GREEN BAY – The Packers signed a veteran player and made three trades plus a slew of other moves over the weekend to build the initial 53-man roster for the 2026 season.
Here are five takeaways from the decisions:
1. Reinforcing the tight end position became a point of emphasis.
The Packers never got Luke Musgrave off the physically unable to perform list during training camp, and he's now on it for the start of the regular season, meaning he'll miss at least the first four games.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst determined the depth behind Tucker Kraft and Josh Whyle needed reinforcements, as two tight ends were released and two were waived/injured. So he signed veteran Jonnu Smith and traded for Mark Redman to give the Packers four tight ends for the start of the season.
Smith is a receiving target – he had 88 catches just two seasons ago – while Redman is an in-line blocker, so the two additions complement each other and bring different strengths to the position group.
2. Depth at running back needed to be addressed, too.
With Sunday's news that Josh Jacobs was placed on the commissioner's exempt list, while his case involving two misdemeanor charges remains under review by the league, Gutekunst covered his bases with another trade for Pittsburgh RB Kaleb Johnson.
Once again, the depth at the position was deemed inadequate, as only MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks were kept on the initial 53 while three reserve backs were released. Enter Johnson, a third-round draft pick just a year ago coming off an All-America season at Iowa. Perhaps a change of scenery and fresh start is what Johnson needs after things didn't go well with the Steelers.
3. DT Anthony Campbell's training camp story is one of the more remarkable in recent memory.
The 6-6, 307-pound defensive tackle had just a half sack, one other tackle and one pass deflection during two seasons (2023-24) at the University of Miami, where he transferred after two years at Louisiana-Monroe, which followed two years in the junior college ranks.
Signed to the Packers' practice squad in the final week of the 2025 season (after spending part of '25 on Seattle's practice squad as an undrafted rookie), Campbell came out of nowhere this summer to land a roster spot.
He began gaining attention with his penchant for batting passes down at the line of scrimmage. Doing so at least a handful of times, he was earning rotational snaps with the first-team defense while some regulars recovered from injury.
Then he had a sack in each of the Packers' final two preseason games. Those two sacks in two weeks topped his entire D-I college total of 1½ over four years.
At a deep defensive tackle position, where the Packers kept seven players on the initial 53, Campbell was one of them, an outcome nobody would've predicted at the start of camp.
4. It's hard to say how much the undrafted rookie streak was in jeopardy.
WR J. Michael Sturdivant will extend the Packers' streak of having an undrafted rookie on the roster for Week 1 as long as he doesn't lose his spot over the next two weeks.
But it's difficult to say whether Sturdivant was going to make the 53 had second-year WR Savion Williams not gotten hurt. Williams, a third-round draft pick last year, was put on injured reserve with a designation to return due to an ankle injury, so Sturdivant became the sixth receiver on the initial 53.
Sturdivant had a strong camp and preseason, capped by his six catches for 112 yards in the preseason finale vs. Arizona, making as strong a roster bid as possible at a crowded position. But the Packers had kept seven receivers on the initial 53 only twice in the last decade, and the fourth and fifth WRs – Skyy Moore and Bo Melton – both have entrenched roles on special teams.
Would Sturdivant have been the odd man out despite his standout month of August? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, he now he has an opportunity to seize with Williams out at least the first four games of the regular season.
5. More roster moves are coming, possibly related to the 53.
When the waiver claim period ends at noon CT Monday, the Packers will begin assembling their practice squad, for which a quarterback could be a target.
The Packers have just two QBs at the moment, Jordan Love and Tyrod Taylor, after Kyle McCord was traded to Miami for a future draft pick. It would be highly unusual for the Packers not to have a third quarterback in house, at least on the practice squad. So that's a possible move to keep an eye on.
But that's potentially not all.
As it pertains to the 53, anyone the Packers claim on waivers would have to take someone's spot. Also, anyone who finished the preseason with an injury could still be a candidate to move to injured reserve.
The Packers used their two IR/designated to return spots at cutdown time on Williams and edge rusher Collin Oliver. Anyone else who might miss multiple weeks to start the season could be an IR candidate as well, but such a player had to be placed on the initial 53 first in order to be eligible to return this season.
If the Packers have such a player – there is no official injury report until Week 1, so it's unknown outside the personnel department – that would open up a spot on the 53 for another addition.
