Green Bay Packers Release QBs Blake Bortles and Jake Dolegala

Coming into Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers roster was at the maximum of 90-players. However, with the impending trade for Randall Cobb, that also meant that Green Bay would have to make a roster cut so they don’t exceed the 90-man limit. But instead they made two.

Shortly after news broke that the Packers were working on a deal to trade for Cobb, it was reported that they would be cutting quarterbacks Blake Bortles and Jake Dolegala.

Bortles was signed earlier this offseason to a veteran minimum deal, but now knowing that Rodgers is back, there really wasn’t a need for another veteran quarterback on the roster.

Bortles is familiar with Nathaniel Hackett, who was his offensive coordinator in Jacksonville, as well as somewhat with the Matt LaFleur offense from his time in Los Angeles. So initially, with Green Bay in need of quarterback depth this offseason, this signing did make sense.

Although he led the Jaguars to an AFC Championship appearance in 2017, over his career, Bortles never quite lived up to his draft status—finishing below .500 in four of his five seasons with Jacksonville. More recently, he has been a backup with the Rams and spent some time on the Denver practice squad last season.

Dolegala was in for a tryout during mini-camp and signed after those three practices. He was an undrafted rookie in 2019 out of Central Connecticut State and was on the Cincinnati 53-man roster as a rookie — although he has no career regular season snaps — before spending 2020 on the practice squad with New England.

According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, neither of these moves affects the Green Bay Packers’ salary cap. They now have three quarterbacks remaining on the roster in Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, and Kurt Benkert.

It’s also worth noting that there could be an incoming roster addition in the coming days. As I mentioned above, the Packers began the day at 90 players before cutting Bortles and Dolegala, but on the flip side, all signs point to them adding Cobb.

When it’s all said and done, this should leave Green Bay with 89 players. As I noted in a recent article, don’t be surprised if the Green Bay Packers decide to add to the running back room since they now have only four healthy players.