As tends to be the case with such situations, there was more beneath the surface that led to the Green Bay Packers’ surprising release of Josh Sitton.
According to Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Packers cut Sitton in part because they feared him becoming a problem in the locker room and negatively impacting younger plays.
Sitton was said to be loud and opinionated in the locker room, going as far as to criticize personnel moves, decisions made by the coaches, and even some of his teammates. He had a penchant for arguing as well. The Packers were willing to put up with this sort of behavior when Sitton was performing at an elite level, but at age 30, chronic back problems and sagging play made the Packers see him as no longer worth it. The last straw was reportedly when the team’s coaches took notice of younger linemen picking up some of Sitton’s bad habits, and that helped prompt the team to pull the plug.
Sitton ended up cut in a move that surprised outsiders and landed with the Chicago Bears. It sounds, though, like this didn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knew the whole story.
