No Trade but Packers Make Slew of Roster Moves on Tuesday
By Paul Bretl
No, there wasn’t a trade made prior to the 2021 NFL trade deadline, but it was still a busy Tuesday for the Green Bay Packers as they made a slew of roster moves. Here is a rundown of everything that took place.
Green Bay Packers make a move at long-snapper
Hunter Bradley was a seventh-round selection of the Green Bay Packers in 2018 and has battled inconsistency–especially as of late. In fact, after a rough showing during training camp and the preseason, some anticipated that he might have been one of the final cuts as the Packers constructed their initial 53-man roster.
"“A seventh-round pick in 2018, Bradley has provided three seasons of inconsistent snapping. Nothing really has changed in training camp,” wrote Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated. “It seems like every-other day, Bradley will misfire on one of his six or eight snaps. On Tuesday, for instance, Mason Crosby kicked six field goals. Punter/holder JK Scott had to reach forward to grab the ball from the top of the FieldTurf on three of those snaps.”"
Those issues continued into the regular season, where we have seen holder Corey Bojorquez have to dig several snaps out of the dirt. Mason Crosby has already missed four field goals — which, as a long-snapper, you are going to shoulder some of the blame — and take it as you will, but Bradley is PFF’s ($$) lowest graded long-snapper this season.
To replace Bradley, the Packers have promoted Steven Wirtel, who has been on the practice squad since August. Wirtel spent his college career at Iowa State, appearing in 51 games where he was named All-Big 12 in 2018 and 2019 while also being a Patrick Mannely Award finalist in 2019 as well as receiving Senior Bowl and NFL Combine invites.
"“One of the big things I’ve learned through this process is you have to find that one thing that separates you,” Wirtel said at the Scouting Combine via Sports Illustrated. “For me, it’s been that athleticism. After snapping and blocking, how can I be a weapon? To me, that’s getting downfield and making plays. At the end of the day, I’m a football player, too. I want to stick my nose in there and make plays. That’s what I love to do.”"
He would go undrafted and spent 2020 with Detroit and a majority of this summer with the Los Angeles Rams, where he worked with current Packers punter, Corey Bojorquez.