The silence on the situation of Mark Tauscher has finally ended. ESPN Wisconsin's Jason Wilde is reporting via twitter that the offensive tackle is being released by the Green Bay Packers. There has been a lot of speculation about whether Mark Tauscher would retire or agree to restructure his contract, but his release indicates that he probably didn't want to do either of those things.
Tauscher was not expected to start for the Packers next year, even with the release of Daryn Colledge prompting some rumors of a positional move for Bryan Bulaga. Tauscher started the first four games of the 2010 season before he suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on injured reserve.
There's no question that Tauscher was a cap casualty. Ted Thompson was never going to want to pay upwards of $4+ million to an injury-prone 34-year-old who was not expected to crack the starting lineup. Tauscher is a Packers legend, but at this point, it was time to move on.
If you haven't been keeping score at home, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Tom Silverstein claims that $17.26 million in cap room will be saved from letting go of the five veteran Packers who have been or will be released.