The Packers are expected to have the same starting right tackle as last season when they take the field in September, but there will be a different name on the back of his jersey.
Zach Tom told reporters on Sunday that he has changed his last name to Bako-Bewele. The name is a combination of names from his grandparents and the tackle explained that he wanted to honor his family’s Nigerian heritage.
“That’s really the main reason why I did it,” Bako-Bewele said, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “I want to have a name, especially when I start having kids, I want to have a name that I can pass down where it represents where they came from, where I came from. I just feel like that name — people will see that name and have a good understanding of who I am, where I come from.”
Bako-Bewele is going into his fifth season with the Packers and he signed a four-year extension before the 2025 campaign.
Packers tight end Tucker Kraft was able to ride a bike to the practice field — and to practice on it — on Friday, his first work since suffering a torn ACL on November 2.
With the primary goal having him ready to go for Week 1, Kraft could be back in the mix when the Packers engage in a joint practice with the Cardinals on August 26.
Coach Matt LaFleur said it’s a realistic target.
“I mean, he’s got to hit all the benchmarks along the way, and if that’s the case, then absolutely,” LaFleur told reporters on Sunday.
So far, LaFleur is happy with what he has seen from the third-round pick in the 2023 draft.
“I think we’re obviously taking it slow with him because he’s such an important player to us,” LaFleur said. “But, yeah, I think he handled everything great.”
Kraft is in the last year of a rookie deal that pays him $3.6 million in 2026. He has said he has no qualms about practicing without the long-term security he has earned.
And while LaFleur praised Kraft for doing so, here’s the inescapable reality — if Kraft gets injured again, he won’t get the kind of multi-year deal he’d prefer to receive. At that point, the Packers would press the brakes, possibly with a one-year deal for 2027, until Kraft would be able to demonstrate that he’s back to form.
Of course, Kraft may feel compelled to do that now, given his 2025 knee injury. Which requires Kraft to take a calculated risk aimed at securing his reward. Ideally for Kraft, he’ll get it before Week 1.
The Packers signed long snapper Cal Adomitis and wide receiver Kaden Prather on Friday, the team announced. Prather’s agreement was previously reported.
In corresponding moves, the Packers released kicker Lenny Krieg and waived/injured wide receiver Brenden Rice.
Adomitis is a fifth-year player from the University of Pittsburgh who originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Bengals in 2022. He played 49 regular-season games and three postseason contests in three seasons in Cincinnati.
He was released toward the end of training camp last season.
Adomitis ended up playing nine games for the Eagles last season before finishing the season on the Steelers’ practice squad.
Prather entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Bills in 2025 but was waived/injured at the end of training camp. He helped the Louisville Kings win the UFL championship this spring.
Krieg was signed earlier this week to compete with sixth-round pick Trey Smack for the kicking job.
Rice, who was claimed off waivers from the Raiders in May, was on the non-football injury list. The son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice joined Las Vegas’ practice squad late last season after also spending time on the practice squads of the Seahawks and Patriots.
He was with the Chargers in training camp last summer.
The Packers took tight end Tucker Kraft off the PUP list on Friday and he will start being phased into the team’s practices over the near future.
Kraft has been rehabbing a torn ACL and said on Friday that doctors told him his knee looks “spectacular,” which leaves him feeling like there’s no reason not to dive into the practice work needed to get him ready for Week 1. Kraft’s plans for ramping up his work do not include holding anything back while waiting for a contract extension to get hammered out with the team.
“Absolutely. I understand other peoples’ worries in that facet,” Kraft said, via Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com. “However, I myself, I’m just worried about getting back to who I was pre-injury.”
If Kraft weren’t coming off an injury, he might opt for a different approach to this summer’s practices but getting back from an ACL requires him to go full speed ahead right out of the gate.
Earlier this week, Packers tight end Tucker Kraft said he was expecting to begin practicing “very soon.”
That day has come.
Head coach Matt LaFleur said in his press conference that Kraft has been activated off the physically unable to perform list and is set to practice on Friday.
Kraft tore the ACL in his right knee in early November.
The tight end will begin practicing on a limited basis, as LaFleur said Kraft won’t participate in team drills on Friday.
“[W]e’re just going to kind of get him back ingrained into the process, into individual,” LaFleur said. “What’s great is when they do come off PUP, now he can partake in some of the walk-through periods, especially that we do in the evenings. So, just to get him back hearing the call, lining up, and then just going through that.”
With Kraft coming off of the PUP list before the end of July, his chances of playing Week 1 are rising.
Kraft caught 32 passes for 489 yards and six touchdowns in the eight games last season before his injury.
