recorded a 4.38 time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

College Scout Alonzo leaving the Packers

By

Former Packers scout Alonzo Dotson

College scout Alonzo Dotson is leaving the Green Bay Packers for a job with the New York Jets.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dotson’s exact title with the Jets is unclear, but the franchise needs a national scout and a director of college scouting.

Dotson joined the Packers in 2013 after two seasons at the University of Houston.  His departure means the Packers are looking for his replacement, as well as executives Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf, both of whom joined the Cleveland Browns.

 

Packers sign six draft picks

By

6th round pick Equanimeous St. Brown

One day following the end of the Green Bay Packers rookie minicamp, the team announced the signing of eight players, including six of this years draft picks.

Missouri wide receiver J’Mon Moore is the highest of the draft picks to sign.  He was picked in the 4th round.

Fifth round selections Cole Madison (G-Washington State) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (WR-South Florida) signed deals with the Packers.  So did sixth round selection Equanimeous St. Brown (WR-Notre Dame) and seventh round selections James Looney (DT-California) and Kendall Donnerson (LB-Southeast Missouri).

The Packers also signed a pair of undrafted free agents today, Greer Martini (LB-Notre Dame) and Ryan Smith (TE-Miami/Ohio).

Both rookie free agent signees participated in the Packers rookie orientation camp this past weekend.

 

Packers release Vogel, paves the way for Scott

By

#5 Justin Vogel was released on Friday.

The Green Bay Packers selected punter J.K. Scott out of Alabama in the fifth round of the NFL Draft last Saturday and now appear to have paved the way for him to be the teams punter on opening day by releasing Justin Vogel.

The Packers granted Vogel’s request for a release after he saw the writing on the wall.

When a team used a 5th round pick on a punter, it’s a given that Scott  was going to unseat Vogel for the job.

Vogel did finish seventh in the NFL with a 41.6-yard net average.  That was a team-record as well as the first time a Packers punter finished in the league’s top 10 since Jon Ryan in 2007.  It shouldn’t take Vogel long to find a job.

 

Packers release Callahan, Browns pick up option on Randall’s contract

By

Joe Callahan

The Green Bay Packers are parting company with 24-year-old backup quarterback Joe Callahan, announcing his release from the team on Monday.

Callahan spent parts of two seasons with the Packers after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

The Packers made the move after the reported signing of undrafted free-agent quarterback Tim Boyle out of Eastern Kentucky.

Randall’s option picked up in Cleveland

The Cleveland Browns have exercised the fifth-year option on defensive back Damarious Randall, acquired in a offseason trade with the Green Bay Packers.

The Browns sent quarterback DeShone Kizer and swapped fourth and fifth round draft picks with the Packers back in March, in exchange for Randall.

Randall was the Packers 30th overall pick in the 2015 draft.  After playing corner for the Packers for three seasons, he’s expected to play free safety for the Browns.  Randall started 30 games with the Packers and appeared in 39 games.  He had four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

 

Packers take two corners early, try to make up for 2015

By

Brian Gutekunst

The Green Bay Packers selected back-to-back corners in the 2015 draft but Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins turned out to be major disappointments.  Randall is now with Cleveland and Rollins is recovering from a torn Achilles.

In great need of corner help, the Packers spent back-to-back picks at the top of the draft, with a little wheeling and dealing mixed in.

GM Brian Gutekunst selected Jaire Alexander (CB) out of Louisville with the 18th pick in the first round.  He came back the next day and selected Iowa’s Josh Jackson with the 45th overall pick.

Gutekunst started the day on Friday not thinking about taking another defensive back, but when Josh Jackson was still on the board, that changed things.

Jackson had a fantastic season at Iowa last season.  He led the nation with eight interceptions.  He had two last season that he returned for touchdowns against the Badgers. [Read more…]

Gutekunst era in Green Bay off to a flying start (AUDIO)

By

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst

New Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst could have stayed put and safely made the Packers first round selection at number-14 overall.  After all, they still had at least a handful of solid defensive difference makers on the board at the time.  Players like Derwin James (DB-Florida State) and Tremaine Edmunds (LB-Virgina Tech) went with the 16th and 17th picks.

But Gutekunst, willing to rock the boat for the long-term good of the organization, sent the 14th overall pick to New Orleans, in exchange for the Saints number-one pick (27th) this year, the 147th pick this year (5th round) and the Saints 2019 first round draft pick.

Gutekunst said he knew when he went down to 27, that he would have a chance to get back up in the first round and that he did.  The Packers sent the 27th pick, along with third (number 76) and sixth round (number 186) picks to Seattle for the 18th pick in this draft as well as a seventh round pick (number 248) this year. [Read more…]