Packers Only Had Mild Interest In Hoyer
- The Packers‘ interest in Brian Hoyer was “cursory, at best,” according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). After Hoyer signed with the Pats, it was reported that Green Bay had interest in signing the QB. Either way, the Packers will forge ahead with Brett Hundley as their No. 1 quarterback while Aaron Rodgers nurses a broken collarbone.
Packers To Bring T Jason Spriggs Off IR
The Packers have the most interesting IR-DTR possibility in football, but while Aaron Rodgers‘ recovery continues, the team made the decision to use one of its injury-return spots on Thursday.
Jason Spriggs returned to practice and is in line to come off IR, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports. Spriggs went down in Week 1 with a hamstring malady and was placed on IR after Week 2. This is the first such move Green Bay’s committed to, with the Rodgers decision likely preventing any other Packer from joining Spriggs.
Demovsky adds this will likely be the Packers’ last IR-boomerang move until they can get a full read on Rodgers, for whom they will presumably save their second IR-return spot. The Packers are holding out hope Rodgers can return from his broken collarbone, although the team will need to be in the playoff race for that to happen. Conflicting reports emerged out of Green Bay about a possible Rodgers re-emergence this season.
Spriggs can return later this month for a Packers team that’s seen its tackle situation stabilize since the last time Spriggs was healthy. Both David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga are healthy now, but the Packers’ situation is obviously far worse now that Rodgers is out.
Green Bay drafted Spriggs in the second round out of Indiana in 2016. He started two games last season and played in Week 1 of his second campaign.
Packers Release Ricky Jean-Francois
For the second time this season, the Packers jettisoned Ricky Jean-Francois, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.
Green Bay released the defensive lineman after Week 1 before bringing him back later in September, and he kept a roster spot through Week 8. However, the 30-year-old interior defender will be a free agent again as of Wednesday.
Demovsky notes this clears up a roster spot that could be used for rookie linebacker Vince Biegel, who’s spent the season on the PUP list thus far after suffering a summer injury. Biegel returned to Packers practice on October 18. Biegel’s undergone two foot surgeries since his 2016 football season, but Demovsky notes he appears ready to return and make his NFL debut.
Jean-Francois has played sparingly in six Packers games this season. The ninth-year veteran has recorded just two tackles in those contests. He served as a seven-game starter for the Redskins last season and was a full-time first-unit performer with the Colts in 2013-14.
Packers Tried To Sign Brian Hoyer
Brian Hoyer is back with the Patriots. But, before he put pen to paper with New England, the Packers made a run at him, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
Hoyer ultimately chose to sign a three-year deal with the Pats and his familiarity with their system presumably helped. Hoyer was with the Patriots from 2009-2011, so it won’t take long for him to get acquainted with their 2017 playbook.
Had he signed with the Packers, Hoyer presumably would have had an easier path to the field. It’s not clear if Hoyer would have displaced 24-year-old Brett Hundley as the starter, but it’s not hard to see a scenario in which Hundley would falter and give way to the veteran.
For now, Hundley will continue as the Packers’ sub for Aaron Rodgers in the wake of his broken collarbone. Joe Callahan, also 24, is the backup. In Hundley’s first start, the Packers lost 26-17 to the Saints.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/30/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to Twitter:
Green Bay Packers
- DE Francis Kallon (link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Indianapolis Colts
- DEs Praise Martin-Oguike, Drew Ott; LB Jason Thompson; CB Jarnor Jones; DBs Jordan Bowman, Malik Golden (link via veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- P Jeff Locke (link via Balzer)
Philadelphia Eagles
- WR Daniel Braverman; Gs Willie Beavers, Dallas Thomas (link via Balzer)
Washington Redskins
- LB Otha Peters (link via Balzer)
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/30/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: T Javarius Leamon
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: FB Joe Kerridge
- Released: G Darrell Greene
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: WR Montay Crockett
San Francisco 49ers
Washington Redskins
- Signed: T Givens Price
Martellus Bennett Considering Retirement?
Packers tight end Martellus Bennett is seemingly considering hanging up his cleats following the end of the 2017 season, as he announced on his Instagram account (Twitter link).
