James Ester

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These BearsLionsPackers and Vikings moves are noted below.

Chicago Bears

Signed:

Claimed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Packers Announce 53-Man Roster

The Packers featured the youngest roster in the NFL last season, and they’re set to return most of that young core in 2024. Still, the team had to move on from a long list of inexperienced players as they pared their roster down to 53 players. The organization announced the following roster moves today:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

  • CB LJ Davis
  • LB Ralen Goforth

Placed on IR:

Linebacker Kristian Welch brings the most experience of the bunch, with the former UDFA appearing in 57 career games in time with the Ravens and Packers. He spent the 2023 campaign in Green Bay, where he played all 210 of his snaps on special teams. Considering his limited experience on defense, there’s a chance the Packers are tinkering with their roster and intend to bring the veteran back via the practice squad.

Packers Sign Eight UDFAs

After leaving this past weekend with one of the league’s largest draft classes, the Packers are continuing to add rookies to their roster. The team announced that they’ve signed eight undrafted free agents:

South Florida offensive lineman Donovan Jennings earned a significant pay day to join the Packers. The rookie got a $10K signing bonus and $100K in guaranteed salary to catch on with Green Bay, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. As Wilson notes, that signing bonus is higher than any the organization handed out in 2023, and the Packers also didn’t give any of their UDFAs guaranteed money last offseason.

Elsewhere on offense, the team added Arizona State’s Messiah Swinson. The tight end had 15 catches during his first season in Arizona in 2022, but he followed that up with only six receptions in 2023.

On the other side of the ball, the Steelers added a pair of pass rushers in James Ester and Rodney Mathews. Ester compiled eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss during his final three seasons at Northern Illinois, while Mathews collected 14.5 tackles for loss in his final three seasons with the Bobcats.