Two players on the Buffalo Bills played a small role in the ongoing saga between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
At his incredible tell-all press conference on Wednesday, Rodgers listed numerous personnel decisions he’s taken issue with, including the Packers’ failure to re-sign safety Micah Hyde and decision to cut wide receiver Jake Kumerow during last year’s training camp.
Rodgers said Hyde was one of several veterans whom the Packers have disrespected, along with Charles Woodson, Jordy Nelson, Julius Peppers, Clay Matthews, Randall Cobb and several others.
For background: The Packers declined to retain Hyde following the 2016 season. He signed a free agent deal with Buffalo, where he’s emerged as one of the league’s best safeties. Hyde made the Pro Bowl in 2017.
He signed a two-year extension with the Bills this past March.
At Bills training camp on Thursday, Hyde said he was flattered by Rodger’s praise.
“If someone like that says that about me, I must be doing something right,” Hyde told reporters.
Hyde revealed Rodgers also reached out to him at the time.
Kumerow’s inclusion on the list of Rodgers' gripes is surprising, considering he only caught 20 passes in his Packers career. But Rodgers says he wanted Kumerow to have a bigger role in the offense, and was incensed when the Packers released him last summer.
The Bills signed him to a reserve/futures contract following the 2020 season.
“Maybe run it by me and I can change your mind,” Rodgers said, before calling Kumerow the second-best receiver on the team in training camp.
This is the second time Rodgers has publicly praised Kumerow. He called him “fantastic” in an interview last year with SiriusXM NFL Radio.
One day later, Kumerow was cut.
It’s quite a different scene in Buffalo. Hyde punctuated his post-practice remarks with a request to get Brandon Beane flowers for how he improved the defensive line this offseason.
Suffice to say, Rodgers probably isn’t giving anybody with the Packers flowers any time soon.
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