Former Starting Linebacker Barnes Won’t Return to Packers

The Green Bay Packers tendered offensive tackle Yosh Nijman and re-signed tight end Tyler Davis. The third of their restricted free agents, linebacker Krys Barnes, will not return, according to a source.

The Packers will be looking for more speed as they round out the depth chart behind high-profile starters De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker. Isaiah McDuffie, a sixth-round pick in 2021 who impressed last season, will be back for his third season.

Barnes was quite a story. A former high school teammate of presumptive new Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love, Barnes went undrafted in 2020. He landed with Green Bay, failed to make the opening 53-man roster but wound up starting in Week 1.

In his first two seasons, Barnes started 23 games and was part of 161 tackles. The first-round pick used on Walker knocked Barnes out of the starting lineup, and the rise of McDuffie knocked Barnes further down the depth chart.

Nonetheless, he played 141 snaps on defense. Even with relatively minimal playing time, Barnes recorded 29 tackles. His 4.86 snaps per tackle was by far the best on the team; Campbell averaged 7.23 snaps and Walker averaged 7.11.

With a nose for the football and a physical style, Barnes should find a landing place now that he’s an unrestricted free agent.

“That’s going to drive me forever,” he said in 2020 of going undrafted. “I feel like for me, being passed up on by 31 other teams is going to drive me to no end. I want to get better every day, continue to prove that I belong to be here, continue to make those teams feel like they missed on something great.

“I feel like that’s definitely going to be something that is stuck I my head for a while and it’s going to motivate me to keep going, because it’s definitely a feeling that hurt, not being drafted, but it’s going to push me and fuel me each and every day.”

With Campbell, Walker and McDuffie, the Packers only have three linebackers under contract. They could bring back free agent Eric Wilson, a former Vikings starter who led the Packers with 13 tackles on special teams. (Barnes had zero.) Otherwise, they’ll be looking to the draft to build depth behind their solid top three.

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