We expected Josh Boyd to be a rotational player and provide depth for the Green Bay Packers defensive line in 2016.
Not going to happen.
The Packers released Boyd on Monday.
Boyd missed most of 2015 because of a broken ankle, but the 2013 fifth-round pick started four games in 2014. He played in 15 games that season and registered 21 tackles.
We wouldn’t say the move is curious because Boyd had all kinds of untapped potential. We would considering Mike Pennel is suspended for the first four games of the season and Boyd has started games before, though.
It seems like that’s the kind of insurance you’d want to have around, at least until you know what you have in training camp.
With the release of Boyd, the Packers defensive line group looks like this at the top: Mike Daniels, Letroy Guion, Kenny Clark, Mike Pennel, Dean Lowry and Christian Ringo. There are also plenty of undrafted guys, but we’ll ignore them for the purposes of this discussion, which is one about depth.
Of the six we mentioned, two are rookies, one is suspended and one of them — Ringo — couldn’t make the roster last year after being drafted.
So I guess let’s just hope these two rookies are really good and no one gets injured.