Packer Central

Packers NFL Free Agency Tracker: Linebacker Returns

Here’s an updated look at which players the Green Bay Packers added, lost and re-signed during free agency. On Friday, a familiar face was brought back to replace Eric Wilson.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers linebacker Kristian Welch (54) runs through a drill during training camp.
Green Bay Packers linebacker Kristian Welch (54) runs through a drill during training camp. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Here is the latest on the Green Bay Packers in NFL free agency, with linebacker Kristian Welch re-signing with the team.

(All ages are as of Week 1.)

Free Agents Added

LB Kristian Welch, Ravens (27): Welch, a native of Iola, Wis., returns to the Packers, where he spent the 2023 season and just missed a roster spot in 2024.

In 14 games with Green Bay, Welch recorded six tackles on special teams. He had two interceptions in the preseason in 2024 but it wasn’t enough to make the roster. He landed in Denver, where he played in six games and started for the first time in his career. The Broncos released him in mid-October and he finished the season with the Ravens, the team for which he spent his first three seasons.

Special teams has been his calling card. In five NFL seasons, he’s played 97 snaps on defense – 53 came last season – and 1,386 on special teams. Essentially, he’ll fill the special-teams void created when Eric Wilson signed with the Vikings.

WR Mecole Hardman, Chiefs (27): More than a week after striking quickly on Day 1 of training camp, the Packers dove back into free agency with the signing of Hardman, a second-round pick in 2019 who was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro as a rookie.

Hardman’s career started strong on offense but his production has dwindled. In 12 games in 2024, he caught 12 passes for only 90 yards. He had more yards after the catch than receiving yards.

Hardman ran a 4.33 in the 40 at the 2019 Scouting Combine. He had the game-winning catch against the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.

Here’s the full story, with quotes from Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

CB Nate Hobbs, Raiders (26): With Keisean Nixon moving from the slot to cornerback, the Packers have a new slot with Hobbs. A fifth-round pick in 2021, Hobbs has three interceptions and 19 passes defensed in four seasons encompassing 51 games and 38 starts. In 11 games (seven starts) in 2024, he intercepted one pass with five passes defensed. With inside-outside experience, he could factor at both spots.

According to PFF, 108 cornerbacks played at least 232 coverage snaps (Jaire Alexander’s numbers). Hobbs ranked 74th in completion percentage, 78th in snaps per completion and 64th in passer rating (96.3). However, the coverage numbers at Sports Info Solutions told a completely different story with one of the lowest completion rates in the NFL. Remarkably, he was not penalized.

According to NFL Network, it’s a four-year deal worth $48 million, including $16 million guaranteed.

Here’s the story on Hobbs, who was the Raiders’ “star”

Here's our grade of the signing

Here's a look at what he means to the secondary

G Aaron Banks (28), 49ers: Banks started 43 games at left guard the last three seasons for the 49ers, including 13 times in 2024. He allowed just one sack. According to Pro Football Focus, 66 guards played at least 500 total snaps in 2024. Banks finished 36th out of 66 in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency, which measures sacks, hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. In three seasons as a starter, he’s given up just three sacks.

It’s a four-year, $77 million contract, according to NFL Network.

Here’s the story on the three-year starter and analysis of what he could mean to the line. Plus, here is our grade of the signing following a monster payday.

Free Agents Lost

SIGNING WITH CHIEFS: CB Robert Rochell: A fourth-round pick by the Rams in 2021 – he owns a Super Bowl ring – Rochell played in 20 games for the Packers the past two seasons, with 233 snaps on special teams and one snap on defense.

SIGNING WITH COLTS: CB Corey Ballentine: The Packers might not have made the playoffs in 2023 without Ballentine, who went from not playing a single snap on defense for a couple calendar years to starting six games and playing almost 500 snaps. The Packers re-signed him to a one-year deal in free agency in 2024. He barely played on defense but was a key cog on special teams.

SIGNING WITH VIKINGS: LB Eric Wilson: Wilson, who broke into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Vikings and had a superb season of 122 tackles, three interceptions, eight passes defensed and eight tackles for losses in 2020, has returned to Minnesota, according to NFL Network. It will be a key loss to the depth and special teams.

In 2023, the Packers signed Wilson off the Saints’ practice squad and became a hugely important role player. Wilson led the Packers with 11 tackles on special teams in 2023. Re-signed to a one-year contract in 2024, he played in 17 games (12 starts) and was seventh with 63 tackles on defense and third with nine tackles on special teams. He stuffed the stat sheet with two sacks, seven tackles for losses, one forced fumble, one interception and four passes defensed. Against Minnesota in Week 17, he played 95 snaps.

