GREEN BAY, Wis. – For 20 consecutive years, the Green Bay Packers have had at least one undrafted rookie make their opening roster. That comes with a bit of an asterisk, with kicker Brayden Narveson keeping the streak alive last year when he was claimed off waivers at the end of training camp.
Nonetheless, the Packers are renowned for giving undrafted free agents a legitimate chance to make the roster. This year, they threw big money at several of them. Here is this year’s 12-player class, ranked from least likely to most likely, to crack the 53-man roster.
OT Brant Banks
Of Green Bay’s initial undrafted class, nobody got a smaller signing bonus than Banks’ $1,000. Money talks, at least initially. Banks (6-foot-7, 306 pounds, 33 5/8-inch arms, no Relative Athletic Score) has some flexibility; at Rice, he started at left guard in 2023 and at right tackle in 2024. He only gave up two sacks during his final season. The Packers are deep on the offensive line but have three starters set to hit free agency, so the practice squad is a worthy goal.
S Kahzir Brown
“Buggs” Brown is an intriguing talent. At 6-foot-1 and 223 pounds, he’s got 4.53 speed in the 40. He started his career at Maine but finished with one season at Florida Atlantic, where he had two interceptions (one against Michigan State) and eight passes defensed.
The problem for Brown is the Packers are loaded at safety with All-Pro Xavier McKinney, 2024 draft picks Javon Bullard, Evan Williams and Kitan Oladapo and valuable reserve Zayne Anderson.
Brown received a $10,000 signing bonus.
WR Sam Brown
Brown played at West Virginia, Houston and Miami but was not drafted and wasn’t signed until he worked out for the Packers last week. He was teammates at Houston for two years with Packers first-round pick Matthew Golden and had better production each season. Physically, he certainly fits with his 9.91 Relative Athletic Score. He had a bad drop during a 2-minute drill on Tuesday.
The Packers are deep at receiver. However, with Christian Watson out, there are five locks to make the Week 1 roster. If the Packers keep a sixth, would they take a shot on a developmental prospect with some upside (Brown) or run it back with either Malik Heath and Bo Melton, who perhaps have maxed out their game?
G J.J. Lippe
Lippe is a Milwaukee native who was part of the Northern Illinois offensive line that shocked Notre Dame. He played every position on NIU’s line while making 47 career starts, including 25 starts at left guard during his final two seasons. He was a semifinalist for the William Campbell Trophy – aka the Academic Heisman – in 2024.
“It’s definitely a dream come true,” he told Packers On SI. “Growing up as a Packer fan and everything and watching Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, it’s something that’s a lifelong dream of mine, so I’m very happy to be here.”
Lippe, who allowed just one sack last season, was given a $10,000 signing bonus.
CB Tyron Herring
Herring, who played at Dartmouth and Delaware, impressed at the East-West Shrine Bowl. The Packers let three corners go in free agency and added only one free agent (Nate Hobbs) and one draft pick (Micah Robinson in the seventh round). So, there’s a void on the roster.
“Smart kid, will play special teams in the NFL early, has the size-length athletic ability to do so,” East-West director Eric Galko said. “The ball skills, the confidence going against KeAndre Lambert-Smith and the top-100 picks that we had at the Shrine Bowl … Don’t be surprised if he makes the roster as a special-teams guy and a versatile defensive back.”
Herring, who received a $10,000 signing bonus, will compete with late-round picks Robinson, Kalen King (seventh round, 2024), Kamal Hadden (sixth round, 2024) and Gregory Junior (sixth round, 2022). So, it’s not as if he’s competing against the NFC Pro Bowl team.
RB Jalen White and RB Amar Johnson
The Packers gave both running backs a $15,000 signing bonus. Assuming MarShawn Lloyd stays healthy to be the No. 2 behind Josh Jacobs, White and Johnson will compete with last year’s backups, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks – a pair of solid backups who entered the NFL as undrafted free agents in 2023.
