GREEN BAY – With one week to go in training camp and time running out, Kamal Hadden never lost confidence.
In a crowded competition, the young Packers cornerback already had missed time in camp due to a hip injury, and when he returned for the second preseason game at Indianapolis, it wasn't his best showing.
But when he took to Ray Nitschke Field for a critical joint practice with the Seahawks, Hadden was amped up and on his game. At the Packers' defensive end of the field, his voice was audible anytime the ball came his way.
He broke up a couple of passes, making his presence known and heard, and then carried that swagger into the preseason finale against Seattle, breaking up a couple more. The late rise in his play earned him a spot on the Packers' 53-man roster, another step in a challenging football journey that he hopes hasn't reached its zenith.
"I just appreciate it right now. I just appreciate the opportunity, I appreciate everything," Hadden said after Wednesday's practice about making the 53. "But just making the team really ain't my goal. That really ain't my thing.
"I want to go out there and compete and show what I can do in this league and make a name for myself."
It's a good bet the Seahawks remember him. Asked about all the chirping during the joint practice, Hadden suggested he wasn't the one who started it. But he certainly didn't mind the energy it provided to help him respond.
"They got me woke up early out there," he said. "I was on their sideline and they were giving me a little smack, so I made a play and I feel like that locked me in, and really showed what I can be when I totally lock in."
That workout plus the multiple PBUs in the preseason finale were the closing statements in his case for a roster spot, which had eluded him as a rookie in 2024 when the Chiefs drafted him in the sixth round out of Tennessee but then waived him at the end of camp.
The 6-1, 192-pounder subsequently signed to Green Bay's practice squad and spent last season there, getting elevated for gameday twice and playing a handful of snaps on special teams.
No stranger to the hard road – the Detroit area prep began his college career at Independence (Kan.) Community College before making his way to Tennessee, where he started 15 games over three years – Hadden came back for another shot with the Packers, whose depth chart at cornerback was wide open beyond the top three at the position.
After Keisean Nixon, newcomer Nate Hobbs and Carrington Valentine, it was anybody's roster to make amongst a pair of seventh-round draft picks (Kalen King, Micah Robinson), a receiver switching to corner (Bo Melton), a group of journeyman veterans (Gregory Junior, Isaiah Dunn, Corey Ballentine), and a couple of undrafted prospects.
Ultimately Melton and Hadden, both underdogs in different senses, prevailed. Robinson also made the initial 53 but was subsequently released to make room for veteran linebacker Nick Niemann, who was signed Wednesday.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst didn't say Hadden made the team based just on the last week, but he noted how he finished strong with his arrow pointing up. That was in question after the Indy game, when Hadden allowed several completions in coverage, but he didn't get shaken.
He chalked it up to knocking rust off from the injury, getting readjusted to the speed at this level, and playing a whole game for the first time since college.
With one week to go, he didn't adopt so much a bounce-back mindset as a charge-ahead one – playing free, reading his keys and, yeah, bringing the verbal energy.
"If you're out there talking, you've got to hold it down," he said of the added motivation. "I went out there and played with my confidence, played with all my skill set, and I really just wasn't worried about mistakes."
Head Coach Matt LaFleur complimented him on his "sticky" coverage after the Seahawks game, but his play wasn't flawless, as Seattle's late touchdown came on a crossing route against his coverage. He's got responsibilities on special teams to nail down, too.
Hadden is quick to admit his focus moving forward is being more consistent, and he looks to follow the examples set by veteran secondary mates in the locker room like Xavier McKinney and Zayne Anderson. He's admired their professional approach and will keep watching them as he looks to what's next.
"It's good right now, but I'm just trying to keep that mentality of keep going up, keep ascending," he said. "Don't get complacent or don't get too happy, and I feel like that's where the consistency will come in. When I let that 'feel like I made it' or 'I arrived' type feel come in, that's when your consistency starts to shake a little bit.
"The most (important) thing I showed is they can trust me. I know what to do, I can execute, and I can play. That's the main thing here, showing they can trust you, showing you can hold up your end and there's not really like a dip or downfall."
