Packers Releasing Sammy Watkins

[Joemailman]

I guess with all their WR's healthy, no need for him. A guy whose body just gave out on him.

[run pMc]

Well he wasn't going to be back, and he wasn't going to get a lot of snaps (if they are smart and get the rookies the snaps) so it's a nice gesture to let him try to possibly latch on with a contender... at worst he gets out of the cold a little early.

Not a horrible career for the guy (roughly 360 catches 5600 yds, etc.) but he's past his expiration date. Wish him the best going forward.

[call_me_ishmael]

Run pretty much nailed it. Wish him well. I kind of thought this was a foolish signing from the start and I'm surprised he made it through camp. Never the less, the youths got their shot and are the future so let's greet it.

[NewsBruin]

He had good per-catch numbers, but never had more than 3 catches per game. Is this to make room, to save money, or to give him a chance for a few checks somewhere else?

I was afraid between extrauniversal consciousness or his family's legal problems that he would be a distraction, but I guess he served his purpose, and we're moving on.

[CaptainKickass]

I had high hopes. He probably did too. None of that happened. Surprised by the timing.

[Fosco33]

Brought Taylor up from PS / because Jones is banged up??

[red]

he's ben done for awhile now

the idea that he would be the vet WR that this team needed shows how delusional our GM is

[Fritz]

he's ben done for awhile now

the idea that he would be the vet WR that this team needed shows how delusional our fans are

There you go.

[bobblehead]

he's ben done for awhile now

the idea that he would be the vet WR that this team needed shows how delusional our GM is

And our fan base who argued with me that KC WR were better than ours a couple years back because they had Sammy Watkiins......

[MadScientist]

It's not just his body that was giving out. His poor route running was a big factor in the loss to Detroit. He did make a good block of two defenders on a Watson end around against the Bears.

[Fosco33]

Wonder how he does w/ Ravens

[run pMc]

I think they were hoping he'd be able to get on the same page with Rodgers quickly and that didn't seem to happen. Agree it was obvious there were some bad routes or miscommunications.
Well he got picked up by BAL because Duvernay and Bateman and everyone else in that WR room is hurt or on IR. They have no depth left and he'll get a shot to play.

Good for him, and good luck to him. Sounded like MLF was not thrilled to lose him for Patrick Taylor, but I think it's a good move for GB. They probably need Taylor more than they do Watkins with Jones and Dillon taking lumps recently.

[red]

I think they were hoping he'd be able to get on the same page with Rodgers quickly and that didn't seem to happen. Agree it was obvious there were some bad routes or miscommunications.
Well he got picked up by BAL because Duvernay and Bateman and everyone else in that WR room is hurt or on IR. They have no depth left and he'll get a shot to play.

Good for him, and good luck to him. Sounded like MLF was not thrilled to lose him for Patrick Taylor, but I think it's a good move for GB. They probably need Taylor more than they do Watkins with Jones and Dillon taking lumps recently.

He didn’t have a chance to get on the same page with Rodgers

Pft posted a couple articles in the last couple of days showing just how fucked up things have gotten under Rodgers

Position groups not watching practice film together because as leafleting said “ certain vets took us away from that”

And then the other article talking about the hand signals and Jordan live saying that Rodgers will just pull out random signals during games that he hasn’t used in 5 or 6 seasons that non of the young guys or new guys have ever seen. And as live puts it. If they don’t know those old signals, they just have to figure it out.

This lines up very well with Rodgers throwing the ball everywhere but where the receiver is, then bitching out the WR for not running the route he wanted

[Fosco33]

Didn’t Rodgers say that Atlantic article was horseshit?

And lafleur clarified his statement and said the qv/wr’s meet multiple times a week to install offense and signals.

Red - your criticism of a 1st ballot hof doesn’t hold water.

[Joemailman]

Personally, I don't go to Florio and his folks for Packer analysis. But maybe that's just me.

MLF talked about it yesterday. https://madison.com/sports/football/professional/yes-the-packers-wide-receivers-do-meet-with-aaron-rodgers-matt-lafleur-clarifies/article_f1ec8eba-0667-5292-9846-94ca0bf5c367.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_MadisonSport

[red]

Didn’t Rodgers say that Atlantic article was horseshit?

And lafleur clarified his statement and said the qv/wr’s meet multiple times a week to install offense and signals.

Red - your criticism of a 1st ballot hof doesn’t hold water.

Rodgers said it was all anonymous bullshit. But as Florio mentions, all the quotes were attributed to teammates

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/12/21/aaron-rodgers-trashed-report-based-entirely-on-on-the-record-quotes-from-teammates/

Rodgers is caught in a lie

Watkins also mentions in the article how there are actually two offenses. The official one the practice, and then Rodgers where he just expects the guys to go wherever he thinks they should go

[red]

Personally, I don't go to Florio and his folks for Packer analysis. But maybe that's just me.

