GREEN BAY – The Packers added to their linebacker depth by signing fifth-year pro Nick Niemann.
Here are five things to know about the new addition:
- He played in nearly every game for the Chargers the last four years, mostly on special teams.
Niemann (6-3, 234) has only missed four of 68 games in his career to date (2021-24), playing a total of 1,298 snaps on special teams compared to 363 on defense. Most of those defensive snaps came in 2023 when he started three games, the only starts of his NFL career, and he posted a career-high 40 tackles that year.
He led the Chargers in tackles on special teams in three of his four seasons with the club.
All told, he has 86 tackles and one interception in his career.
- He signed with Houston this spring but didn't make the team.
Niemann was one of the surprise cuts around the league Tuesday, given he had signed a multi-year contract as a free agent with the Houston Texans, a deal that included salary guarantees.
He recorded nine tackles on defense in three preseason games this summer.
He joins a Green Bay linebacking corps that included only four players (Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty'Ron Hopper) after the Packers reduced their roster to 53.
- He was a PFWA All-Rookie selection on special teams.
Niemann recorded 14 coverage tackles his first NFL season in 2021 and was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team as a special-teamer.
- He was originally a sixth-round draft pick.
The Chargers drafted Niemann out of Iowa in the sixth round in 2021 with pick No. 185 overall, the first pick of the sixth round. The Packers drafted a linebacker in the sixth round that year, too – McDuffie, 35 picks later at No. 220 overall.
Niemann was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the league's coaches in his final season at Iowa, where his dad, Jay, is an assistant defensive coach. Jay Niemann was Packers 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness' position coach with the Hawkeyes.
- He's got a brother in the NFL.
Niemann's older brother, Ben, also played at Iowa and has fashioned a seven-year NFL career with Kansas City (2018-21), Arizona (2022), Denver (2023) and Detroit (2024).
