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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.

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…]

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.

Tramon Williams retiring from the NFL

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Tramon Williams

After 14 seasons in the NFL, 10 of those 14 coming with the Green Bay Packers, defensive back Tramon Williams announced his retirement on his 38th birthday Tuesday.

Williams played in 205 career games with 153 starts.  He was originally signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2006 out of Louisiana Tech.  He was signed to the Packers practice squad later that season and then made the regular roster the following year.

Williams played for eight seasons in Green Bay and was a big part of their 2010 Super Bowl run.  He then signed with Cleveland in 2015, played for Arizona in 2017 and then returned to Green Bay for two more seasons. [Read more…]

Packers tender Tonyan, Sullivan

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Robert Tonyan

The Green Bay Packers may have cap issues, but they’re not about to let talented right end Robert Tonyan get away on them.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers on Tuesday offered Tonyan a restricted free agent tender, a one-year deal worth $3.384 million and would require any team that signs him to give up a second-round draft pick.  The Packers would also have the right to match any offer for Tonyan.

Tonyan had his best season in 2020, catching 52 passes for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns, which tied a league high.

The Packers also submitted a restricted free agent tender to defensive back Chandon Sullivan.

The moves mean the Packers salary cap is more than $10 million over the league limit of $182.5 million heading into Wednesday’s deadline.  So the Packers will have more moves to make to get under the cap by the start of the new league year on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Packers reach four-year deal with RB Jones

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Aaron Jones

With the deadline to negotiate a deal with their own free agents fast approaching, the Green Bay Packers have reportedly reached agreement with running back Aaron Jones on a four-year deal worth $48 million.  The deal includes a $13 million signing bonus.  ESPN was first to report the deal.

Jones switched agents late in the season, hiring Drew Rosenhaus.  Rosenhaus told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Jones offered the Packers a hometown discount.  He said would have received much larger offers had Jones hit free agency.

The $12-million yearly average puts Jones in a tie with Joe Mixon of the Cincinnati Bengals for the sixth-highest paid running back in the league.

The Packers restructured a number of contracts over the weekend to clear cap space.  They’ll need to do more to fit Jones under the cap by the start of the new league year on Tuesday.

Jones rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons.  He’s scored 30 touchdowns over the last two years.