What to Know: Packers trade Van Lanen & waive Scott to get to 80 player limit

The Green Bay Packers have reportedly traded offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a seventh round draft pick, according to Rob Demovsky.

The Packers also waived Vernon Scott and placed Kylin Hill on the reserve/PUP list on Tuesday .

Van Lanen was a sixth-round pick out of Wisconsin by the Packers in 2021. He would spend most of that season on the practice squad.

This summer, Van Lanen was pushing for a roster spot, but ultimately, the offensive line room got just a bit too crowded.

With the return of David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, along with Zach Tom playing at a high level and the emergence of undrafted rookie Caleb Jones, the Packers aren’t exactly short on options at tackle.

Van Lanen also has the ability to play inside, but Jake Hanson, who has been playing with the starters, can play all three interior positions, while Royce Newman, Jon Runyan, Sean Rhyan, Jenkins, and Tom can all play guard as well.

You get the idea—with the offensive line being a position of depth for the Packers, there just wasn’t room on the 53-man roster for Van Lanen, hence the trade.

Van Lanen has put together a strong summer, seeing regular snaps with the second team offense, and he is yet to allow a pressure in a preseason game, according to PFF ($$).

Van Lanen will now have the opportunity to earn a roster spot and playing time with the Jaguars.

In addition to trading Van Lanen, the Packers also waived Vernon Scott, who had suffered a shoulder injury against New Orleans.

Prior to suffering the shoulder injury, Scott was consistently the No. 2 safety next to Adrian Amos, with Darnell Savage still out.

However, with this injury potentially being long-term, finding a way to fit Scott on the 53-man roster — along with Dallin Leavitt, who is also injured — in order to then place him on IR so he could possibly return at some point, would have taken some roster maneuvering that would have resulted in going light at another position, even if for only a day.

A possible result of having to go light on the initial 53-man could have meant releasing Caleb Jones, for example, instead of keeping him as the 10th lineman. This would then give the other 31 teams the opportunity to claim him before potentially making his way back to the Packers’ practice squad.

That scenario, coupled with the severity of Scott’s injury, may have been two key factors in the somewhat surprising decision.

Lastly, the Packers would place Kylin Hill on the reserve/PUP list, which means he will begin the season on PUP, and he will miss the first four games.

With these three moves, the Packers roster is now at 80 players prior to the 3:00 CST deadline.

Update: the Packers also released wide receiver Danny Davis, an undrafted rookie from Wisconsin, who was signed in the spring. During training camp and in the first preseason game, Davis had made the most of his opportunities, which included a touchdown catch against San Francisco, but he was, unfortunately, dealing with an injury as of late.

The Packers roster is now at 79 players, which means they have room for an addition.