During the next couple of months the Packers will have to whittle down their roster from the 90 players they currently have to just 53.

The Packers lost a few players to free agency, but they also signed free agents, Julius Peppers and Letroy Guion, selected 9 players in May’s draft, have numerous players coming back from injury, and they also have a penchant for keeping a few undrafted free agents on the roster.  With this influx of new talent, the Packers will have some tough choices to make, and it will undoubtedly mean there will be a few veterans looking for new teams come August and September.

Here are 5 players that may be fighting for a roster spot this preseason.

Davon House – Since being drafted in the 4th round of the 2011 draft, House has flashed potential at times during the preseason, but has never been able to get that preseason success to transfer to the regular season. For his career, House has just 1 interception and 15 passes defended in 27 games. And he played so poorly against Detroit last December,  he was benched for much of the remainder of the season.

With the re-signing of Sam Shields, the return of a healthy Casey Hayward, the emergence of Micah Hyde, and the selection of Demetri Goodson in the draft, House may find that he is the odd man out in a crowded secondary.

Derek Sherrod – Lack of both availability and versatility could make Sherrod disposable this year.  In 3 years with the Packers, the former 1st round pick has been active for just 12 games, and has yet to make a start.

This offseason the Packers have made it known that Sherrod will be the backup left tackle behind David Bakhtiari, but  the Packers could decide they are more comfortable with moving right tackle Bryan Bulaga to the left side, and having Don Barclay take Bulaga’s right tackle spot, if something would happen to Bakhtiari.

Jerel Worthy – It might be a little early to give up on Worthy, who is entering his 3rd season with the Packers, but he is going to have to show that he is fully recovered from the knee injury that ended his rookie season and forced him to start last season on the PUP list.

Although Worthy was able to make it back to the active roster in November of last year, he was largely ineffective when he returned, playing in just 2 games and recording 1 tackle.

Ryan Taylor – Taylor has been a core special teams contributor in his 3 seasons with the Packers, however, he has contributed next to nothing on offense, catching just 8 passes and 1 touchdown in 45 games.

The Packers probably have 3 roster locks at tight end in Andrew Quarless, Brandon Bostick and Richard Rodgers, which would likely mean 1 roster spot between Taylor, Jake Stoneburner, and Colt Lyerla.  The Packers will need to decide if Taylor’s special teams prowess outweighs the offensive upside of both Stoneburner and Lyerla.

Matt Flynn – After re-signing with the Packers last year, and essentially saving their season, there didn’t appear to be much interest in Flynn’s services during free agency, which allowed the Packers to sign him to a 1 year deal valued at just over $1 million, and with only $75k in guaranteed money.

Flynn’s contract terms would make it easy to release him if he is outplayed by Scott Tolzien during the preseason. However, after the quarterback debacle of 2013, the Packers would have to be very confident in Tolzien’s ability to run their offense for them to release Flynn.

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Ian Hanley is a writer at PackersTalk.com. PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on twitter at @Ian_M_Hanley.

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