GREEN BAY, Wis. – With one week until the Green Bay Packers begin their offseason program, veteran fullback John Kuhn remains unsigned.
If it doesn’t happen before next Monday, when players report for the start of voluntary workouts, it could be the end for one of the longest-tenured members of the Packers.
Kuhn’s agent, Kevin Gold, said Monday that he has not been told definitively whether the Packers plan to re-sign Kuhn for a 10th season or move on with second-year pro Aaron Ripkowski, who played only sparingly on offense last season.
Last year, Kuhn re-signed on April 13, just days before the Packers returned for spring workouts.
Kuhn made his third career Pro Bowl appearance last season, playing in the game as an alternate, despite appearing on only 28 percent of the offensive snaps last season. However, Kuhn’s playing time increased late in the season when coach Mike McCarthy made a concerted effort to run the ball. Over the last six games (including playoffs), Kuhn played 222 of his 362 total snaps on offense. He has played in 139 games since he came to Green Bay in 2007, the most by a Packers' offensive player in that span.
As a rookie last season, Ripkowski played just 18 snaps on offense despite being active for all but one game. Ripkowski took over a part of Kuhn’s special-teams duties and ranked fourth on the team in special-teams snaps.
Among the other Packers veterans who remain unsigned are outside linebacker Mike Neal, tight end Andrew Quarless, offensive lineman Don Barclay, safety Sean Richardson and long-snapper Brett Goode
Goode, who also is represented by Gold, continues to progress well in the recovery from his late-season torn ACL. However, the Packers have Goode's replacement, Rick Lovato, under contract for this season.
“We’ll see how it goes with Brett,” McCarthy said last month at the NFL annual meetings. “Hopefully, we get him back.”
