People seem to rationalize that Harrell is already a sunk cost, so they might as well give him another chance. While to a certain extent that is true (they have already sunk over $14 million into him), the fact is that if the Packers cut him before a certain date, they can save themselves a decent chunk of change -- money that could be put toward retaining a player more likely to contribute substantively on the field. Lest we forget, the salary cap is
declining this year; money is going to be extremely tight. The only reason why it makes any sense at all to bring him into training camp is that there are likely going to be more training-camp slots due to the abbreviated offseason. In any other season, he would simply be taking up room that could be used to evaluate a player who had a real chance of making a difference. Even so, by bringing him into camp, the Packers have to pay him his roster bonus, which reduces the cash available to sign other players.
Who cares about potential anyway? I am a far bigger fan of the no-names like Zombo who had an actual effect on the course of the season than any big name who gets signed but can't get it done. I would far rather have an entire team of workmanlike Zombos than glamorous first-rounders who warm the bench.
Then again, all I care about is winning. Their little sob stories don't interest me in the least. As soon as they cease to contribute to the end goal of winning, I want them off my team. We have welfare rolls for people down on their luck; we don't need to pay them hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.