MLF talked about it yesterday. https://madison.com/sports/football/professional/yes-the-packers-wide-receivers-do-meet-with-aaron-rodgers-matt-lafleur-clarifies/article_f1ec8eba-0667-5292-9846-94ca0bf5c367.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_MadisonSport

Hope it’s the truth and not just someone telling him what he said puts the team in a very bad light. Cause what he said the other day seemed pretty clear

[run pMc]

Find it hard to believe they wouldn't watch practice film together. It's standard for teams to review film (game and practice) together and go over corrections.
What I wonder is how accountable coaches and players are holding each other. Seems like they've let players screw up and keep giving them more chances without drawing a line. (ex. Hanson, Amari, Savage)

The reporter who wrote the Atlantic article about the hand signals stood by what she wrote in an interview -- these were past and current players on the record. It sounds like the WRs are expected to learn the hand signals but they aren't written down for fear of them getting stolen by a player cut and then signed by another team. The vets like Cobb and Lazard help the newbies learn them though. I haven't read the article but it didn't sound super crazy, and the WRs didn't really make much of it. Some QBs will use hand signals to ad-lib or audible. ESB seemed to just sort of shrug it off -- I think the general ethos at high levels of the game is that if you want the ball thrown to you, you have to run the route the QB expects you to.

I wouldn't call it a nothingburger story, but I don't think it's some kind of hit piece on Rodgers or proof that he's a total dick.
Pro teams probably operate much differently from how we expect.

[texaspackerbacker]

More idiotic shit from media scumbags. Fuck 'em all.

[Fosco33]

More idiotic shit from media scumbags. Fuck 'em all.

On this point we can agree.

How would two rooks be doing so well without meeting and not meeting be an excuse for a vet like Watkins. It makes no sense and is a nothingburger.

[Bretsky]

The reporter who wrote the Atlantic article about the hand signals stood by what she wrote in an interview -- these were past and current players on the record. It sounds like the WRs are expected to learn the hand signals but they aren't written down for fear of them getting stolen by a player cut and then signed by another team. The vets like Cobb and Lazard help the newbies learn them though. I haven't read the article but it didn't sound super crazy, and the WRs didn't really make much of it. Some QBs will use hand signals to ad-lib or audible. ESB seemed to just sort of shrug it off -- I think the general ethos at high levels of the game is that if you want the ball thrown to you, you have to run the route the QB expects you to.

I wouldn't call it a nothingburger story, but I don't think it's some kind of hit piece on Rodgers or proof that he's a total dick.
Pro teams probably operate much differently from how we expect.



The article was well written. And she was interviewed in detail on it by Ben Brust and his crew and she was very well spoken and explained in detail her points and there is no reason why she should back down from the story because it was accurate. The interview is a great listen and if you download Wisconsin on Demmand you can here it. She also noted that Pat McAfee didn't bother to interview her about the details of the story and she really didn't think it was going to tick anybody off. Mcafee he was his usual self throwing a slowpitch softball to Sharon and he/she was really pissed and showed the bad side of himself. Called it the worst article of the year; I thinik he referenced some bad articles last year regarding the COVID stuff.
etc..............For it being a nothing berger, he sure went through several boxes of kleenexes crying abou it. Hit a nerve. Rodgers response showed a lack of humanity and class IMO. But at this point, from a person who is smarter than everybody else I guess we shoudl not be surprised.

[run pMc]

More idiotic shit from media scumbags. Fuck 'em all.

I think it requires a bit more discernment than that, but Florio is big on rumor trading and hearsay.
At least the Atlantic went to the trouble of actually doing the work to interview sources on the record vs. rehashing or spinning excerpts from other people's work or random tweets.

[Bretsky]

I think it requires a bit more discernment than that, but Florio is big on rumor trading and hearsay.
At least the Atlantic went to the trouble of actually doing the work to interview sources on the record vs. rehashing or spinning excerpts from other people's work or random tweets.

the premise was not really that bad. She interviewed several Packers, current (Jordan Love was one) and ex as well as NFL Excutives, a couple of which noted Rodgers has hands down the most powper of any QB in the NFL as far as free lancing and doing whatever he wants. Then noted it's challenging to be a rookie WR with Aaron Rodgers due to all of these hand signals that can come out on a weekly basis..

As ironic as it was, the next day we witnessed Rodgers giving a rookie a hand signal before a play and Watson missed it and then AROD showed frustration and then noted after the game....gotta run the right route if you want to score the touchdown.

