Green Bay Packers Roundtable: 3 Surprise Cut Candidates

Kenny Jilek: Oren Burks

Oren Burks came to Green Bay with a lot of promise as a third-round pick and a converted safety who was supposed to be a plus in coverage. Unfortunately, injuries held him back and he played just six percent of the Green Bay Packers’ defensive snaps last season. He could still turn things around in year three and the Packers probably don’t want to give up on such a high draft pick yet, but he could be a guy that ends up on the chopping block if they feel they have better options elsewhere like keeping six receivers or an extra tight end.

Another thing not working in Burks’ favor has been the emergence of 2020 fifth-round pick, Kamal Martin, out of Minnesota. Almost every report out of camp about Martin has been a positive one and there’s a good chance that he’ll be starting next to Christian Kirksey when the season begins. With Martin in there more for running situations and then Raven Greene prospectively playing more on passing downs, Burks finds himself kind of in no man’s land on this team.

He has some work to do to show his value before final cuts are made soon and while it would be easier to cut someone like Curtis Bolton who was an undrafted free agent last year, the Packers usually go with the talent they see and they’ve given up on draft picks earlier, just last year cutting J’Mon Moore who was a fourth-round pick in 2018.