Winners and Losers from Packers Roster Cuts

It’s been a pretty remarkable ride for Robinson, who at this time last year was playing his first season of FBS-level football at Tulane.

As his college position coach, J.J. McCleskey, said: “I was fortunate to play eight years in the National Football League. We always talked about the moment that he’s going to get. If he takes advantage of it like he should, then great things are going to happen. This kid really does a great job of just making plays.”

Winner: S Jaylin Simpson

Jaylin Simpson didn’t make the roster. Really, he wasn’t a consideration. Signed to the team for the final week of training camp, a source said there’s a good chance that Simpson will sign to the practice squad on Wednesday.

A fifth-round pick by the Colts last year, he’ll have a chance to hone his slot/cornerback versatility if he makes it back to the P-squad. That’s a win.

Winner: LS Matt Orzech

From training camp through the first half of the season, Matt Orzech’s snaps were consistently inconsistent. That included a wayward snap that Daniel Whelan rescued on Brandon McManus’ game-winning field goal against Houston. 

Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia didn’t want to hear a word about it, though.

“I have absolutely no concern,” Bisaccia interrupted. “You can save the rest of your question.”

Why such trust? “Because I see him every day,” Bisaccia said. “I see over 70 snaps a day every day. The guy’s been with us for two years so my experience, my wisdom tells me he’s a really good player. I’ll stand by that.”

Bisaccia was correct. The Packers didn’t sign a challenger this offseason, meaning Orzech was flying solo through camp. This summer, he was perfect. There was a snap or two that might have been a little high or a little low, but it was easy work for Whelan.

That’s why Orzech, who at age 30 is the second-oldest player on the roster, was given a three-year contract extension on Tuesday.

Winner: CB Bo Melton

It goes without saying that Bo Melton was perhaps the biggest winner of them all. At receiver, his path to a roster spot was probably permanently closed with the additions of Matthew Golden and Savion Williams.

On defense? At least he had a shot. A small shot, maybe, but a shot.

For every Sam Shields, there were countless receivers who failed upon moving to cornerback. It’s just too difficult to take skills learned over a few weeks or months to consistently cover receivers who learned their skills over years or a decade.

But Melton did it. He never looked out of place. If Isaiah Simmons looked like a fish out of water trying to play linebacker, Melton looked like a dolphin.

By midway through training camp, it was abundantly clear that Melton was going to make the 53-man roster.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting to make tons of plays,” Melton said before the preseason. “I ain’t made a million of them, but I’ve made some plays. I was like, ‘OK,’ so I did surprise myself with the skills I brought to the table, I would say.”

Loser: RB MarShawn Lloyd

A third-round pick last year, Lloyd had seven touches as a rookie. Meanwhile, this is the seventh time he’s been sidelined. In order, it’s been hip, hamstring, ankle, appendicitis, hamstring, groin and, now, a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve/designated for return.

Putting Lloyd on IR was prudent after he was injured making an impressive catch of a deep pass by Malik Willis at the Colts. Still, that means he’ll be sidelined for the first four games of the season. It’s not just the games, though. It’s the four weeks of practice time that he’ll miss. Hadden has been out of the lineup on so many occasions that he just needs to get out there day after day, week after week.

“I don’t know what to make of it other than the fact that he’s had to fight through a lot of adversity,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Hopefully, he can rebound from this and we can get him back at some point in time, because he certainly should has shown a skill-set and play-making ability..”

Loser: OT Kadeem Telfort

The Packers acquired Darian Kinnard from the Eagles for a sixth-round pick on Monday. At that point, you knew it was going to cost somebody his job.

Kinnard was a fifth-round pick in 2022. In three years in the NFL, he’s played in three games. That’s not much of a track record, but the Packers didn’t send a 2027 draft pick to the Eagles just because of Kinnard’s championship pedigree. They did it to add critical depth to Green Bay’s offensive line.

