Packers release WR Sammy Watkins: What to Know
By Paul Bretl
Just hours before the Green Bay Packers take the field to play the Los Angeles Rams, it was reported by Tom Pelissero that the team cut wide receiver Sammy Watkins. While the timing — not long before kickoff — may be a bit odd, the move itself really isn’t.
Watkins was signed to a one-year deal in the Spring worth an inexpensive $1.85 million, which made getting out of this contract at any point quite easy for the Packers. On a team with a lot of youth at the receiver position, Watkins was supposed to provide some veteran stability. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen much.
Watkins’ best performance with the Packers came early on in Week 2, where he caught three passes for 93 yards. However, other than that one game, he dealt with injuries, struggled to create regular separation, and was inconsistent, which included several instances where he and Aaron Rodgers weren’t on the same page — most notably in the Detroit game — and a few dropped passes.
With Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Christian Watson healthy and playing well over the last month, Watkins’ role really began to shrink during that span. In the previous two games, he played just 11 total snaps and had no targets. Now with Romeo Doubs back in the mix as well, Watkins’ playing time wasn’t going to improve and was only going to get worse moving forward. Overall, Watkins finished his season in Green Bay, catching 13 of 22 passes for 206 yards per PFF, while appearing in only nine games.
Now with an open roster space, the Packers have already filled it, according to Bill Huber, signing Patrick Taylor from the practice squad. Green Bay cut Kylin Hill a few weeks ago, and only had two running backs on the 53-man roster since then. Taylor has appeared in 10 games as a primary special teams contributor.
Watkins will now hit waivers, and any team can put in a claim on him, although he will ultimately go to the team with the worse record. That team will also have to pick up the remainder of Watkins’ deal. If he goes unclaimed, he will become a free agent.