Packers Release Ty Summers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have released veteran inside linebacker Ty Summers, as first reported by ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky.
“It was a tough decision but wanted to give Ty an opportunity before the wave of cuts to find a home,” coach Matt LaFleur said before Sunday’s practice. “We appreciate everything that he’s done here. First and foremost, he’s a hard worker and a great teammate. It’s always tough when you have to let somebody like that go. There’s a lot of decisions that are going to be made over the next couple days.”
The transaction gets the Packers down to 78 players. They must be at 53 by 3 p.m. Tuesday. The plan, LaFleur said, is to make the other moves on Tuesday, following practices on Sunday and Monday.
The writing on the wall came early for Summers. Following the hiring of Rich Bisaccia and a new focus on special teams, Summers – a core player on special teams during his first three seasons – was never running with the No. 1 units.
Defensively, the Packers re-signed All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell and used a first-round pick on Quay Walker. Along with the growth of second-year player Isaiah McDuffie and two seasons of steady play by Krys Barnes, Summers was buried on the defensive depth chart, as well.
“My whole history, my whole life, has always been about competing,” he said last summer. “I’ve never had it easy. My dad played at Howard Payne University. I looked up to that and I wanted to be like him, and he always pushed me to get to this level. Whether it was dealing with injuries or dealing with guys that are elite next to me that I have to compete with, it always forced me to have to reach another level and improve my game. So, I feel like that was a big aspect leading into this situation here, it’s the same thing. Everyone’s great and we’re all out here competing for a job, but the biggest thing I’ve recognized in the whole struggle is that it’s not necessarily about me against you because we’re on the same team.”
Summers led the Packers with 12 tackles on special teams in 2020. He had only five last season, when Green Bay finished 32nd in Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings.
Summers was a seventh-round pick in 2019. He played in 46 games and started once on defense. For his career, he played 908 snaps on special teams. But his 4.51 time in the 40 and sturdy 241-pound frame never quite translated.
