Packers release veteran corner Shields
The Green Bay Packers released longtime cornerback Sam Shields on Wednesday.
Shields, a member of the team since 2010, had a trying 2016 season as he appeared in the first game of the year but was sidelined the rest of the season with concussion-related issues.
Shields has suffered five concussions in his career and had yet to clear the team's concussion protocol even by mid-January.
Without him in the lineup, the Packers were forced to scramble to fill his spot in the secondary. While the unit struggled for much of the season, Green Bay did manage to plug the leak enough to reach the NFC title game. The team's weaknesses, however, were exposed in that game by the top offense in the league.
The Packers cleared $8.5 million in cap space by releasing Shields.
He will turn 30 years old during the 2017 season.