Packer Central

Released? Rashan Gary Was ‘Hacked’ And You Had Memes, Jokes

You had plenty to say about Rashan Gary’s farewell post after he was “released” by the Packers on Friday.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary is shown during the Week 1 game against Detroit.
Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary is shown during the Week 1 game against Detroit. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Friday, Rashan Gary announced via Instagram that he had been released by the Green Bay Packers.

Or so it seemed.

In a bizarre twist, a source close to Gary said the defensive end had been hacked. The post was taken down.

As you might expect, Packers fans weren’t quite buying it and responded with a deluge of memes and one-liners.

Coming off a horrendous second half of the 2025 season and with a salary-cap charge of $28.02 million for 2026, the “news” of his “release” wasn’t exactly a surprise.

Gary is set to earn a base salary of $18.0 million for the upcoming season. Along with $800,000 in per-game roster bonuses and a $700,000 workout bonus, Gary is due $19.5 million in cash for 2026.

Releasing him would create almost $11.0 million of cap space; $10,978,862, to be exact, according to OverTheCap.com.

So, what’s the deal with the “hack”?

Well, it could be accurate – though that the hacker would have a “goodbye” graphic all set would be going above and beyond.

There’s no doubt that Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would rather trade Gary than release him, though that astronomical base salary could make a trade almost impossible without a restructured contract. So, perhaps Gary knows that he is out and jumped the gun on the news.

Gary had 7.5 sacks in the first seven games of 2025 – he led the league through Week 8 – but ended the season with a 10-game streak without a sack. The first six-and-a-half of those games were with Micah Parsons on the field.

With 7.5 sacks, Gary pushed his career total to 46.5. That moved him past Preston Smith (44.0) and into sixth place on the all-time franchise list. Aaron Kampman (54.0) ranks fifth and Tim Harris (55.0) is fourth.

Gary’s time-to-pressure was the slowest of his career, and the run defense was 0.64 yards per carry worse when he was on the field.

“To make a run in the playoffs, we’re going to need more out of everybody, and I think he would tell you the same thing,” then-defensive coordinator Rashan Gary said before the playoff game, when Gary had just one tackle.“Whether that’s pass rush, whether it’s setting edges, whether it’s getting off blocks and making plays, he needs to really take a step as a leader of our team as we get into the playoffs along with the rest of the guys, and I’m looking forward to seeing him do that.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.