Packers News: Green Bay signs 3 players following tryouts

The front office swapped out three players for three standouts from the team’s rookie minicamp tryout.

The Green Bay Packers announced a flurry of moves on Monday, as they have made changes to their roster following last week’s rookie minicamp. The Packers released cornerback Anthony Johnson — not to be confused with 2023 draft pick safety Anthony Johnson Jr. — and defensive end Deandre Johnson. They also waived receiver Thyrick Pitts with an injury designation. None of those three players had ever played regular season or postseason snaps for the Packers.

The reason why Green Bay made those moves was to clear the path for three new additions to their team, players who were all tryouts at the Packers’ rookie minicamp. The three players added were receivers Julian Hicks and Dimitri Stanley and offensive lineman Lecitus Smith.

Hicks is an undrafted rookie who spent time at Central Michigan and Akron before dropping down to the FCS level in 2021. In 2023, the 6’2”, 201-pound receiver posted 50 receptions, 834 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns for the team that won the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference and made it all the way to the FCS semifinals.

Stanley is the son of former Packers fourth-round pick Walter Stanley, who caught 101 balls for 1,831 yards and five touchdowns in Green Bay. Stanely also contributed as a returner for the Packers, posting 720 punt return yards and 857 kick return yards in his four seasons in Green Bay. The younger Stanley started his college career at Colorado before transferring to Iowa State in 2022. The sixth-year player recorded 118 receptions for 1,379 yards and five touchdowns at the NCAA level.

Unlike the receivers, Smith was actually a former draft pick. Smith was picked in the sixth round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2022, where he ended up starting two games and playing 10 as a rookie. Since his rookie year, he’s bounced around on the Houston Texans’ and Philadelphia Eagles’ rosters, but has been unable to see regular-season action.

Smith was one of two former draft picks to try out for the Packers last weekend. The other was quarterback Jacob Eason, previously the fourth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2020. It does not look like Eason will end up on Green Bay’s offseason roster, meaning that the team will roll with a quarterback rook of just Jordan Love, 2023 fifth-round pick Sean Clifford and 2024 seventh-round pick Michael Pratt — unless there’s an injury this summer.