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The Green Bay Packers have elected to make an unconventional move on a Friday afternoon in April today. Green Bay's personnel department has chosen to cut a player who started ten games for the team last season at inside linebacker: Nate Palmer. Here is the report from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Silverstein:
#Packers have also informed ILB Nate Palmer that he has been released. Palmer played 539 snaps last year but lost job to rookie Jake Ryan.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) April 8, 2016
Palmer has struggled to find an effective role for the Packers' defense since being drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played in eight games as an outside linebacker in his rookie year, including two starts due to injuries rampant at the position. In 2014, he was moved to inside linebacker but missed the entire season due to injury. Then in 2015, he took over a starting job after Sam Barrington was lost for the season to an injury of his own, but was largely ineffective and conceded the position to rookie Jake Ryan late in the season.
Palmer has recorded 81 total tackles in his career (52 solo), plus one sack and two passes defended in 24 career NFL games. He had one year remaining on his four-year rookie contract, which had a prorated signing bonus value of $24,724. That amount of money will hit the Packers' salary cap as dead money in 2016.