The Green Bay Packers made several roster moves to reduce their roster to the NFL-mandated limit of 75 active players. The transactions were announced Tuesday by Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations.
First, the team claimed kicker E.J. Cochrane off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles. A 5-foot-11, 204-pound rookie from Montana State, Cochrane originally signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Falcons in February. He had signed with Philadelphia in April and connected on one of his two field-goal attempts, as well as his only PAT try, in 2006 pre-season action.
Released Tuesday were fullback A.J. Cooper, long snapper Thomas Gafford, wide receiver Chad Lucas, defensive end Montez Murphy, defensive tackle Jerome Nichols, wide receiver Calvin Russell, cornerback Jerron Wishom and quarterback Brian Wrobel.
In addition, the Packers placed linebacker Kurt Campbell and safety Marviel Underwood on injured reserve.
More - http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2006/08/29/1/
In a brief press conference clip, GM Ted Thompson said he picked up kicker E.J. Cochrane because Cochrane was someone he'd been keeping an eye on and had an excellent camp with the Eagles. Thompson said, "We now have a few days to see what's what." Whether he and Coach McCarthy would unseat nominal "for now" kicker Dave Rayner with Cochrane will be an interesting call at this stage of camp. Rayner's kickoffs have been consistently deep and he has been steady when called on for field goals and PATs. One of those pick ups that makes fans wonder...
