What to Know: Packers Release TE Eli Wolf, Now Have Open Roster Spot

Among the slew of moves made on Friday by the Green Bay Packers that included nine players going on the PUP list and three on the NFI list, tight end Eli Wolf was also released, according to Rob Demovsky.

This move comes one day after the Packers signed former USFL standout tight end Sal Cannella.

Wolf was an offseason addition, claimed off waivers by the Packers earlier this year. He went undrafted in 2020 and has also spent time with the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts. Wolf has no career NFL snaps.

The 6’4” – 236 pound Wolf spent his college career at Tennessee and Georgia. He was never much of an active member of the passing game with just 31 career targets — 21 of which came during his final and only season at Georgia — while catching 22 of them at 12.5 yards per catch with two touchdowns.

Where Wolf did thrive was as a blocker, with over half of his 751 career snaps coming in run-blocking situations. During his final season, he was PFF’s highest-graded run-blocking tight end. Wolf also entered the NFL with 219 special teams snaps, according to PFF ($$).

His blocking ability was likely an intriguing skill-set for Matt LaFleur and Co. but this is also a crowded tight end room. Before cutting Wolf, the Packers had eight tight ends on the roster and it’s not as if there were really any roster spots available.

Once healthy, we know that Robert Tonyan is a roster lock, along with Marcedes Lewis and Josiah Deguara. Meanwhile, Dominique Dafney and Tyler Davis will battle it out for that fourth roster spot, and given the special teams potential that each player has, they could force the Packers to keep five tight ends.

If we look ahead to 2023, however, the room becomes much less crowded with only Deguara under contract. Green Bay could look to stash a few tight ends on the practice squad this year for development, so that the room isn’t so thin at the beginning of next offseason.

Tonyan, Dafney, and Davis are all examples of tight ends who were given time and have now grown into larger roles.

Without Wolf, this now leaves the Packers with 89 players on their roster–one short of the 90-player maximum.

In all likelihood, another addition may be coming in the near future, with training camp just around the corner. A few positions of need include wide receiver, as well as added depth at edge rusher, safety, and cornerback.

For what it’s worth, the Packers recently had in receiver John Brown, cornerback Bryce Watts, and offensive lineman Airon Servais for workouts, along with Cannella, who was just signed.

According to Over the Cap, the Packers have $16.9 million in available cap space at the moment, but as Ken Ingalls notes, once other expenses such as reserve funds for in-season spending, the practice squad, and potential bonuses, among other expenses are taken into account, their effective cap space is just over $2.7 million.

The first day of training camp for the Packers is July 27th.