Packers making change at long snapper, swapping Hunter Bradley for Steve Wirtel

The Green Bay Packers are making a mid-season swap at long snapper.

According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, the Packers are releasing Hunter Bradley and replacing him with Steven Wirtel, who is currently on the team’s practice squad.

Bradley was a 2018 seventh-round pick of the Packers. This season was his fourth as the team’s long snapper, but inconsistency has defined his tenure.

The Packers signed Wirtel to the practice squad on Sept. 2. After seeing the battle play out between Bradley and Wirtel for two months, the Packers decided to make the change.

Wirtel spent time with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted rookie out of Iowa State in 2020. He was with the Los Angeles Rams this past offseason, so he’ll have familiarity with Packers punter Corey Bojorquez.

Wirtel was the snapper at Iowa State for all four years, appearing in 51 games between 2016 and 2019. He was a finalist as a senior for the Patrick Mannelly Award, given to the nation’s best snapper, and was also invited to the 2019 Senior Bowl.

Bradley played in 56 games for the Packers. He was the 239th overall pick in the 2018 draft.

General manager Brian Gutekunst has parted ways with both specialist draft picks from the 2018 class, with Bradley joining punter JK Scott, a fifth-round pick.

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