With the Green Bay Packers needing to trim their roster from 79 players down to the final 53 by Tuesday’s deadline, they’ve already started that process by releasing linebacker Ty Summers, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
Summers was a seventh-round draft pick by the Packers in 2019 and has been on the roster each season since as a primary special teams player.
In each of his first three NFL seasons, Summers has finished in the top-4 in special teams snaps on the Packers and top-5 in tackles, per PFF.
While oftentimes special teams experience can carry weight in these decisions, that may have been less true this year for the Packers, considering that Green Bay has a new coordinator in Rich Bisaccia, which means everyone is learning a new system. Also, it’s not as if the Packers’ special teams unit has been very good.
Defensively, Summers was limited, particularly in coverage and with the Packers revamped linebacker room being the best and deepest in years, making the final roster was always going to be an uphill battle for him in 2022.
Summers finished the preseason with the most special teams snaps on the Packers. In second was linebacker Ray Wilborn, who finished with a higher PFF grade and also first in tackles.
One decision that remains at the linebacker position for the Packers is whether to keep Wilborn as a fifth option. Defensively, he won’t see any playing time, but his past experience as a safety in college does fit the Packers’ recent mold of adding athleticism to the position.
Instead, like Summers in past years, Wilborn’s role will be on special teams if he makes the team. When it comes to the final few roster spots, special teams are often the deciding factor, and this competition extends outside of positional groups.
Wilborn was not only competing with Summers but any other player who was also fighting for a roster spot via special teams.
