Packers Signing Linebacker to 53-Man Roster

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers will be signing linebacker Nick Niemann to their 53-man roster, a source told Packers On SI on Wednesday.

Niemann was a sixth-round pick by the Chargers in 2021. He played in 64 of a possible 68 games during his career, including three starts in 2023, when he set a career high with 40 tackles. Last year, he played in 13 games and had 21 tackles.

Niemann will be the fifth linebacker on Green Bay’s roster after the Packers released both Isaiah Simmons and Kristian Welch on Tuesday.

A corresponding roster move will have to be made.

Last season, Niemann played 288 snaps on special teams. He was a four-core player, averaging 22.2 snaps per game in that phase. Of his 21 tackles, 11 came in the kicking game.

He led the Chargers in special-teams tackles in 2021, 2023 and 2024. In 2021, he had 14 tackles on special teams to earn All-Rookie honors.

In four seasons, Niemann has played 1,298 snaps on special teams and 363 on defense. Of the defensive snaps, 245 came in 2023, when he replaced Eric Kendricks and had a game-clinching pass breakup.

“I've been feeling good,” he said at the time. “Happy the coaches have trusted me enough to go out there and take advantage of an opportunity. When guys go down, the expectation is there's no drop off and you have to go out there and execute and make plays and do the same types of plays that they would do. …

“Just staying engaged in practice, walkthroughs, in the meetings, doing all that stuff and just knowing what can happen in this league. Got to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes.”

He signed with the Texans in free agency this offseason, but failed to make their roster despite getting $4 million guaranteed.

Niemann’s brother, Ben, also is an NFL linebacker who played in 17 games with four starts for the Lions last season.

“He was a huge inspiration,” he told Chargers.com of his brother. “We're like the same type of person, so seeing that he could do it, it was like, 'Wow, I can do it, too.' All his experiences, going to NFL games, him telling me little things to help me out. Him going to the Super Bowl and getting to experience that, it's hard to explain what that can do for you. But it's super inspirational and motivational to see that.”

He is the son of Jay Niemann, who is an assistant coach at Iowa.

“It’s been awesome for me as a father to have the opportunity to be the coach on the team that your son’s playing on,” Jay Niemann said before 2020 season. “And just having the daily interaction is something that I missed out on for a number of years before I got to Iowa.”

While he is not Simmons from an athletic perspective, he is no slouch, either.

Nick Niemann was drafted with pick 185 of round 6 in the 2021 draft class. He scored a 9.51 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 107 out of 2155 LB from 1987 to 2021. https://t.co/77IuRsU6gT #RAS #Chargers pic.twitter.com/gYxq2275ls
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) May 1, 2021

Niemann will add depth to Green Bay’s strong linebacker corps, which consists of the returning quartet of Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper. Walker, Cooper and McDuffie will start and Hopper took a huge step after basically redshirting as a third-round pick last year.

“Hopper, I would say he’s one of our most improved players I think from a year ago,” coach Matt LaFleur said recently. “I think he’s done an outstanding job. He’s done a much better job communicating. He’s the voice of the defense when he’s in there and so I think he’s done a really nice job and he’s still a young, developing player, but he got a lot of good work this preseason.”

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