The article at the Athletic is not really that bad; but Rodgers is incapable of handling any criticism or second guessing; that's not all his fault. The GB Brass and everybody else is Rodgers submissive

[run pMc]

Rodgers response showed a lack of humanity and class IMO. But at this point, from a person who is smarter than everybody else I guess we shoudl not be surprised.

I'm not surprised. He may be a first ballot HOF QB, but he's a diva who thinks he's smarter than he is.
McAfee is going to give him his 30 minutes unchallenged to say whatever he wants. It's more ad revenue for ol' Pat.

[texaspackerbacker]

Pathetic that some people actually would believe media pukes trying to stir up trouble over Rodgers.

[run pMc]

Pathetic that some people actually would believe media pukes trying to stir up trouble over Rodgers.

I don't believe everything Florio says, if that's who you're talking about.
The Athletic is a generally reputable media source however.

You can't possibly know what's happening outside your door without at least considering what the media is reporting. If you are getting your news other ways, those are likely less accurate and reputable as they are essentially hearsay.

Lumping all media as worthless pukes is cognitive bias at best and prejudice (or outright ignorance) at worst. You can do better and I think you know it.

[texaspackerbacker]

"Lumping all media as worthless pukes" is a generalization that is true much more often than not. The bastards do their damnedest to stir up trouble. Witness basically anything having to do with Aaron Rodgers - but certainly not limited to that - as evidence of this. Yet some people weirdly give credibility to those scumbags. Hell yes I am biased against those shitheads, not limited to football, not even limited to sports.

[RashanGary]

"Lumping all media as worthless pukes" is a generalization that is true much more often than not. The bastards do their damnedest to stir up trouble. Witness basically anything having to do with Aaron Rodgers - but certainly not limited to that - as evidence of this. Yet some people weirdly give credibility to those scumbags. Hell yes I am biased against those shitheads, not limited to football, not even limited to sports.

Im hella biased against media too. They’re always looking for some angle of controversy to write a story. But they reach to sensationalize. And whenever someone calls them out for being dishonest they cry that it’s their job and nobody should criticize them publicly.

It’s a shady, dishonest, crummy profession from what I see. Don’t trust them a lick. Glad 12 sets the record straight on the McCafee show.

[RashanGary]

Rich Bisachia just came into his presser late and said he was late because Rodgers approached him to go over hand signals and Rich got 4 of them wrong, which drew displeasure from Rodgers.

That article was a joke. No attempt at all to find quotes explaining how the signals are necessary, just an attempt to make Rodgers look difficult to work with.

[RashanGary]

Watsons dad quote tweeted a picture of Rodgers and 9 shaking hands and looking jovial together. His dad said, despite what you might read in the media, this is what that relationship is actually like.

Cant trust reporters. Watsons family is a better source than that dumb bitch who tried to make it look like Rodgers over complicates things for the young receivers.

[Joemailman]

The Packer beat reporters do a decent job. It's the reporters who don't regularly cover the Packers and are just looking for an "Aaron Rodgers story" who are a bit suspect.

[MadScientist]

I don't see what the all the outcry over the article in the Athletic is about. When I read it, it really came across as a more detailed description of what the Packers do with their receivers, and in large part why receivers new to the system struggle. Rodgers is doing his thing, and it looks like Love is heavily involved in that hand signal system as well now. The rookie receivers are waking up to just what a shock this system is for them, but that is part of becoming a pro. Nothing earth shattering or offensive about saying that or even giving some details as to why it's difficult for them. The only one who really looks bad is Gute because he let the position just sit for several years and now there's no time for a batch of rookies to learn the nuances before being thrown into the fire. He needed to actually draft a good one about every other year to give them time to develop.

We all saw this problem coming. It's not on Rodgers. It's not on the rookie receivers, as long as they are putting in the work. It's all on Gute for failing to do something about the obvious situation the Packers were heading into.

[bobblehead]

Rodgers said it was all anonymous bullshit. But as Florio mentions, all the quotes were attributed to teammates

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/12/21/aaron-rodgers-trashed-report-based-entirely-on-on-the-record-quotes-from-teammates/

Rodgers is caught in a lie

Watkins also mentions in the article how there are actually two offenses. The official one the practice, and then Rodgers where he just expects the guys to go wherever he thinks they should go

Someone linked a Kurt warner breakdown of a game awhile back. I watched it all. Watkins ran 3 HORRIBLY wrong routes in that game. On one, Rodgers rolled right and sammy from the left side ran an out instead of a drag. Where he should have been was WIDE open green. Rodgers ended up throwing it into the dirt. Another in the same game was 3rd and goal from the 3 when sammy ran an in with iso on the edge. Everyone knows that should have been a fade. Just basic stuff he was messing up. No excuse for that.