The run defense was 0.58 yards per snap better when Wilson was on the field, the biggest differential for any of Green Bay’s regular defenders.

The Packers re-signed linebacker Isaiah McDuffie in free agency. With Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper and McDuffie atop the depth chart, the decision to let Wilson rejoin the Vikings signals a much bigger role for Ty’Ron Hopper, last year’s third-round pick. Hopper played 18 snaps on defense and 215 on special teams as a rookie with a total of nine tackles.

SIGNING WITH JETS: C Josh Myers: A second-round pick in 2021, Myers started all 17 games in 2022 and 2023 and 16 games in 2024. It was a mixed bag. He’s as tough as nails, passionate about the game and the Packers, and knows what he’s doing. None of those things show up in the analytics, though. Myers consistently ranked toward the bottom of PFF’s grading. During an injury-plagued 2024 season, Myers ranked 30th out of 32 centers with 500-plus snaps. The center the Packers could have selected in 2021, Creed Humphrey, was the top-graded center and a first-team All-Pro for the Chiefs. Myers did cut his sack count from five to one.

A source said he will not be re-signed. And he was not, with Myers reuniting with his quarterback at Ohio State, Justin Fields.

SIGNED BY EAGLES: RB AJ Dillon: Dillon missed the end of the 2023 season due to a stinger and all of 2024 after suffering another stinger during training camp. He wants to play again and kept himself in tip-top shape.

“I obviously love this team and I just love everything about playing the game of football,” he said at the end of the season. “But that’s football, that’s life, and I think you can learn something from everything. You can learn something from a loss. You can learn something from spending the year on IR. And, with that, what I learned is just cherishing those opportunities, not taking the game for granted and how much a blessing it is to even go out there and talk about going into Year 6.”

SIGNED BY RAIDERS: CB Eric Stokes: A first-round pick in 2021, Stokes looked like a potential star during a superb rookie season in which he finished fourth in the NFL with a 51.0 percent completion rate allowed. However, his rocky start to the 2022 season went from bad to worse when he suffered a season-ending foot injury at Detroit. For players who rely on speed, a Lisfranc injury can be devastating. And it was to Stokes. After a series of hamstring injuries cost him most of the 2023 season, Stokes in 2024 played almost every snap in three of the first four games but just five in Week 18 and one in the playoffs. His last pass breakup? Christmas 2021 against the Browns.

SIGNED BY BENGALS: DT TJ Slaton: A fifth-round pick in 2021, Slaton started 17 games each of the last two seasons. He was a fulcrum of one of the best run defenses in the NFL in 2024. The run defense was 0.50 yards better when he was on the field during the regular season and 0.75 better in the playoff loss to Saquon Barkley and the Eagles. He made 30 tackles, with the average limiting the gain to 1.9 yards.

According to NFL Network, he signed a two-year deal worth $15.1 million.

The Packers no doubt will be in the market for a replacement, given fourth-round pick Colby Wooden's underwhelming play. There are plenty of veteran defensive tackles available and the draft class is superb.

Re-Signed

K Brandon McManus: After 24 games of the shakiest kicking in the NFL in 2023 and the start of 2024, the Packers signed McManus before the Week 7 game against the Texans. McManus kicked the winning field goal in that game and a week later at Jacksonville. He wound up 20-of-21 on field goals, his 95.2 percent accuracy ranking second in the NFL and second in Packers history. Contract: Three years, $15.3 million.

LB Isaiah McDuffie: A sixth-round pick in 2021, McDuffie started all 17 games in 2024 and was second on the team with 94 tackles. He added three tackles for losses, one forced fumble and three passes defensed. He had one-half sack during the regular season and another one-half sack in the playoffs. He’ll join Quay Walker and 2024 draft picks Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper on the 2025 depth chart. Contract: Two years, $8.0 million.

Unsigned

OT Andre Dillard: The Packers always have a veteran tackle on the roster. In 2024, it was Dillard, the 22nd pick of the 2019 draft who started 19 games with the Eagles (2019 through 2022) and Titans (2023). Dillard had a decent training camp and, since nobody else was better, he made the team. Because the starting tackles, Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom, started every game, Dillard barely played – 13 snaps at the end of a couple blowout wins. He was inactive for the playoff game.

TE Tyler Davis: Davis played in all 17 games with one start for the Packers in 2022 but missed 2023 with a torn ACL and 2024 with a shoulder injury.

“I worked really hard to get back (in 2023) and I’ve worked really hard to get back this year, too,” Davis said at the end of the season. “It’s not like it’s a foreign process to me. I’m putting everything into this rehab, like I did the last one. Made the best of the worst. Everything’s moving in the right direction.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.