The Green Bay Packers had not had a player claimed on waivers following final roster cuts since 2017, but the NFL clearly believes the roster Brian Gutekunst assembled before the 2024 season is one of the deepest in the league.
The Packers had three players claimed on waivers following final cuts, tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in the NFL.
The Miami Dolphins claimed wide receiver Grant DuBose, the New York Giants claimed Anthony Johnson Jr. and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed guard Royce Newman on Wednesday.
Gutekunst strongly believed he had more than 53 players who earned a roster spot, and the NFL agreed.
“We had more than 53 in my opinion that deserved to make this football team,” Gutekunst said.
That meant hard decisions. It’s a good problem to have, but it also required the risk of losing good football players.
DuBose, a seventh-round pick in 2023, had a terrific summer and forced the Packers to think about keeping seven receivers. Instead, the Packers kept six, and Malik Heath made the roster over DuBose, who is off to Miami to play for Mike McDaniel in a dynamic Dolphins offense. A prototypical Packers receiver by size and athleticism, DuBose flashed legitimate receiving and blocking ability during the preseason.
Johnson, also a seventh-round pick in 2023, was arguably the most shocking cut. His roster spot never appeared to be in serious jeopardy. He started games as a rookie and was getting opportunities with the first-team defense this summer. The Packers decided to keep Zayne Anderson, likely for special teams reasons, and having three promising rookies — Javon Bullard, Evan Williams and Kitan Oladapo — made it difficult to keep Johnson Jr., who will go to New York to help the Giants replace Xavier McKinney.
Newman fell out of favor in Green Bay after starting 16 games during his rookie season. The Packers kept three rookies along the offensive line. He’ll get a chance to revive his professional career in Tampa Bay, where the Buccaneers needed help along the interior offensive line.
The Packers are also losing rookie quarterback Michael Pratt, who is expected to land on the practice squad of the Buccaneers, and veteran linebacker Kristian Welch, who Matt LaFleur thought was headed back to Baltimore as of Wednesday.
“I’m glad some of our guys got opportunities,” Gutekunst said.
The Packers put together a deep roster and had to make difficult decisions on the fringes to get to 53. No one wants to lose good players, and there’s risk of those players becoming important contributors elsewhere. Time will tell if Gutekunst and the Packers made the right choices.