Mark Perry on Why He Could Be Most Surprising Player to Make Packers Roster

The Green Bay Packers are safety Mark Perry’s sixth team in three years. He’s never made a 53-man roster or played in a game.

With the start of training camp three weeks away, don’t be surprised if this becomes his long-awaited breakout season.

“I feel like this time around it just feels a little different,” Perry told Packers On SI.

Perry is big and fast. And, apparently, stubborn in the most positive way imaginable.

He went undrafted in 2024 despite being a three-year college starter with elite measurables. He signed with the Dolphins after the draft but failed to make their roster. It was the first of five times he was released.

Despite being told “no” repeatedly, Perry kept working. Kept grinding. Kept believing. Kept fighting for what to some might have seemed like an impossible dream.

“I won’t sit here and lie and act like it’s been easy,” he said. “Obviously, some times have been harder than others. I had a pretty good college career. Didn’t necessarily expect myself to go undrafted, ended up going undrafted, so that was kind of a battle in itself. And then going to Miami, I felt like I had a good training camp and preseason, get cut for the first time. That came with some emotions.”

After a couple weeks on the Texans’ practice squad, he spent most of his rookie season on the Patriots’ practice squad. He felt good about his growth over the season and the long-term outlook, but “another curveball gets thrown at me” with the decision to fire coach Jerod Meyo and replace him with Mike Vrabel. A couple days after the 2025 draft, he was released.

He was claimed off waivers by the Titans, only to be released before the first preseason game. He landed with the Bears midway through training camp. He didn’t know his teammates’ names, let alone the scheme, and was released toward the end of camp.

All of that was bad.

What happened next was worse.

Mark Perry’s Long Wait

Perry spent almost the entire season out of football. Finally, on Jan. 1, a few days before the Week 18 game at the Vikings, he signed to Green Bay’s practice squad.

“The hardest part of it all was that after getting cut after training camp, sitting at home from August until I signed with Green Bay at the end of the year,” he said. “I won’t sit here and act like it’s been easy, but I just think that with the right mindset, just being able to take things one day at a time and, eventually, there’s no telling when, but hard work will pay off.”

What kept him motivated to keep up that hard work, when there was no guarantee that his phone would ever ring with another NFL opportunity?

“Yeah, it was tough. For me, the way that my story unfolded, every two to three weeks, I would have a new workout,” Perry said.

One of those was with the Packers early in the season.

“The fact that the phone was still ringing kept me motivated and let me know, ‘OK, obviously, I can play. It’s just a matter of getting in the right situation at the right time,’” he said. “So, being able to stay in decent shape and doing all kinds of things to just be ready for those workouts when they presented themselves.”

The Packers’ season ended on Jan. 10 at Chicago. Two days later, he was among a group of practice-squad players who were given futures contracts.

Mark Perry is shown before a TCU game in 2023. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Door Opens for Mark Perry

The ticket to the offseason roster came with a message.

“They told me that, obviously, I had a really good opportunity,” Perry said. “They expected me to stick around during the offseason and be able to get some more time with the coaches.”

Things change fast in the NFL. Not long after Perry re-signed, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was hired as head coach of the Dolphins, and he brought some of his assistants with him to Miami. At the start of free agency, safety Zayne Anderson joined them.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur replaced Hafley with Jonathan Gannon and hired Bobby Babich and Daniel Bullocks to run the secondary.

“I think being able to be there throughout the offseason and, obviously, with the new coaches that came in and just being able to get familiar with them was really good for me,” Perry said.

What was better for Perry was the offseason transactions at safety. The Packers lost Anderson but didn’t sign a veteran. They didn’t draft a safety, either. The only addition was undrafted rookie Murvin Kenion III.

Suddenly, for the first time in his career, Perry is on a level playing field in the fight for a roster spot. He’s not the new guy joining an established group.

“It was a really good opportunity, honestly,” he said. “Even from a special teams standpoint, new special teams coordinator and everybody’s learning. So, that also helped because, obviously, even when I came in at the end of the year, I’m still learning the different things that Coach Hafley did and the rest of the guys already have a great understanding of it because they’ve been playing it all year.

“So, just trying to pick their brains about it and they fully know everything already. Now it’s kind of like we’re helping each other learn at the same time vs. them just telling me stuff.”

Then-Chicago Bears safety Mark Perry defends during a preseason game against the Chiefs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Mark Perry’s In Position to Earn Roster Spot

Perry will enter training camp in a good spot to make the roster. He spent the entire offseason alongside Kitan Oladapo as the No. 2 tandem at safety.

As he grows more and more comfortable with Gannon’s scheme and what he’s being coached to do, what will he show during camp?

“I think you’re going to have somebody on the back end that has experience,” he said. “Obviously, I had a lot of experience in college but not as much in the pros, but I still view myself as a player that can contribute, somebody that’s going to bring a lot of energy, a lot of effort and just a calming presence to the secondary, just knowing where to be, when to be there, communicating and making sure everybody’s on the same page.

“I think that’s something that the last few years I really tried to hang my hat onto was just knowing the playbook front to back. Not even just my job, but where am I expecting my help to be at, so that I could be more effective, whether it’s in coverage or run support or whatever. I think there’s a lot of things that I do really well. And then, obviously, every player has weaknesses that he needs to work on. I just try to stay mindful of that and be able to come to work and work on those things daily.”

During the break between minicamp and training camp, Perry headed home to Southern California, where he’ll work with some defensive back coaches and against some quarterbacks and receivers to get ready for what he said is an opportunity that feels different from the past few.

“I’ll definitely say from everywhere I’ve been, this is probably the youngest group I’ve been a part of as far as me, KT (Oladapo), Javon (Bullard) and Ev (Evan Williams), we were all in the same draft class. I’ve got to know some of those guys over time, whether it was when we were training for the draft or throughout college.

“I think it’s nice because I have a lot of guys that I could relate to and pick their brains about things that have happened in their career so far. Yeah, we’re all the same age but, obviously, Evan and Javon, they have more playing experience than I do. So, it’s just one of those relationships where nobody is selfish. Everybody’s trying to get better and help each other grow. I feel really good about the opportunity that I have and I’m trying to make the most of it.”

Every year, I rank every player on the Packers roster based on talent, importance, salary etc. I will again this year, too.

For now, let's cut right to the chase. Here is a quick-hitting look at the 2⃣5⃣ most important players for the 2026 season.⬇️https://t.co/ezDAkl7vmd
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 17, 2026

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