GREEN BAY, Wis. – With training camp complete, the players resting uncomfortably on the Green Bay Packers’ roster bubble have only one more opportunity to win a spot on the 53-man roster. That’s Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The final cuts to the 53-man roster are due by 3 pm Tuesday. Including the 16-man practice squad, which can be formed on Wednesday, general manager Brian Gutekunst sees it as a 69-man roster.
That’s true from the team perspective, with each player eligible to be elevated from the practice squad three times, if not from the player perspective, given the disparity in pay between a player on the roster vs. the practice squad ($705,000 minimum per season, or about $39,000 per week, vs. $11,500 per week.)
“I know everybody focuses a lot on the 53 (but) it really is more the 69, the whole practice squad and how that stacks up,” Gutekunst said. “As you go through an NFL season, the amount of players you use and the team you’re playing with at the end of the season compared to the beginning of the season, it can be drastic.
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“To me, certainly, I think you have some minimums at each position that you kind of feel you have to have, but then after that with a 16-man practice squad, you’re trying to keep maybe the best 53 overall to start the season. That doesn’t mean that’s going to be the best 53 (for) Game 8, Game 12 and into the playoffs.”
There’s a lot at stake on Thursday night, with spots seemingly available at half the position groups. Other than safety, which has been hit hard by injuries, and offensive line, where there are injury questions, the depth seems strong up and down the roster.
Quarterbacks (2)
Running Backs (2)
Receivers (7)
Tight Ends (4)
Offensive Line (10)
Defensive Line (5)
Outside Linebackers (6)
Inside Linebackers (4)
Cornerbacks (6)
Safeties (4*)
Specialists (3)
.