Would the Green Bay Packers cut Jace Sternberger?
It’s been a rough two years for Green Bay Packers‘ tight end Jace Sternberger. After being selected in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, he hasn’t been able to find his way on the field and has been a disappointment. Could he be at risk of being cut?
His NFL career has been plagued by injuries so far and it’s gotten off to a rocky start. He began his rookie season on the PUP list and only appeared in six games in 2019, failing to even haul in a reception in the regular season. He did have a strong postseason by his standards, prompting many analysts to believe he was going to be the full-time starter in 2020.
Unfortunately, Sternberger was unable to capitalize on a wide-open position that lost Jimmy Graham last offseason. He began the year getting a lot of reps with the starters, but that didn’t last. He failed to produce, struggling to both block and catch passes. When he was healthy enough to play following a concussion that costs him three games, he found himself inactive down the stretch and in the playoffs. Instead, Green Bay elected to play Dominique Dafney–a blocking specialist.
The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman recently made a bold prediction that the Green Bay Packers could cut Jace Sternberger. Is that really a possibility?
In a recent article by The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, he made 10 bold predictions about what the Packers’ offseason could hold. One of those predictions included the Packers releasing Sternberger, among a couple of other former high picks.
Robert Tonyan emerged as the Packers’ go-to tight end last season, and they’re also returning a plethora of other players at the position including veteran Marcedes Lewis, Dafney, and Josiah Deguara. It’s unclear where Sternberger fits on the depth chart.
If the Packers do cut Sternberger, it won’t be a financial move despite them being over the salary cap at this point. Such a move would cost them about $500,000 in dead money and would only shed a hair over $628,000 from their cap.
It will be interesting to see what the Packers decide to do with Sternberger and a number of their other players. There are a lot of moves that lie ahead.