Packers Cut Losses, Release Amari Rodgers

Instead of a “complete football player,” Amari Rodgers had been a complete zero. Which is why the Packers released him before Tuesday’s practice.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Nov 15, 2022 1:07 PM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the 2021 NFL Draft, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made a curious decision in the third round.

He not only drafted receiver Amari Rodgers in the third round, he gave up a fourth-round pick to move up to get him. The Packers needed a true slot receiver but, at 5-foot-9 1/2, Rodgers was short – very short – by team standards.

“When you see him, when you get up on him, he’s not a small man. He’s just not tall,” Gutekunst said at the time.

Said coach Matt LaFleur: “He’s got a good build to him. The expectation is on the run downs to be able to dig out whether it’s safeties, corners, to be able to be a premier blocker. And when he gets the ball in his hands, he’s pretty dynamic. I think you can use him a lot of different ways, whether it’s on jet motions or in the passing games, I think he’s a really good route-runner. He’s just a complete football player. He’s got great play strength, and he’s proven it over the course of his career at Clemson.”

Through about 1 2/3 seasons, Rodgers hasn’t been any of those things. He’s been a bad blocker. He hasn’t been dynamic. While he showed some promise in the jet-motion game in the preseason, he hasn’t been used in that role.

Instead of a “complete football player,” he’s been a complete zero. Which is why the Packers released him before Tuesday’s practice.

On Sunday against Dallas, Rodgers’ fumbled punt return could have been the death knell to the season. With a 3-6 record and a five-game losing streak, the fumble deprived the Packers of the opportunity to take advantage of a short field to score the go-ahead points and instead gave the Cowboys a short field to score the go-ahead touchdown.

Officially, Rodgers had fumbled five times this season, most by any nonquarterback. One of those was on the lateral play at the end of the loss to Washington. Eliminate that, and he’s got four. Rodgers and Broncos running back Melvin Gordon, who also has four fumbles, are the only nonquarterbacks among the 22 players with four-plus fumbles.

Between punt returns, fair catches, kickoff returns and receptions, Rodgers has fumbled four times on 45 touches. Other than quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has seven fumbles, everyone else on the roster has four. (Aaron Jones and Romeo Doubs have two apiece.)

From that perspective, Rodgers’ benching on returns vs. Dallas was warranted and overdue.

“We’re not going to shitcan the guy,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said a few days after Rodgers’ fumbled in London against the Giants and two weeks before Rodgers lost a fumble that ruined early momentum in the loss to Washington. “He works his rear end off and does a good job making decisions back there. He’s a clean-catch guy right now and he’s a young player. So, I’m real excited about the future, what he’s done and the way he practices, and so we’d like him to do a better job with ball security and hanging onto the ball, and he’s working on it.”

The dilemma between patience and moving on comes from Rodgers’ draft status. Third-round draft picks need to be reliable role players, if nothing else. Of the 41 players selected in the third round in 2021, 19 have started at least 10 games. That includes receiver Nico Collins. He was taken 89th overall, four picks after Rodgers. In seven games this season, he’s caught 23 passes for 354 yards for the Texans. Spencer Brown (Buffalo) and Kendrick Green (Pittsburgh) are starting offensive linemen.

Rodgers’ career, on the other hand, was going nowhere fast. His only career start came when the team’s three top receivers were inactive at Arizona last year. He’s barely used on offense – with Randall Cobb and Romeo Doubs out against Dallas, he was on the field for only one passing play – and now he had no role on special teams.

The Packers have a miserable history with their third-round picks, a trend that goes back to Ted Thompson picking running back Alex Green in 2011 and defensive tackle Montravius Adams in 2017 and continues with Gutekunst’s selections of Oren Burks in 2018 (bust), Jace Sternberger in 2019 (bust), Josiah Deguara in 2020 (decent role player) and, now, Rodgers.

It’s not as if Rodgers doesn’t have talent. He clearly does. But with no path to playing time, the Packers cut their losses on Tuesday.