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The Green Bay Packers got an unusually early start on roster cuts today, announcing the first five players to be waived. All NFL teams must reduce their rosters from the 90-man maximum to 75 by 3:00 PM Central time on Tuesday.
The Packers, who sat at 88 players on Monday, are now down to 83 as they announced that the following five players have been released:
OT Vince Kowalski
OT Fabbians Ebbele
ILB Tavarus Dantzler
ILB Josh Francis
DT Lavon Hooks
All five players struggled to get their NFL careers off the ground in training camp. Ebbele, Dantzler, and Hooks are among the players signed by the Packers immediately following the 2015 NFL Draft, while Francis was a street free agent signing in the early spring and Kowalski was added closer to the start of training camp.
The Packers will still need to trim down the roster by eight players before Tuesday's 3:00 deadline. We believe that one of those spots will likely be opened up by the Packers placing Jordy Nelson on Injured Reserve, though that remains only speculation at this time.