Packers rookie tight end Davis Koppenhaver retires from football

On the day before we at Acme Packing Company complete our breakdown of the Green Bay Packers’ 90-man roster, the team is back down to 89 players. Green Bay has seen one of its undrafted rookies decide to step away from football, as first reported by Michael Cohen of The Athletic.

The player is Davis Koppenhaver, a tight end from Duke University. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Koppenhaver was a member of the Packers’ initial undrafted free agent class this year, and he received a $7,000 signing bonus to come play in Green Bay. The Packers have announced that he is now on the reserve/retired list, which frees up a spot on the roster.

Koppenhaver has reportedly found other opportunities outside of football that interest him more than continuing his NFL career. As a player who already has a graduate degree in management studies from Duke, he likely had job offers outside of the sport after finishing up his collegiate career.

Ranked as the 86th player on the Packers’ 90-man roster in APC’s recent ranking, Koppenhaver had a tall order to make the team out of training camp this fall. The Packers have two established veteran tight ends in Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis, along with third-round draft pick Jace Sternberger, second-year pro Robert Tonyan, and first-year player Evan Baylis. With three of those players guaranteed roster spots, it would have been a difficult task to break into the rotation.

APC wishes good luck to Koppenhaver in his post-football endeavors.