The Green Bay Packers beat writers all dropped the bombshell that we didn't think was going to come until after the NFL Draft. Multiple writers and outlets are reporting that the team has released safety Nick Collins, who has been attempting to make a comeback from neck surgery. I'm going to give the nod to Jason Wilde, because he's the only one I saw name his source.

The #Packers have released Nick Collins, according to agent Alan Herman.

— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) April 25, 2012

Brian Carriveau of Cheesehead TV and Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel provide some more useful information. Veau with the numbers, Silverstein with the reasoning.

The Packers will gain more salary cap space through the Collins release. Collins was scheduled to make $3.45 million in base salary in 2012.

— Brian Carriveau (@BrianCarriveau) April 25, 2012

S Nick Collins won't play for the #Packers because they are not comfortable with him playing again after neck surgery.

— tom silverstein (@TomSilverstein) April 25, 2012

So, that's it. Wow. Nick Collins is not going to play for the Packers again. We suspected this was going to be the case a long time ago, but it certainly didn't seem real to me until this news came out today. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty heartbroken even though I've known it was inevitable for a long time.

Related: Ted Thompson's quotes on Nick Collins' release