AP

The Green Bay Packers are saying farewell to Anthony Hargrove.

Hargrove, the defensive lineman who previously played for the Saints and is suspended for the first eight games of this season for his role in the Saints’ bounty program, has been released by the Packers, according to Howard Balzer.

The NFL allows players to serve suspensions while they’re not on a team, so Hargrove can sit out the first eight weeks of the season, then sign with some team and start playing once the season is halfway over. It seems unlikely that any team would sign Hargrove until he has served the suspension.

Hargrove has insisted that he wasn’t involved in any type of “pay to injure” scheme with the Saints, and after Hargrove vehemently denied that he said “give me my money” after Brett Favre was injured in the 2010 NFC Championship Game, the NFL backed off that claim. But the NFL didn’t back off his suspension, and Hargrove will now serve it as a free agent, instead of as a member of the Packers.

UPDATE, 6:27 P.M. ET: The Packers have announced that they cut Hargrove, as well as WR Andrew Brewer, S Micah Pellerin, T Herb Taylor and CB Dion Turner.