Packers Roster Cuts: Green Bay finalizes the initial 53-man roster for 2019

After a long Friday and Saturday, the Green Bay Packers have finally whittled their roster down to 53 players from the 90 they had during Thursday night’s preseason finale. The team had a few surprises on the initial 53-man roster, not least of which is the position breakdown on defense.

General manager Brian Gutekunst kept 25 players on offense this year and 25 on defense, an even split. Often in recent years, the team has tended to keep more defensive players than offensive contributors. However, Matt LaFleur’s arrival as head coach may play into that breakdown a bit.

Here is the full breakdown of players who are on the 53-man roster as of 4:00 PM Eastern Time on Saturday.

OFFENSE (25)

Quarterbacks (2)

Aaron Rodgers, Tim Boyle

Running Backs (4)

Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, Dexter Williams, Danny Vitale (FB)

Wide Receivers (6)

Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Geronimo Allison, Jake Kumerow, Trevor Davis, Darrius Shepherd

Tight Ends (4)

Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan, Jace Sternberger

Offensive Linemen (9)

David Bakhtiari, Lane Taylor, Corey Linsley, Billy Turner, Bryan Bulaga, Elgton Jenkins, Alex Light, Lucas Patrick, Cole Madison

DEFENSE (25)

Defensive Linemen (6)

Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry, Montravius Adams, Kingsley Keke, Tyler Lancaster, Fadol Brown

Outside Linebackers (4)

Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Rashan Gary, Kyler Fackrell

Inside Linebackers (4)

Blake Martinez, Oren Burks, Ty Summers, James Crawford

Safeties (4)

Adrian Amos, Darnell Savage, Raven Greene, Will Redmond

Cornerbacks (7)

Jaire Alexander, Kevin King, Tramon Williams, Tony Brown, Josh Jackson, Ka’Dar Hollman, Chandon Sullivan

SPECIALISTS (3)

Mason Crosby, JK Scott, Hunter Bradley

There are a few notable surprises here. First among them is that Equanimeous St. Brown was placed on injured reserve on Saturday. That decision ensures that he will not be eligible to return in 2020, a surprising twist for a player who was reportedly going to be healthy by midseason.

Another disappointing cut is inside linebacker Curtis Bolton, who was waived with an injured designation. If he does not get claimed on waivers, the Packers will likely try to bring him back later on this season when he is healthy.

Here are the players whom the Packers removed from the roster on Saturday:

• QBs: DeShone Kizer, Manny Wilkins
• RBs: Tommy Bohanon, Tra Carson, Keith Ford, Malcolm Johnson (waived/injured)
• WRs: Allen Lazard, J’Mon Moore, Teo Redding, Equanimeous St. Brown (placed on injured reserve), Malik Taylor
• TEs: Evan Baylis, Pharoah McKever
• OL: Dejon Allen, Anthony Coyle, Gerhard de Beer, Justin McCray (traded to Browns), Adam Pankey, Yosh Nijman
• DL: James Looney, Olive Sagapolu, Deon Simon
• OLB: Reggie Gilbert (trade to Titans finalized), James Folston, Markus Jones, Randy Ramsey, Greg Roberts (on PUP)
• ILB: Curtis Bolton (waived/injured), Brady Sheldon
• DB: Ibraheim Campbell (on PUP), Kabion Ento, Natrell Jamerson, Jocquez Kalili, Tray Matthews, Jackson Porter, Nydair Rouse
• ST: Sam Ficken