What we still don't know about the Packers heading into 2022 season

The Packers have released their initial 53-man roster, but the team still has plenty of questions to answer as Week 1 nears.

Final cuts, one of the grimmest days in the NFL, came and went Tuesday. And like the 31 other teams, the Green Bay Packers trimmed their roster down to 53 players before the 3 p.m. CT deadline. The exact composition of each franchise will continue to change throughout the season, but the Packers have now effectively declared which players they most valued when faced with a zero-sum decision.

But while Green Bay now has an official 53-man roster, several questions still linger as Week 1 approaches.

Who can the Packers stash on the practice squad?

All 32 teams feel as though they let go of promising players they'd prefer to keep during final cuts. However, for a Super Bowl contender like the Packers, that argument has some merit. While the media and fans tend to overstate the odds of losing someone to waiver claims, Green Bay did risk a few young talents that have a realistic shot at landing elsewhere.

Reasonable minds can disagree about which of the Packers' waived players have the highest chance of garnering a waiver claim, but most lists will include Tyler Goodson, Caleb Jones, Patrick Taylor, and Juwann Winfree in some order. An impressive training camp and preseason helped Goodson close the gap between him and Taylor, but the team ultimately opted not to keep three running backs. Jones, a mammoth offensive tackle just scratching the surface of his potential, lost out in a numbers game at one of the deeper positions on the roster. Winfree saw extensive work with the offensive starters and earned the praise of Aaron Rodgers though saw seventh-round wideout Samori Toure slip ahead in recent weeks.

Ostensibly, the Packers will prioritize stashing Goodson, Taylor, or both given the roster features only two true running backs at present. That figure doesn't fully capture the reality, however, as wideout Amari Rodgers can serve as the de facto third back and Kylin Hill becomes eligible to come off the reserve/physically unable to perform list after four games. Goodson's explosiveness and receiving skills will garner looks from other teams and Taylor's power, pass-protection skills, and utility on special teams could likewise capture the attention of general managers, but it seems unlikely both will end up claimed.

League sources tell The Leap that Green Bay will offer Goodson a spot on the practice squad should he clear waivers. Keeping both remains on the table as well.

Will any players on the initial 53-man roster move to IR?