The addition of Kinnard meant the subtraction of Kadeem Telfort, who played in all 16 games last season (mostly on special teams). Telfort had a solid preseason but the Packers clearly believe Kinnard is an upgrade.

Loser: LB Kristian Welch

When the Packers released Isaiah Simmons, it seemed Kristian Welch had finally crossed the finish line with his childhood favorite team.

Welch joined the Packers in 2023 and was a solid performer on special teams. While he was a star in training camp in 2024, he didn’t make the roster. In free agency this offseason, after splitting last season between Denver and Baltimore, the native of Iola, Wis., re-signed with the Packers.

“I went and signed here and went and surprised my parents at their house,” Welch said last week. “They were like in tears, speechless. It was a pretty fun moment.”

Welch had another solid preseason and was excellent against the Seahawks on Saturday.

“I think I’ve done some good things,” he said. “Certainly not perfect. There’s always things I’m trying to improve on, like anything. I’m excited to get to the regular season, hopefully here.”

Welch will play somewhere this season but it won’t be here. The Packers released Welch, too, leaving the team with only four linebackers at the moment.

“There’s a lot of stuff out of the players’ control,” Welch said, clearly touching the brakes on his optimism. “There’s a lot of outside stuff, different variables. I’ve been at it long enough to be on the good side of it and the not-so-great side. I keep that same mindset. Have I slipped? Maybe. Everybody has doubts that creep in maybe in their head here or there but my faith is in Christ. That’s the backbone of my faith. At the end of the day, I’ll be OK. I’ll be good either way.”

Loser: LB Isaiah Simmons

What’s next for Isaiah Simmons?

The eighth pick of the 2020 draft, Simmons signed with the Packers because they “had the best plan, was most excited about me and liked me.”

The plan was to play linebacker. Not slot. Not edge. Not safety.

“Honestly, when I came here, they were nothing but upfront,” Simmons said. “They were like, ‘We’re just going to be completely candid. Most of our guys are coming back. There are a few pieces that we need and you happen to be one of them.’

“So, they let me know that in the other places that they’re good at their position, which, that’s amazing, because a lot of times when I had to be moved around, it was due to injuries and guys not being able to play or some people maybe weren’t good enough to play there, so then I would have to be moved around and whatnot. That was actually really encouraging to come in and know that I was going to have a specific role with how I was going to help the team and I could focus on that.”

It wasn’t enough. Simmons, presumably, will get another shot in the league. How can you not be enamored by his skills and stats? But if he couldn’t make it work in Green Bay, will he ever be able to maximize his potential?

Loser: CB Kalen King

After spending all his rookie season on the practice squad, Kalen King allowed one catch for 1 yard in the preseason. By the end of training camp, he was working with the No. 1 defense. Sure, it was due to injuries, but the “best five” without Xavier McKinney and Nate Hobbs included moving Javon Bullard from the slot to safety and inserting King in the slot.

After Saturday’s game, King spoke confidently when asked if he’d done enough.

“Yes. Definitely,” he said.

As it turns out, he didn’t. The Packers released King and kept Kamal Hadden and rookie Micah Robinson.

King covered well. He played physically. Both facets of the game showed up against Seattle, especially when he ducked under a pulling Seahawks lineman and ran down quarterback Jalen Milroe.

“It always feels good to make plays out there,” King said. “Being that I made plays today, it only makes me feel better about the situation.”

Presumably, the Packers viewed King as a slot-only defender. That will be Bullard’s domain, and Keisean Nixon and Nate Hobbs have extensive histories. At 6-foot-1, Hadden has size to play perimeter corner. Robinson is shorter than King (5-10 7/8 compared to 5-foot-11 1/4) but considerably faster (4.38 compared to 4.61).

King will land somewhere, perhaps back on Green Bay’s practice squad. But if what Kind put on tape in 2025 wasn’t good enough, he might never be good enough, no different than with Welch.