Packer Central

Packers Release Matt Orzech (With Asterisk)

One day after being a focal point of the game-winning field goal, the Green Bay Packers have released Matt Orzech … for now.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers long snapper Matt Orzech
Green Bay Packers long snapper Matt Orzech / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers released long snapper Matt Orzech on Monday, one day after his low snap on the game-winning field goal against the Houston Texans.

The transaction, however, has nothing to do with the snap and everything to do with some roster machinations.

Defensive tackle Jonathan Ford’s 21-day practice window is coming to an end, so the Packers either had to add him to the roster or place him on season-ending injured reserve.

So, the Packers released Orzech to make room for Ford, who opened the season on injured reserve with an ankle injury sustained in the final preseason game.

The Packers presumably will release Ford, re-sign Orzech and, assuming he gets through waivers, sign Ford to the practice squad.

This is not the first time Orzech has been released in procedural move.

Orzech was a focal point of the final play of Sunday’s game.

Just before Brandon McManus kicked a 45-yard field goal to win the game, the Texans called timeout. That snap was perfect.

On the snap that mattered, his snap was low but caught by Daniel Whelan.

“Way lower. Way, way lower,” Orzech said. “But Danny does a great job working with me and making me right when I’m not right. At the end of the day, that specialists battery is about making each other right, and he did a heck of a job. I owe him dinner for that one.”

With the ball placed correctly, Brandon McManus drilled a 45-yard field goal to win the game.

“You just love seeing a guy come out and make kicks,” Orzech. “That’s what we love, making kicks. It’s awesome to see him come out and do exactly what he did all week in practice.”

It was part of an eventful day for the Packers’ special teams, with the lowlights being two gaffes by the punt return unit.

First, Keisean Nixon failed to field a punt. The ball bounced off Corey Ballentine and was recovered by the Texans to set up a touchdown.

Later, Jayden Reed ran backward, fielded a punt at the goal line and was tackled at the 4.

“I haven’t talked to (Nixon) about it, so I don’t really know what happened, either,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday, “but you’ve got one of two options: You have to either catch the ball or you have to call everybody off and get everybody out of the way. So, obviously, that was a big mistake. 

“The other one, once you start back-peddling, I do think it’s a little harder when you’re not aligned on like the 10-yard line. I don’t know where he was aligned pre-snap. If he’s at the 20 and then you start going backwards, I think he just, obviously, lost track of where he was. Because that’s a no-brainer: You let that ball go when you get too far inside that 10-yard line.

“So, obviously, two big mistakes that we have got to get corrected.”

Orzech joined the Packers in free agency last offseason. The snapper for the Rams’ Super Bowl championship team in 2021, Orzech handled snapping duties for all 19 games last season.

During training camp this summer, he beat out undrafted rookie Peter Bowden.

“We’re excited about him being around Matt,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said during camp. “I think Matt’s really good. I thought he had a good year and he’s also improved. He’s gotten stronger. He’s played in a lot of big games. He’s won a Super Bowl. So, hopefully, he’ll be a guy that can set the example of what that’s supposed to look like, as well.”

Orzech spent about five years in Wisconsin as a kid. His path to the NFL started about a week before his first game as a tight end at Division II Azusa Pacific.

Ford was a seventh-round pick by the Packers in 2022. He has not played in a regular-season game.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.