“After conversations with my family I’m pretty sure these next 8 games will be the conclusion of my NFL career,” writes Bennett. “To everyone who has poured themselves and time into my life and career. These next games are for you. Thank you.”
Bennett, 30, is in the midst of his 10th NFL campaign, and his first with the Packers, with whom he signed a three-year, $21MM deal in the spring. Fresh off one of the more productive seasons of his career with the Patriots in 2016, Bennett has disappointed this year, as he’s managed only 24 receptions, 233 yards, and zero touchdowns through seven games.
If this is it for Bennett, the former second-round pick will have completed an outstanding decade-long career, a tenure all the more noteworthy given that Bennett was essentially a part-time player through his first four NFL seasons (all with the Cowboys). Over the next five years, Bennett averaged 64 catches, 688 yards, and six touchdowns per season with the Giants, Bears, and Patriots, and earned a Super Bowl ring in the process.
Bennett will finish the rest of his Packers career without quarterback Aaron Rodgers under center, so his dismal numbers might not see much of an improvement over the second half of the season. If Bennett does indeed retire, Green Bay will be stuck with dead money in 2018, as $4.2MM in prorated signing bonus cash will immediately accelerate onto the Packers’ salary cap.
Bennett has never been accused of a shortage of interests, and his life off the football field figures to be just as entertaining and refreshing as his NFL career. (For an excellent profile of Bennett and his brother, Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett, check out Mina Kimes’ of ESPN.com’s 2016 piece.)
NFL Workout Updates: 10/26/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Detroit Lions
- WR Cyril Grayson
Green Bay Packers
- S B.T. Sanders
- DE Francis Kallon (Twitter link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- WR Devin Lucien
- QB Marcus McDade
- WR Paul Turner
- WR DeAndrew White
New York Giants
- LB Trevor Bates
- P Matt Darr
- LS Anthony Kukwa
- DE Darnell Leslie
- P Austin Rehkow
- DE Devin Taylor
- P Matt Wile (link)
Washington Redskins
- CB Alex Carter
- CB Sheldon Price (link)
NFL Workout Updates: 10/24/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Buffalo Bills
- WR Rod Streater; TE Jason Croom (link)
Carolina Panthers
- Ks Roberto Aguayo, Mike Meyer, Younghoe Koo (link via Mike Garafolo of NFL.com)
Dallas Cowboys
- LS Trent Gow (link)
Detroit Lions
- WR Jake Kumerow (link)
Green Bay Packers
- FB Joe Kerridge; DL Paul Boyette, Casey Sayles; CBs Jeremy Boykins, Jarnor Jones; S Orion Stewart (Twitter links)
Houston Texans
- DEs Sterling Bailey, Patrick Gamble; DT Mike Purcell; LBs Akeem Ayers, Jelani Jenkins (link)
Indianapolis Colts
- WRs Anthony Nash, Francis Owusu, Domonique Young; DE Armonty Bryant; CB Jeremy Boykins (link)
New Orleans Saints
- RBs Malcolm Johnson, Marquez Williams; OL Jake Eldrenkamp, Storm Norton, Nate Theaker (link)
Oakland Raiders
- QB Joel Stave; WRs Devin Lucien, Jordan Payton; TEs Brandon Barnes, Eric Wallace; LBs Jeremy Cash, Jayson DiManche, Jason Thompson; CB Jarnor Jones; DBs Jordan Moore, James Sample, Orion Stewart (Twitter links)
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/24/17
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: DL Joe Vellano
Carolina Panthers
- Claimed off waivers: WR Kaelin Clay
- Placed on injured reserve: S Demetrious Cox
Denver Broncos
- Waived: C Dillon Day
Green Bay Packers
- Released from IR: OL Don Barclay
Houston Texans
- Released: CB Marcus Burley
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: OL Michael Ola
- Placed on injured reserve: OL Matt Slauson (story)
New York Jets
- Promoted to active roster: CB Robert Nelson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: S Isaiah Johnson
- Released from IR: WR Jhajuan Seales