Packers Morning Buzz: Three veteran players who could be sent packing

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

We'll start with Rob Reischel of Forbes Sports identifying three veteran players who could be gone from Green Bay come cut-down day Sept. 5.

Reischel writes:

Every summer, Packer Nation is buzzing after an unexpected player gets his walking papers. Here are three Packers that could fall into that category this year.

1. Rick Wagner, RT

Wagner struggled mightily with Detroit in 2019 and was released last spring. If Wagner doesn’t impress over the next two weeks, the Packers could move versatile Billy Turner to right tackle.

2. Jamaal Williams, RB

Make no mistake, Williams won’t be cut. He’s far too talented for that. But the fourth-year running back who’s entering the final year of his contract could certainly be traded.

Green Bay’s Aaron Jones tied for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns (16) and total touchdowns (19) last season. The Packers then used a second-round draft pick on A.J. Dillon, who’s turned heads early in camp.

That could leave Williams as the odd man out.

3. Oren Burks, ILB

The Packers have been waiting on Burks since they traded up in the third round for him in 2018.

Rookie fifth round draft pick Kamal Martin has impressed early. And if Martin continues to shine, the Packers might decide they’re tired of waiting on Burks.

You can read Reischel's entire story here:

The Packers were among several NFL teams affected Sunday by false-positive COVID-19 tests:

The full explanation came Monday:

They're back! Former Packers safety LeRoy Butler sits down with Tom Silverstein for their first "5 Questions" of the 2020 season:

Aaron Rodgers dazzled at the end of practice Sunday. Pete Dougherty describes the scene in his Packers Camp Insider:

Second-year tight end Jace Sternberger has faced one hurdle after another with the Packers:

Football during a pandemic? Jim Owczarski looks at how the Packers are making it work:

Rookie linebacker Kamal Martin has been a welcome surprise:

Za'Darius Smith fails to make the top 10 in the Pro Football Focus edge defender rankings. PFF's Sam Monson writes:

12. ZA’DARIUS SMITH, GREEN BAY PACKERS

If we knew for a fact we were going to get the 2019 version of Za’Darius Smith every year, he would be far higher on this list. Smith finished the regular season with an overall PFF grade above 90.0 and led the entire league with 93 total pressures, but that season represents a 20-grading-point jump over anything he had done in the past with the Ravens. You can certainly argue that his situation is better in Green Bay than it was in Baltimore, but such a huge outlier begs at least a small degree of caution that he will regress a little in 2020. Even so, Smith was one of the most versatile and destructive pass-rushers a season ago, so his ceiling is high.

You can read the top-25 rankings here:

And finally: Will the Packers get the last laugh with Ha Ha?

Contact Stu Courtney at (920) 431-8377 or scourtney@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stucourt