GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will take a 90-player roster to the field for their first practice of training camp on July 23.
In a Packers On SI tradition, we will rank every player on the roster. This isn’t just a list of the best players. Rather, we take talent, contract, draft history, importance of the position and depth at the position into consideration.
More than the ranking, we hope you learn a little something about every player on the roster.
No. 80: G J.J. Lippe
J.J. Lippe is from Milwaukee. Naturally, he was thrilled to sign with the Packers after going undrafted.
“Getting to this point, it’s a very difficult journey,” he said. “Obviously, you don’t stop here. You want to keep going. But, yeah, just the college two-a-days, the high school – I think it was three-a-days when I was playing – just looking back on my football career, it’s a blessing, for sure. And it’s crazy to be here at this moment now, but you got to be professional about it and get ready to go.”
Lippe was part of the Northern Illinois offensive line that helped the Huskies shock Notre Dame early last season. He started 47 games, including 25 at left guard during his final two seasons. He should have no problem learning the playbook; he a semifinalist for the William Campbell Trophy – aka the Academic Heisman – in 2024.
He allowed only one sack last season – he didn’t even yield a pressure against Notre Dame, according to PFF – and was given a $10,000 signing bonus.
No. 79: TE Messiah Swinson
Messiah Swinson is back for Round 2. Or Round 3.
An undrafted free agent last year, Swinson failed to make Green Bay’s 53-man roster and was signed to the practice squad. He didn’t last there long, though, as he was poached by the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers released him a couple weeks later and he returned to Green Bay’s practice squad.
Listed at 6-foot-7 and 259 pounds, Swinson is a big man and could be an asset as an extra blocker. That was his role last preseason, when he blocked on 24 of his 28 snaps.
“I just try to take pride in that and take pride in and do it to the best of my ability,” Swinson said while in Carolina. “My in-line blocking, my run blocking and stuff like that — I didn't have any catches in the preseason. They asked me to do a job and I felt like I went and did it to full extent.
“Whatever they need, I'm ready to do it. … It's not always the prettiest, it's not always the glorious stuff that you get to do on the field, but you can have a job.”
No. 78: RB Jalen White
Jalen White is an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Southern. He rushed for 2,881 yards and 34 touchdowns in five seasons, including 650 yards (4.4 average) and 12 touchdowns in 2024, 899 yards (5.6 average) and nine touchdowns in 2023 and 923 yards (5.7 average) in 2022. He added 73 receptions (but dropped seven) during his final three seasons.
Two things stand out about White. One, he had only two career fumbles (both in 2023) and he broke a lot of tackles. That second factor is why CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso selected White as the undrafted rookie to watch for the Packers.
“I don’t care what conference or football subdivision you’re playing in – if your missed-tackle forced rate in five seasons is 26.9 percent, you’re an elusive cat,” Trapasso wrote. “And that’s precisely Jalen White’s rate across five years at Georgia Southern.”
At Daleville (Ala.) High School, he led the nation and set a state record with 3,517 rushing yards as a senior.
Before the draft, he told Draft Diamonds: “Both my mom and my dad inspire me. Seeing my mom take care of me and my brother, whenever my dad would be stationed somewhere else or deployed and I know that wasn’t easy for her, but she made sure we were good. My dad is the hardest working man I’ve ever seen in my life, and he’s made plenty of sacrifices. I know it wasn’t easy for him to be away from his family for periods of time when I was younger because of the military, but he did whatever it took to make sure his family was taken care of. Seeing them be great parents and role models just makes me strive to be better.”
At 6-foot and 205 pounds, White ran his 40 in 4.60 seconds and posted aRelative Athletic Score of 7.71. The Packers gave him a $15,000 signing bonus.
No. 77: RB Amar Johnson
Amar Johnson wanted to go undrafted. Why? Because he wanted to sign with the Packers.
“I just felt the love from them, really ever since my pro day” the All-American running back from South Dakota State said. “I know they reached out to a lot of my coaches, even my high school coach, during the predraft process and trying to get to know me that way. When my pro day came and I talked to Brett (Thiesen), one of the scouts, he was very high on me and saying how much he would love to have me at the Packers.”
South Dakota State has become a bit of a running back factory. It was Johnson’s turn in 2024, as he rushed for 1,159 yards (6.5 average) and 13 touchdowns and added 27 receptions. In four seasons, he rushed for 2,855 yards (5.9 average) and 25 touchdowns with an average of 3.13 yards after contact. For his career, according to PFF, he fumbled only twice but dropped 10 passes.
At 5-foot-9 3/4 and 205 pounds with 4.39 speed in the 40, Johnson produced an8.80 Relative Athletic Score. He was given a $15,000 signing bonus. Johnson is ahead of White on this list because of his speed and kick-return history (21.0-yard average).
“I think I bring a lot of different capabilities of what I can do, like return, catch a ball out of the backfield, be a third-down back, be an early-down back. So, I just think from that standpoint, I have a lot of value to what I can bring to the Packers.”
No. 76: CB Tyron Herring
Tyron Herring is an undrafted free agent out of Delaware. The Packers parted ways with four cornerbacks this offseason and made only two significant issues with Nate Hobbs in free agency and Micah Robinson in the seventh round.
Herring’s got a chance after an impressive week at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
“Smart kid, will play special teams in the NFL early, has the size-length athletic ability to do so,” the Shrine Bowl’s Eric Galko said. “He was one of the later guys we added but really, really impressed during his week at the Shrine Bowl. The ball skills, the confidence going against [Auburn receiver] KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the top-100 picks that we had at the Shrine Bowl, too. The confidence was there, ability to press and get vertical, the patience and timing in the red zone. He can really hang despite being a Delaware player and maybe a smaller-school perception of a guy. …
“He has that football and general intelligence that teams are going to appreciate. Don’t be surprised if he makes the roster as a special-teams guy and a versatile defensive back.”
At Delaware, PFF charged Herring with catch rates of 46.8 percent in 2023 and 61.8 percent (but just 8.4 yards per catch) in 2024 with a total of four interceptions in those seasons. He’s 6-foot-1 with 4.49 speed. His Relative Athletic Score, however, was not very good.
“My plan is to win a championship,” he told The Dartmouth last month. “As soon as we walk in, they make it very clear: Green Bay is a 13-time NFL champion and going for the 14th. I love that. That’s the mentality, that’s the mindset. I want to be the best. Why not strive for the best, and the best thing in this league is to win a championship at the highest level.”
81 to 85. 86 to 90.