Wrapping up a day of cutting

The Packers have the group they want to go to war with.

But it’s not quite the group a lot of us thought it would be.

Saturday’s cutdown from 75 to 53 was certainly chock full of surprises, obviously the biggest being the release of quarterback Brian Brohm (I guess I was wrong when I said Friday that the idea of that happening was laughable, huh?)

But since Adam has already done a nice job covering that, I’ll break down the other major moves made instead.

We’ll have full analysis on the final roster later today, so this will just be focusing on the roster cuts/injured reserve moves.

Cuts

To me, the biggest head-scratcher comes in the release of safety Anthony Smith. Smith had a good camp and certainly seemed to be, if not outperforming, at least playing every bit as well as Atari Bigby. He had an intimate knowledge of the scheme from his time in Pittsburgh and would have provided solid depth. Mark Ted Thompson down as 0-for-2 on 2009 free agent signings now as both Smith and center-guard Duke Preston failed to make it to the opening day roster.

Perhaps the Packers feel they’ll be better served, depth-wise, with cornerback/safety Derrick Martin, acquired from Baltimore for tackle/guard/stiff Tony Moll.

Martin, a sixth-round pick in the 2006 draft out of Wyoming, played sparingly for most of his three seasons with the Ravens. His biggest year was 2007 when he recorded 40 tackles, two interceptions and seven passes defended in 16 games. He only played in four games last season, however, and was arrested in June 2008 for posession of marijuana at Hopkins Airport in Cleveland. So that’s nice. At least Green Bay got rid of Moll, a truly mediocre player who would not have done one bit of good for the team, either this season or beyond.

The Smith/Martin moves were certainly suprising, but really, most of the interesting moves occurred with the offense.

First, the running back situation was cleared up as the Packers released both Tyrell Sutton and Kregg Lumpkin. They, for now, seem content on going with three backs. The Sutton move was a big surprise as he had an outstanding preseason (191 yards rushing, fifth best in the NFL) and, in my mind, appeared to be a lock to make the roster. Guess I was wrong there, too, huh?

Lumpkin didn’t play quite as well as he did last preseason when he was arguably the biggest surprise of camp. Still, he was solid and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him stick.

Green Bay instead decided to stick with all three fullbacks (John Kuhn, Korey Hall and Quinn Johnson). All three played well, yes, but I have to think some type of move is coming shortly. Do teams ever keep three fullbacks? I can’t think of a time when that’s happened.

For as much as Thompson values his draft picks and likes to give them time to grow, the release of rookie tackle Jamon Meredith in favor of guard-center Evan Dietrich-Smith was another sizeable surprise. Meredith certainly struggled, but he was thought by many to be a project before the draft so the Packers couldn’t have been that shocked. Dietrich-Smith had himself a decent camp and he does provide depth at multiple spots. Doesn’t Scott Wells already do that, though?

The receiver position was also shaken up a bit as Ruvell Martin, a solid No. 5 receiver/close friend of Aaron Rodgers’ for the past few seasons, was cut in favor of Brett Swain. Swain was on the practice squad last season, so the team clearly liked him. Swain is probably a little more athletic than Martin, so that will be nice to see. Categorize this one as a minor surprise.

The other 31 teams have until 11 a.m. today to place waiver claims on any of the players released by the Packers. If mutiple teams place claims on a player, it will take an hour to determine where that player ends up as the waiver priority list will then be set based on the records of the teams who put in claims. In other words, we’ll know the Packers’ practice squad by noon.

My guess is that Brohm and Sutton won’t make it through waivers and will end up somewhere else but that Meredith and Lumpkin will. For those two, that might be the best place for them at this point in their careers, anyways.

I.R. moves

The Packers placed four players on the I.R. list Saturday, ending their seasons.

The biggest of those, obviously, is defensive lineman Justin Harrell’s season ending as a result of his bad back.

It was a wild ride for Harrell this preseason.

First, he looked fairly impressive to start camp. Then his back flared up but we were told it was nothing serious. Then Harrell himself told reporters he might never play again. Then we were told it wasn’t career-threatening but rather a pain tolerance issue and that he could play once that level subsided.

Then it was all over.

And you know what? That’s it for me. I’m done with Justin Harrell. Even if his back clears up, this team should cut him as soon as the season ends and just move on. Enough.

(Might as well link to this one more time).

The other big I.R. move was the Packers ending cornerback Pat Lee’s season as a result of back/knee problems. Lee, like Harrell, had a nice start to camp before getting hurt. I’m already sensing a pattern with this guy and I don’t like it. I know Will Blackmon had a similarly rough start, injury-wise, to his career. But he at least got on the field at times through his first two seasons.

The Packers had three picks in round two of the 2008 draft – Brohm, Lee and Jordy Nelson.

Thank God at least one of those guys looks like a player.

-Chris Lempesis