White played at Georgia Southern, where he forced an impressive 155 missed tackles in 573 career carries, according to Pro Football Focus, and caught 59 passes during his final three seasons. He struggled to produce in games against top opponents such as Boise State and Ole Miss in 2024 and Wisconsin in 2023, but that’s not all on White, obviously.
Johnson helped South Dakota State win the FCS national championship in 2024, when he rushed for 1,222 yards (6.3 average) and caught 30 passes. While White is more of a power runner, Johnson has 4.39 speed in the 40. He has some return experience, as well.
G Tyler Cooper
The native of Saint Croix Falls, Wis., started 21 games at left guard the past two seasons at Minnesota. He could “play guard tomorrow” in the NFL, Galko said. The Packers apparently agree, taking the unusual-for-them approach of guaranteeing $100,000 of his base salary. Along with a $15,000 base salary, his $115,000 guaranteed is more than the lineman selected in the seventh round, John Williams.
Starting guard Sean Rhyan will be a free agent after the season, and the backups for the playoff game, Travis Glover, Kadeem Telfort and Jacob Monk, are anything but locks to make the roster.
QB Taylor Elgersma
The Packers haven’t kept three quarterbacks coming out of training camp since 2020, when first-round pick Jordan Love was behind Aaron Rodgers and Tim Boyle.
This one boils down to Elgersma, the winner of Canada’s version of the Heisman Trophy who impressed scouts at a series of U.S. all-star games, including the Senior Bowl. There’s no doubt Love and Malik Willis will top the depth chart this year, but Willis will be a free agent at the end of the season. If Elgersma progresses enough through training camp and the preseason to show No. 2 potential, they might be afraid to lose him on waivers following final cuts.
LB Jamon Johnson
One scout couldn’t believe Johnson wasn’t drafted. He was a key member of defenses that helped Georgia win national championships in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, he was a finalist for the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker and an All-American with four sacks, nine tackles for losses and 70 tackles.
He transferred to Kentucky for his final season and had 3.5 sacks and 7.5 TFLs among 67 tackles in 11 starts in 2024. The testing numbers were good, and while he might never be a three-down player, he was one of the top run-stopping linebackers in the class.
The Packers gave him a $15,000 signing bonus and guaranteed $100,000 of his salary. He’ll compete with Isaiah Simmons and Kristian Welch to be the fifth linebacker.
CB Johnathan Baldwin
Baldwin started at safety at UNLV in 2022 and 2023 before moving into the slot in 2024, where he had three interceptions, 13 passes defensed and nine tackles for losses. That’s the early plan for the Packers, too, with Baldwin playing both spots during OTAs.
Green Bay “got it right” by signing Baldwin, according to UNLV cornerbacks coach Akeem Davis, a former NFL defensive back.
“He’s going to go there and he’s going to make a splash,” Davis told Packers On SI. “He’s going to be a four-core guy on special teams immediately. And then he’s going to work his way up somewhere on that depth chart. And he’s going to earn his keep every single day.”
The Packers gave him a $15,000 signing bonus and guaranteed $100,000 of his salary. The $115,000 guaranteed is more than the defensive back the Packers drafted in the seventh round, Micah Robinson, received. In a more-you-can-do league, the versatility opens the door.
DT Nazir Stackhouse
Stackhouse is the runaway No. 1 on the list, and not just because the Packers gave him a $15,000 signing bonus and guaranteed $150,000 of his base salary. That’s $165,000 – an unprecedented amount of guaranteed money for the Packers, who typically lure their undrafted free agents with the promise of legitimate opportunity rather than an immediate payday.
The Packers drafted Stackhouse’s Georgia teammate, Warren Brinson, in the sixth round. It was Stackhouse, though, who was the starter and the player who was on the field more often on running downs. As NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote, Stackhouse is a “block-eater” who is “hard to move” out of the point of attack.
The Packers lost their run-stopping defensive tackle, TJ Slaton, in free agency. There is no obvious replacement on the roster. Wearing Slaton’s No. 93, Stackhouse has an opportunity to not just be on the Week 1 roster but be a factor.