The Green Bay Packers welcomed the New England Patriots on Saturday night after a promising 36-19 victory against the Bengals in Cincinnati. Together, the teams had practiced on Wednesday and Thursday.
At Lambeau Field, early in the fourth quarter, New England cornerback Isaiah Bolden—the team’s seventh-round selection in April—went down following a collision with colleague Calvin Munson. They would carry Bolden off the pitch on a stretcher. With 10:29 remaining in the game, the Patriots would win 21–17.
The announcement came from referee John Hussey, via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky and Mike Reiss. “We have decided to halt play for the evening, with the consent of both head coaches and team leadership. Officially, the game is ended.
OLB Kingsley Enagbare of the Packers is the third roster spot.
The team has historically depended more on draft selections than on free agency. The team’s run defence came in 26th in the league in 2022, which was a bit of a letdown for Joe Barry’s defence.
But the Packers also wanted to support a pass rush that managed just 34 sacks in 17 games. General manager Brian Gutekunst selected Kingsley Enagbare, a product of the University of South Carolina, with a fifth-round pick.
The former Gamecock tackled Patriots rookie tackle Andrew Stueber in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game and hit quarterback Mac Jones. With the ball out of play and Enagbare recovering, the Packers would go ahead 14–7 thanks to a touchdown.
In addition to the previously noted forced fumble and fumble recovery, he completed the game with both of Green Bay’s sacks while playing 14 defensive plays.
Next: Jordan Love’s additional weapon
The Green Bay Packers are here to stay, much to the dismay of the rest of the NFC North. At the very least, there was some doubt going into the 2023 campaign and the Aaron Rodgers era that things could slow down a little. After making it to the playoffs and winning in his first season as a starter, Jordan Love seemed to be setting himself up to become the next great quarterback for the Packers.
The fact that the Packers have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL adds to the team’s optimism for the future. However, given how quickly these young players developed, Brian Gutekunst and the front management might decide to take more aggressive steps to strengthen the squad.
But in order to do that, the Packers will need to make some space available under the salary cap. For the 2024 season, Over the Cap’s current forecast is just under $3 million over the cap amount. It is certain that certain agreements will undergo restructuring; nevertheless, this may also include making some difficult decisions in order to free up additional capital.
More specifically, given the savings, circumstances, and roster the Packers have in place heading into the 2024 season, these four players may end up being cap casualties.
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