Wyatt Davis and Matt Orzech
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The Packers handed their long-snapper Matt Orzech a three-year contract extension on Tuesday
The Green Bay Packers spent the majority of Tuesday trimming their roster down to 53 players. It’s a tedious process that can be quite tough, but it’s the final obstacle teams must overcome in order to make it to the start of the regular season, and the Packers now have their 53-man roster set for the start of the new campaign.
Amidst all the news of the tough releases throughout the day, Green Bay sprinkled in a bit of good news along the way. That would involve the team’s long snapper, Matt Orzech, as he ended up getting handed a new contract from the Packers on a day when many players were in the process of losing their jobs.
Packers Hand Long Snapper Matt Orzech a New Contract
When thinking about important positions in the game of football, long snapper isn’t usually the first position on the list. However, without a solid long snapper, field goal and punting units cannot succeed, making it a spot that needs attention, even if the player filling the role is only taking the field for a couple of plays every game.
For the Packers, that unsung player is Orzech, who initially broke into the league with the Baltimore Ravens after he went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft. Orzech ended up latching on with the Jacksonville Jaguars after the Ravens moved on from him, playing in all 16 games for them as a rookie. After getting released ahead of the 2020 season, Orzech spent the season on the practice squads of the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans.
Orzech would find his way to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, where he helped the team take down the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI. In 2023, Orzech signed with the Packers in free agency, and he’s been with the team since then. He won’t be going anywhere anytime soon either, as he signed a three-year, $4.8 million contract extension with Green Bay ahead of the start of the new season.
“Packers long snapper Matt Orzech reached agreement today on a three-year, $4.8 million contract extension, per his agent Paul Sheehy,” Adam Schefter of ESPN reported. “The deal makes Orzech the league’s third highest-paid long snapper.”
Packers Hoping to Take Step Forward in 2025
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Orzech’s extension isn’t going to move the needle for the Packers, but it shows that the front office is intent on crossing their i’s and dotting their t’s before Week 1 rolls around. With Orzech extended, this is another issue that the team won’t have to worry about, meaning they can focus more on going out and achieving their primary goal of winning as many football games as possible.
After finding their way to the postseason two years in a row, Green Bay will be aiming to go on a deeper run in 2025. They certainly have the talent in place needed to accomplish that, but they have quite a bit of competition in the NFC. At their best, though, the Packers can go toe-to-toe with any team, and if they can put all the pieces of the puzzle together early on, they could be a very dangerous team this upcoming season.