Packers releasing former first-round pick

Simmons, 27, was a two-year starter at Clemson and won the Butkus Award as college football’s best linebacker in 2019. The Cardinals used the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 draft on him. 

Simmons signed a four-year, $20,664,055 rookie contract that includes a $12,588,404 signing bonus. Arizona wound up trading him to the Giants in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick.

He was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent after the Cardinals declined his fifth-year option in May 2023, and he opted to remain in New York on a one-year deal. Simmons then signed with Green Bay this offseason.

In 2024, Simmons appeared in all 17 games for the Giants and made one start. He recorded 21 tackles and one forced fumble.