[Bretsky]

Im hella biased against media too. They’re always looking for some angle of controversy to write a story. But they reach to sensationalize. And whenever someone calls them out for being dishonest they cry that it’s their job and nobody should criticize them publicly.

It’s a shady, dishonest, crummy profession from what I see. Don’t trust them a lick. Glad 12 sets the record straight on the McCafee show.





You are kidding here, right ?

[Bretsky]

Rich Bisachia just came into his presser late and said he was late because Rodgers approached him to go over hand signals and Rich got 4 of them wrong, which drew displeasure from Rodgers.

That article was a joke. No attempt at all to find quotes explaining how the signals are necessary, just an attempt to make Rodgers look difficult to work with.




Have you read the entire article "and" listened to the interviews of the person who wrote it ?

I don't see how the article is that big of a deal but to me Rodgers reaction actually gives us more merit than I thought it had.

[Bretsky]

I don't see what the all the outcry over the article in the Athletic is about. When I read it, it really came across as a more detailed description of what the Packers do with their receivers, and in large part why receivers new to the system struggle. Rodgers is doing his thing, and it looks like Love is heavily involved in that hand signal system as well now. The rookie receivers are waking up to just what a shock this system is for them, but that is part of becoming a pro. Nothing earth shattering or offensive about saying that or even giving some details as to why it's difficult for them. The only one who really looks bad is Gute because he let the position just sit for several years and now there's no time for a batch of rookies to learn the nuances before being thrown into the fire. He needed to actually draft a good one about every other year to give them time to develop.

We all saw this problem coming. It's not on Rodgers. It's not on the rookie receivers, as long as they are putting in the work. It's all on Gute for failing to do something about the obvious situation the Packers were heading into.


:bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap:: bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap::bclap:

[Bretsky]

Someone linked a Kurt warner breakdown of a game awhile back. I watched it all. Watkins ran 3 HORRIBLY wrong routes in that game. On one, Rodgers rolled right and sammy from the left side ran an out instead of a drag. Where he should have been was WIDE open green. Rodgers ended up throwing it into the dirt. Another in the same game was 3rd and goal from the 3 when sammy ran an in with iso on the edge. Everyone knows that should have been a fade. Just basic stuff he was messing up. No excuse for that.



It was Jaire who shares that, and I agree with your points

[run pMc]

I don't see what the all the outcry over the article in the Athletic is about. When I read it, it really came across as a more detailed description of what the Packers do with their receivers, and in large part why receivers new to the system struggle. Rodgers is doing his thing, and it looks like Love is heavily involved in that hand signal system as well now. The rookie receivers are waking up to just what a shock this system is for them, but that is part of becoming a pro. Nothing earth shattering or offensive about saying that or even giving some details as to why it's difficult for them. The only one who really looks bad is Gute because he let the position just sit for several years and now there's no time for a batch of rookies to learn the nuances before being thrown into the fire. He needed to actually draft a good one about every other year to give them time to develop.

We all saw this problem coming. It's not on Rodgers. It's not on the rookie receivers, as long as they are putting in the work. It's all on Gute for failing to do something about the obvious situation the Packers were heading into.

Agree they should have been drafting WRs more often. I think most of us here have been yelling for years to draft them. DeAngelo Yancey and Malachi Dupre didn't exactly move the needle when they did. I think they should draft a WR in the mid rounds every other year at the bare minimum, just so they have a constant pipeline of young talent that doesn't need to be thrown into the fire. With how they are getting paid now you almost need to keep drafting and replacing them, plus (as with corners) you need more than one or two.

[run pMc]

Someone linked a Kurt warner breakdown of a game awhile back. I watched it all. Watkins ran 3 HORRIBLY wrong routes in that game. On one, Rodgers rolled right and sammy from the left side ran an out instead of a drag. Where he should have been was WIDE open green. Rodgers ended up throwing it into the dirt. Another in the same game was 3rd and goal from the 3 when sammy ran an in with iso on the edge. Everyone knows that should have been a fade. Just basic stuff he was messing up. No excuse for that.

Yeah there have been a few games where if you watch him, you wonder what he's doing on the field. Poor routes or no separation. When he was open Rodgers 'isn't seeing him' so you could point to Sammy not being trustworthy. Kind of strange for a vet receiver - and one with experience in a McVay offense - to look so lost at times.

[NewsBruin]

"Lumping all media as worthless pukes" is a generalization that is true much more often than not. The bastards do their damnedest to stir up trouble.

That's fair. You want something else, here's an option (https://www.packers.com/news/).

[George Cumby]

You are kidding here, right ?

McAfee is a victim of syphilitic brain lesions.