Packers Sign Productive Tight End to Fill Final Spot on Practice Squad

Josh Whyle | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Along with previously reported signings of quarterback Clayton Tune and offensive lineman Dalton Cooper, the Green Bay Packers signed tight end Josh Whyle to the practice squad on Thursday.

With that, the Packers have filled all 17 spots on the practice squad. Cornerback Micah Robinson, who made the initial 53-man roster but was released on Wednesday to sign linebacker Nate Niemann, cleared waivers and is back with the team, according to a source.

Whyle was a fifth-round pick by the Tennessee Titans in 2023, the same draft that produced Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. He caught nine passes for 94 yards in 11 games (three starts) as a rookie and 28 passes for 248 yards in 17 games (four starts) in 2024.

“He has really good ball skills for a big guy,” Titans offensive coordinator Nick Holz said last year. “So, that kind of target, especially in the red zone and on third down and things like that, he’s more of a matchup (problem) than he is probably given credit for. So, we'd love to get him in some of those one-on-one situations (because) he has so much height and he has really good ball skills.”

At 6-foot-6 1/2 and 248 pounds with 4.69 speed in the 40, he’s closer to Musgrave than John FitzPatrick from a skill-set perspective.

The Packers signed him to the practice squad rather than retain last year’s practice-squad players, Messiah Swinson and Johnny Lumpkin.

“I’m 6-6, 250 and I think I can move really well,” Whyle said after being drafted. “Growing up, I played every sport you can imagine. My parents started me out in gymnastics when I was young, but I played basketball and football throughout high school. Football is something that I've always been good at, and it's something I've always found fun, which I think is really important.

“If you are going to play this game and make a career out of it, you have to have fun with it.”

Before the 2023 draft, the Packers had a formal interview with him at the Scouting Combine and hosted him on a predraft visit.

“You're going to get a coachable player, a hard-working player, a tough player and a guy that really cares about the locker room. I think that's where great success starts,” Whyle said at the Combine.

A member of Bruce Feldman’s coveted “Freaks” list headed into 2022, Whyle’s Relative Athletic Score was 8.98.

Whyle caught 86 passes for 1,011 yards and 15 touchdowns during his final three seasons at Cincinnati. He caught six touchdown passes in 2020 and six more in 2021 before catching a career-high 32 passes, which he turned into 326 yards and three touchdowns in 2022 to earn first-team all-AAC. His drop rate of 3.0 percent was fifth-best in the draft class.

At a school that produced future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, 11-year pro Brent Celek and former Packers third-round pick Josiah Deguara, Whyle scored more touchdowns than any tight end in Bearcats history.

“I came in and having Trav (Kelce) that went there, Celek – he went to my high school, as well – and then I got to see Josiah (Deguara),” he said. “It really made me feel like, ‘Oh, I can do this.’ We have a sign up in our room that says, ‘Through these halls walk the best tight ends in the country.’ And that’s just kind of a belief, and that’s just kind of how I try to go around the building through my five years there, and just kind of continue it on for the younger guys so they feel the same way.”

Whyle, by the way, will wear Deguara’s No. 81.