Packer Central

Packers Fill 15 of 17 Spots on Practice Squad

The Green Bay Packers can start forming their practice squad on Wednesday. Here’s what we know so far. Plus, here is some noteworthy history.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Will Sheppard (82) jumps into the crowd for a Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown against Seattle.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Will Sheppard (82) jumps into the crowd for a Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown against Seattle. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers started signing their 17-player practice squad on Wednesday, a day after forming their 53-man roster.

According to sources or reports, the Packers are signing:

First, the big one, as reported by Packers On SI:

- WR Will Sheppard, who caught 3-of-4 targets for 23 yards and one touchdown in the preseason, according to a source.

Sheppard, who was added to the roster just before the start of training camp, had a solid collegiate career. After four seasons at Vanderbilt in which he had seasons of 43, 47 and 60 receptions, he transferred to Deion Sanders-coached Colorado for his final season. 

Playing alongside Travis Hunter and with quarterback Shedeur Sanders, he caught 48 passes for 621 yards (12.9 average) and six touchdowns. Along with two receptions as a freshman in 2020, his five-year totals were 200 receptions for 2,688 yards and 27 touchdowns.

 - WR Isaiah Neyor, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

Neyor has elite physical tools – at 6-foot-4 1/4 and 218 pounds with 4.40 speed in the 40, his Relative Athletic Score of 9.90 was the fourth-highest among this year’s receivers. That’s why the undrafted rookie, who signed with the 49ers after the draft, will get an extended look after joining the team early in camp.

“I just want to show them that I can make plays,” he said. “Anything that the team needs me to do – whether it’s blocking, whether it’s going on special teams, whether it’s making big catches – whatever it is, I want to be able to provide that for the team.”

- WR Mecole Hardman, according to the Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein. He caught 3-of-8 targets for 30 yards in the preseason. After a poor preseason debut, he caught all three passes and had a pair of 10-yard punt returns during the final two weeks.

Hardman never got past Malik Heath on the receiver depth chart, but the former second-round pick was brought back, where he could still wind up being the Week 1 returner.

Hardman had never been worried about roster cuts and wasn’t sure if his track record would work in his favor.

“I would like to say that,” he said after the preseason. “But you just don’t know how teams view you or what teams see in you or how they value you. So, whether it’s here or somewhere else, you never know what can happen. But like I said, I did what I can do and now it’s up to everybody else.”

- DB Jaylin Simpson, according to a source. A fifth-round pick by the Colts last with an attention-grabbing mentality, made the most of being a last-week addition to camp. The Packers signed him to fill the injury-created voids at safety but he also has an extensive background at cornerback.

- G Dalton Cooper, who had a predraft visit with the Packers, is an outside addition to the practice squad, a source said. He went undrafted and spent training camp with the Chiefs. This preseason, he played 40 snaps – 31 at left guard and nine at right guard. He allowed only one pressure in 27 pass-protecting snaps, according to PFF.

Cooper started a total of 57 games at Texas State and Oklahoma State.

- OT Brant Banks, according to a source. At Rice, Banks started 13 games at left guard in 2023 and 12 games at right tackle in 2024. For the Packers, he was anchored at left tackle through the offseason and training camp.

- DT James Ester, according to a source, will be back to start his second season on Green Bay’s practice squad.

Also Signed by the Packers

The Packers announced the signings of the returning players as well as these players:

- K Mark McNamee, who finished strong after arriving from Ireland, will be the team’s International Player Pathway player.

- S Johnathan Baldwin, who played safety and slot at UNLV but was anchored at safety in Green Bay.

- DE Deslie Alexandre, who had a sack, batted-down pass and special-teams tackle against Seattle on Sunday. He’ll be joined by Arron Mosby.

- RB Israel Abanikanda, who ran hard and showed a nose for the ball on special teams, beat out Amar Johnson for a spot on the practice squad.

- LB Jamon Johnson, as expected, returned. He had a big game in the finale, as well.

- LB Kristian Welch, who fell short of his bid for a roster spot for a second consecutive year despite an excellent preseason, this time is back on the practice squad after signing to Denver’s 53 at this time last year.

Players Packers Are Not Signing to Practice Squad

The Packers will not be bringing back:

- QB Taylor Elgersma. Here’s the story.

“I think Taylor’s done a great job,” quarterback Jordan Love said last week. “I think Taylor’s a really smart guy, he’s picked up the offense very well, and he’s done some good things on the field. The transition from Canada ball to American ball is definitely not easy.”

- QB Sean Clifford.

- WR Julian Hicks. Hicks worked out with former NFL standout Mohamed Sanu.

“Just the mentality,” Hicks said. “Just knowing my situation, being undrafted, being a tryout guy, I’ve got to be perfect. Hard work’s got to be there every day. Just got to try to be different. He’s hard on me, which I want. I always ask him to be hard on me because coaches are hard on me, everybody’s on me, expect a lot out of me, so just bringing that to the table every day.”

- WR Cornelius Johnson. He was a seventh-round pick by the Chargers last year.

- On the offensive line:

- C/G Lecitus Smith. Smith, a sixth-round pick by the Cardinals in 2022, spent training camp with the Packers last year and returned early in camp this year.

“Me and my fiancée jumping up around the house. I promise, we were,” he said early in camp. “It’s good to be back in Green Bay, it really is.”

- T/G Kadeem Telfort. His door closed the moment the Packers traded for Darian Kinnard.

- TE Johnny Lumpkin.

Packers Will Sign Other Players, Too

The 53 is the initial 53, not the final 53. And the same is true with the practice squad.

After last year’s roster cuts, the Packers signed 13 of those players to the practice squad. Within a few days, six outsiders had been brought in.

Last year’s initial practice squad consisted of defensive end Deslin Alexandre, quarterback Sean Clifford, defensive tackle James Ester, kicker Alex Hale (NFL International Player Pathway program), receivers Julian Hicks and Nate Wayne, offensive linemen Donovan Jennings and Lecitus Smith, cornerbacks Kalen King and Robert Rochell, running backs Nate McCrary and Ellis Merriweather, and tight end Messiah Swinson.

Alexandre, Clifford, Ester, Hale, Hicks, Jennings, King and Swinson started and finished the season on the practice squad (Rochell finished the season on the 53), and Alexandre, Clifford, Ester, Hicks, Jennings, King, Smith and Swinson competed with the Packers during training camp this year. Of that group, only Jennings made the initial 53.

Of the six quick additions to last year’s practice squad, running back Chris Brooks and cornerback Kamal Hadden made this year’s 53-man roster.

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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.