Predicting Green Bay Packers' 1st Wave of Roster Cuts

The Green Bay Packers will be required to cut their roster from the 90-player offseason limit to 75 players on the active list by Tuesday, Sept. 1, prior to 4 p.m. ET. 

That deadline is a month away, and there are plenty of training camp practices to get through before we'll have a clear picture of which players are on the wrong side of the bubble.

But as the Packers now have gotten some practices behind them, it's a good time to identify the players who could be among the first wave of cuts in the coming weeks. 

These players have either suffered too many injuries, have not been able to make a transition to a new position work, are members of a crowded unit or are not meeting performance expectations—not just in the handful of training camp practices so far, but in the offseason as a whole and even stretching back to last season. 

WR Larry Pinkard

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The Packers have an overpopulation of wide receivers on the offseason roster. 

There are at least five spots certainly allotted to wide receivers on the final roster, and Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and Ty Montgomery are virtual locks for those.

Then, if the Packers keep only one more receiver, it's likely going to be Jeff Janis, given how well he performed in training camp last year and again this offseason. If Green Bay keeps six receivers, Jared Abbrederis is a contender for that spot, as are many of this year's undrafted rookies. 

Some of the rookies have earned positive recognition this offseason. Javess Blue had the "catch of the day" in practice on July 31, per PackersTalk.com analyst Kyle Engman. Brian Carriveau of 247Sports thinks Jimmie Hunt has "the upper hand" for a roster spot early into camp. 

Pinkard, however, hasn't made much of an impact so far this offseason. There's still time, and the rookie did take punt return reps on July 31, per Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. 

But with five undrafted rookie wide receivers vying for only one potential open spot and maybe even just a practice-squad nod at most, Pinkard seems behind the pack. If the Packers have to cut a wideout early on, he may be on their short list. 

DB Kyle Sebetic

Morry Gash/Associated Press

The Packers wanted to ensure that the secondary wouldn't become a position of weakness in 2015 after corners Tramon Williams, Davon House and Jarrett Bush departed in free agency, and general manager Ted Thompson brought in multiple candidates to fill the roster. 

Now, however, the Packers have an abundance of corners, safeties and hybrid defensive backs and not many spots available. Green Bay kept five cornerbacks and five safeties on the final roster in 2014, and logic dictates the secondary will once again contain no more than 10 members this season. 

With that being the case, starters Sam Shields, Casey Hayward, Morgan Burnett, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and rookies Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins are virtually guaranteed roster spots, as are, most likely, Micah Hyde (who could take over in the slot) and Sean Richardson (whom the Packers matched an offer for in free agency). 

If the Packers keep three or four more corners or safeties, veteran Chris Banjo has a good shot, as does second-year player Demetri Goodson. Undrafted rookie cornerback LaDarius Gunter is turning heads after breaking up an Aaron Rodgers pass to Jordy Nelson on Saturday, as Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. 

As for Kyle Sebetic, the Packers signed the former New York Giants practice-squad member in March. Sebetic went undrafted in 2014, not historically a deterrent for the Packers, but he hasn't made news this offseason.

He's already had to switch positions from a safety to a cornerback, and during the Packers' mandatory minicamp, he allowed touchdowns to both Andrew Quarless (as ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky reported) and Kennard Backman (as Wood reported) on the same day. 

That's not a great way to make the final roster. 

LB Carl Bradford

Morry Gash/Associated Press

Perhaps the most surprising name on this list, the outlook isn't currently promising for linebacker Carl Bradford. 

A fourth-round draft pick in 2014, Bradford played outside linebacker at Arizona State, but partway through training camp last year, the Packers decided to move him inside. He did not play a single down in his rookie year. 

Draft analysts worried that Bradford's 30 ¼-inch arms would limit his effectiveness at outside linebacker. However, that's where the Packers had him once again to start training camp as the first practice opened on July 30. Inside, Nate Palmer and Joe Thomas got the nod for second-team reps behind Clay Matthews and Sam Barrington, taking the starting snaps, as Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. 

However, by Day 3 of practice, the first one in full pads, Bradford was back inside, as Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel observed. McGinn also noted that Bradford has potentially received the fewest snaps thus far into camp—fewer than rookie Jake Ryan, Palmer and even Thomas. 

Palmer clearly seems to have taken the lead to join Ryan as the backups for Matthews and Barrington; as McGinn pointed out, "The Packers have reasons for allocating playing time in practice, and it's probably because Palmer exhibits more naturalness and urgency in his play."

Some players are moved between positions because they're so talented that they're valuable in multiple situations; Matthews is the best example of that. But other times it's because a player just doesn't quite fit. A few more practices into camp will reveal whether the latter is true of Bradford, but if Green Bay had to cut an inside linebacker today, it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be him.

T Vince Kowalski

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One of its strongest positional units, Green Bay is just about set at tight end. The team returns its starting five from 2014—David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, Corey Linsley, T.J. Lang and Bryan Bulaga—and returns Don Barclay and J.C. Tretter for depth. 

The Packers' 2014 depth chart featured eight offensive linemen, so theoretically, general manager Ted Thompson will keep one extra player in addition to those named above. 

Guard is more of a need than tackle, where Barclay and Tretter are both able to jump right in should the need arise. Undrafted rookie guard Matt Rotheram was an early favorite to make the final roster, but he has missed two practices in camp with an ankle injury, per Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. 

Among the tackles, Jeremy Vujnovich was on the Packers' practice squad in 2014 and has more experience in the system than Vince Kowalski, who went undrafted out of Villanova in 2015. He was the last person signed to the Packers' 90-man offseason roster and faces long odds of earning that last available offensive line spot when there are players with more experience. 

TE Harold Spears

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In 2014, the Packers had four tight ends on the 53-man roster: Richard Rodgers, Andrew Quarless, Brandon Bostick and Justin Perillo. 

Now, three of those four are on the offseason roster as well as rookie Kennard Backman, drafted in the sixth round, and undrafted rookies Mitchell Henry and Harold Spears. 

The problem for Henry and Spears, and Perillo too, is that the Packers may only be able to keep three tight ends by final cuts this summer. Other positions, such as wide receiver, cornerback or linebacker, may necessitate an extra body. 

If the Packers only keep three tight ends, Rodgers, Quarless and Backman seem like shoo-ins. But if a fourth spot is available, Perillo's experience will be a weight on the scale, as will Henry's training camp performance so far. 

Henry had a "nice catch in traffic" on July 31, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. So far through camps, Spears has been quiet and appears to have earned fewer opportunities.