Monday Cheese Curds: Summer break has arrived for the Packers

Players around the league now have a month or more off before the start of training camp.

With the Green Bay Packers holding their final OTAs last week, the team is now officially on summer break before the start of training camp. Rookies will report back to Lambeau Field in just over a month — July 22nd, to be exact — while the first practice will take place five days later.

That gives players about five weeks to spend time with family and friends before beginning the grind of the NFL season. The slog kicks off in late July, lasting six months for most players around the league and a bit longer for the more fortunate ones. Between now and then, we at Acme Packing Company will be preparing for a long season ahead as well. Look for our annual series on the Top Plays of the previous season and a roster preview and 53-man prediction in the coming weeks as we gear up for training camp.

Unfortunately, one fan favorite player will not be joining the team when the rest of the players return from camp. We lead off today’s curds with his comments about being released late last week.

Kurt Benkert explains surprise release from Packers | Packers Wire
Benkert, a fan favorite especially among those who followed him online, was released on Friday, but he harbors no ill will towards the Packers. In fact, he said he has “mad respect” for Brian Gutekunst for the timing of his release, which will allow him to try to catch on elsewhere before training camps begin.

Three Packers with the most at stake in 2022 | Packer Report
Two of these three — Adrian Amos and Allen Lazard — are set to be free agents. The third, Amari Rodgers, needs to do something (anything!) to show he deserves to be on an NFL roster.

Highest-paid NFL players – Tracking most money guaranteed, per year at every position | ESPN
Aaron Rodgers, David Bakhtiari, and Jaire Alexander all lead their respective positions. Hopefully all three will play a full season in 2022.

Saints coach Dennis Allen on Taysom Hill: ‘He’s a multiple-position player’ | NFL.com
New coach, same rhetoric.

California court ruling that bees are fish is bad for logic but good for humans | NBC News
Helping bee conservation is absolutely a good thing! But couldn’t the court have supported that without breaking everyone’s brains?