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M.J. Devonshire Joins Packers And Receiver Who Delivered Career Lowlight

The Green Bay Packers made yet another move at cornerback by claiming 2024 seventh-round pick M.J. Devonshire off waivers.
Bill Huber|
Cornerback M.J. Devonshire makes a catch at Carolina Panthers minicamp in 2025.
Cornerback M.J. Devonshire makes a catch at Carolina Panthers minicamp in 2025. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

In the fourth quarter of the 2021 Peach Bowl, Michigan State beat Pittsburgh 31-21. The Spartans’ game-winning touchdown was delivered late in the fourth quarter by Jayden Reed, who made a leaping, 22-yard touchdown catch over M.J. Devonshire.

On Tuesday, they were reunited. One day after Devonshire was released by the Buffalo Bills, the Green Bay Packers claimed him off waivers, the latest move in the makeover at cornerback.

“I wanted to make sure I never let that happen again,” Devonshire told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the 2023 ACC Kickoff before his senior season. “I looked at a picture of that guy ‘Mossing’ me for a year. My friends would always ask me why that was my lock screen. It was motivation.”

Devonshire’s motivation turned into production. As a fifth-year senior at Pitt in 2023, he intercepted four passes. Following two nondescript seasons at Kentucky, Devonshire in three seasons with the Panthers recorded eight interceptions, three pick-sixes and a punt-return touchdown, helping him become a seventh-round pick by the Raiders in 2024.

Michigan State Spartans receiver Jayden Reed (1) catches a touchdown pass over Pittsburgh defensive back M.J. Devonshire.
Michigan State Spartans receiver Jayden Reed (1) catches a touchdown pass over Pittsburgh defensive back M.J. Devonshire. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

“My college career really started off as a humbling experience,” Devonshire said. “I arrived at Kentucky with the mentality a lot of guys have coming out of high school: I thought I was going to be there for three years and then I’d be in the NFL. I wanted to be an All-American. It didn’t go that way.”

M.J. Devonshire on Fifth Team

Devonshire’s NFL career hasn’t gone the way he wanted, either. He spent his rookie season on the Raiders’ practice squad without getting in a game and was waived during Day 2 of the 2025 draft. He spent the 2025 offseason with the Panthers, about two weeks of training camp with the Ravens and the end of the regular season on the Bills’ practice squad.

Devonshire had a promising preseason for the Ravens. In two games, he allowed zero completions and was targeted only once, according to Pro Football Focus. As a rookie for the Raiders, he gave up six completions out of seven targets for 131 yards and one touchdown.

Almost all of his preseason action the last two years came as a perimeter cornerback, even though he’s only 5-foot-10 3/4. He’s got excellent athleticism with a 4.45 in the 40 and a 39.5-inch vertical.

“I take a lot of pride in just being able to do things,” he said after being drafted. “Versatility is a big thing growing up where I'm from, Aliquippa (Pa.), just being able to do things with the ball in your hands. It's not only playing corner on the outside, it's shutting guys down. You got to be able to do something when the opportunity presents itself. So, it’s a big thing to be able to be versatile and help the team win in any way possible.”

He was mentored by fellow Aliquippa cornerbacks Ty Law and Darrelle Revis.

“I always get really nervous when he comes around, especially when I have to play,” Devonshire said of Revis. “The last time I played in front of him was the ACC Championship Game and then one time in high school. We were playing Hopewell in high school and I was nervous, like we were going to lose and I knew we were going to win by a million. But when he comes around, being around him is like ‘Man, this is my idol.’”

More Changes for Packers

Green Bay will be Devonshire’s fifth NFL team. The coaches will like his mentality.

“You got to want it,” Devonshire said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast a week after he was drafted, “and you got to want to be special. But you got to love the process as much as you love the outcome, if not more. And the process is being there in the offseason and going and working out and going and doing the things that the media or anybody might not see.

“There's times when you might have to go to the field by yourself and just make it your safe space, make it your peace. Sometimes, I'll just go to the field when I'm bored or if I'm not feeling it and not having a good day. Let's just go to the field, let's just do some drills, let's backpedal, see how we feel after.

“You start to not focus on everything. It's a stress reliever. It's a lot of different things, and it all contributes to the success that you want to get in the fall.”

For the Packers, who also claimed former Iowa tight end and Texans draft pick Luke Lachey, the addition of Devonshire is the latest move at cornerback.

While Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine are back atop the depth chart, the Packers:

  • Released Nate Hobbs, their big free-agent signing on defense in 2025.
  • Signed Benjamin St-Juste, a third-round pick by Washington in 2021 with 47 career starts.
  • Drafted Brandon Cisse in the second round.
  • Drafted Domani Jackson in the sixth round.

There’s a new position coach, too, with Daniel Bullocks working under coordinator Jonathan Gannon. He’ll have a lot of fresh faces pushing for starting jobs, roster spots and playing time.

“Obviously, you want to see guys compete every day, and the biggest thing that’s going to show up in camp that you can’t see right now is tackling,” Bullocks said last week.

“That’s the thing you’re going to see in the preseason when the pads come on, you’re going to strike that ball carrier and run through him. That’s the biggest thing. But I want to see guys come in every day, compete every day, do their job, and have fun at the same time and get better each day.”

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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.