GREEN BAY, Wis. – Wisconsin native Kristian Welch was a force during last year’s preseason. The linebacker paced the Green Bay Packers with 16 tackles and three passes defensed and led the NFL with two interceptions.
It wasn’t enough.
In a bitter disappointment, Welch was released in last year’s roster cutdown. Good wasn’t good enough in Green Bay’s strong linebacker room.
Will there be a happier ending following Tuesday’s roster cuts for Welch?
After re-signing with the Packers in free agency, Welch was superb again this preseason, finishing second on the Packers with 15 tackles on defense and first with five tackles on special teams.
Having grown up about 60 miles from Lambeau Field in Iola, Wis., what would it mean to get across the finish line this year?
“It would mean a lot,” Welch said after pondering the question for a moment at his locker following Saturday’s preseason finale. “I worked really hard. It’s a business, at the end of the day, and I’ve been in it long enough to understand that part of it. Yeah, it would mean a lot. That’s certainly been the goal. To achieve it would be a good feeling.”
The linebacker room, again, is strong. Last year, Welch couldn’t force his way into a group that included Edgerrin Cooper, Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper and Eric Wilson. The first four players from that list are back for this season, with Welch competing with former top-10 pick Isaiah Simmons for what could be the fifth and final spot.
During the preseason, Simmons was No. 1 on the team with 19 tackles, though Welch tackled at a higher rate (6.5 snaps per tackle compared to 6.8).
“He’s done a lot of good things,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Certainly, his value is just his ability to go out and do a lot of things in terms of special teams. He’s a four-phase guy, and then he’s got enough experience at linebacker that if you need to fill a hole, he can fill any of those three spots.”
Special teams will be a factor in Brian Gutekunst’s roster decisions on Tuesday. That’s been Welch’s calling card throughout his career, with 1,386 snaps since entering the NFL in 2020, including 210 with the Packers in 2023 and another 285 in a season split between Denver and Baltimore in 2024. He finished second in the NFL with five stops during the preseason.
“He just has a knack in space of finding the ball,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said.
For obvious reasons, considering what happened last year, Welch said he doesn’t have a feeling one way or the other on how Tuesday will turn out. All he can do is “be focused on what I can control.”
“You guys are probably getting sick of me saying it,” Welch said with a smile.
At this point, everything is out of Welch’s control. He did everything he could to make the roster, just like last year. Now, he’ll wait with his family, content that he did his best and content that, whatever happens, it’ll all work out.
“It can be frustrating but it’s a business,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff out of the players’ control. There’s a lot of outside stuff, different variables. I’ve been at it long enough to be on the good side of it and the not-so-great side. I keep that same mindset. Have I slipped? Maybe. Everybody has doubts that creep in maybe in their head here or there but my faith is in Christ. That’s the backbone of my faith. At the end of the day, I’ll be OK. I’ll be good either way.”
After Welch was released last season, he signed with the Broncos, where he started at linebacker for the first time in his career. He was released at midseason and returned to the Ravens, where he spent his first three seasons and earned another start.
Green Bay is different, though. Green Bay is home.
“I think I’ve done some good things,” he said of his training camp. “Certainly not perfect. There’s always things I’m trying to improve on, like anything. I’m excited to get to the regular season, hopefully here.”