Is there an echo in here?
Yet another notable NFL transaction was came to pass on Monday morning, when it was widely reported that the Packers had released star linebacker Za'Darius Smith.
Several NFL insiders were all over the news -- right down to the same exact phrasing in their social media posts reporting the "scoop."
"Smith had the option to stay at this year’s owed cash amount, but both sides ultimately agreed it was best to move on," said tweets from all of ESPN's Adam Schefter, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, and ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.
While it's not uncommon for reporters competing for the same stories to have similarly phrased reports, this one was a little bit on the nose, suggesting they'd gotten it from the same source and not bothered to put it in their own words.
Whether it was from the Packers or Smith's camp, someone feeding the story to the media thought it was important to include the framing that Smith "had the option" but "both sides" decided to part ways.
Smith, a two-time Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro in 2020, is widely considered an elite pass-rusher when healthy, but he was limited to just one game last season due to a back injury.
He's likely to be a coveted commodity in free agency, and, if nothing else, his release is a fascinating case study in the perils of copy-and-paste.
The bizarre episode prompted some much-deserved roasting from the peanut gallery on Twitter:
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