To get to 53 players on the roster, the Packers continue to keep linebacker Micah Parsons off the roster. As expected, he has been moved from active/physically unable to perform to reserve/PUP.
Elsewhere, the Packers have released the following players: LS Cal Adomitis; T Brant Banks; G Dylan Barrett; CB Shemar Bartholomew; T Dalton Cooper; DT Jaden Crumedy; TE Drake Dabney; CB MJ Devonshire Jr.; G Josh Gesky; WR Chris Hilton Jr.; CB Domani Jackson; WR Kisean Johnson (KEY-shawn); EDGE Nyjalik Kelly; S Murvin Kenion III; T/G Darian Kinnard; RB Damien Martinez; EDGE Arron Mosby; WR Isaiah Neyor; RB Jaden Nixon; S Mark Perry; WR Kaden Prather; LB TJ Quinn; WR Will Sheppard; CB Jaylin Simpson; DT Nazir Stackhouse; RB Pierre Strong Jr.; TE Messiah Swinson; G Dillon Wade; EDGE Arden Walker; and LB Kristian Welch.
The Packers also waived/injured TE McCallan Castle, S Trey Dean III, and TE Thomas Yassmin, placed EDGE Collin Oliver and WR Savion Williams on injured reserve/designated for return, and placed TE Luke Musgrave, Parsons, and DT Jordon Riley on reserve/physically unable to perform.
The Packers have two quarterbacks on the roster — Jordan Love and Tyrod Taylor. Also, pending the physical that will finalize the trade with the Steelers for running back Kaleb Johnson, the Packers will have three tailbacks: Chris Brooks, MarShawn Lloyd, and Johnson.
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We’ve known for some time that Packers defensive end Micah Parsons would not be ready to play at the start of the regular season and the team made it official on Sunday.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that they have moved Parsons to the regular season version of the physically unable to perform list. The move means Parsons will not be eligible to play until the team’s fifth game of the season.
Parsons’s return could take even longer than that, however. He said earlier this month that the team’s Week 6 game against the Cowboys would be the “most optimistic” date for him to return from last season’s torn ACL.
Whether that’s a realistic return date for Parsons or not will become clearer over the coming weeks and the Packers will have to count on others to pick up the defensive slack until he’s back in the lineup.
As various teams and players brace for the possibility of paid leave, one key player for the Packers has gotten clarity.
The NFL has announced that it has placed running back Josh Jacobs on the Commissioner Exempt list.
Jacobs was arrested in May on five different counts arising from a domestic incident. He was formally charged this week with a pair of misdemeanors, including battery.
The NFL has the ability to use paid leave in certain circumstances. The league regards the move as not punishment (even though it absolutely is).
In theory, the paid leave lasts until the criminal case is resolved. That puts extra pressure on the player to accept a plea deal, when he otherwise could be inclined to fight the case through its normal conclusion.
It’s also possible that he will be reinstated from paid leave before the prosecution ends. That happened two years ago with Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers, who missed seven games on paid leave. After the 2024 season, he was acquitted.
“Josh Jacobs has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, which is an administrative procedure used by the NFL while a matter is being reviewed,” Jacobs’s lawyers said in a statement. “It is not a final determination. Josh respects the NFL process, the Packers, and his Coaches and Teammates. He looks forward to his return to the team and the NFL.”
A first-round pick in 2019, Jacobs spent five years with the Raiders before signing with the Packers in 2024. He rushed for 1,329 yards during his first year in Green Bay and 929 in 2025. He scored 16 total touchdowns in 2024 and 14 last year.
Jacobs has a base salary of $10.2 million. He’ll receive that money while on paid leave. Whether Jacobs will receive $41,176 in per-game roster bonuses likely depends on the specific language of his contract.
Either way, the Packers won’t have Jacobs until further notice. His absence will create opportunities for other tailbacks on the team, including Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd.
There’s apparently video of the incident that led to Jacobs’s charges. If/when it’s released, public opinion could turn sharply enough to make it hard for him to get back on the field. On Friday, coach Matt LaFleur said he expects Jacobs to be a member of the team.
The Rams are trading tight end Mark Redman to the Packers, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Redman, who played at Louisville, went undrafted in 2025 and signed with the Rams as a rookie free agent.
He spent last season on the Rams’ practice squad but did not see any regular-season action.
In three preseason games this summer, Redman caught six passes for 63 yards.
Redman was not going to make the roster in Los Angeles, with the Rams having a stacked tight ends room. He also likely wouldn’t have cleared waivers to return to their practice squad.
Redman will provide the Packers with much-needed depth at the position.
Running back Kaleb Johnson announced his own trade to the Packers before multiple reports confirmed the Steelers had dealt him on Sunday afternoon.
“Appreciate it Steelers Nation. Let’s do it Packers,” Johnson wrote on social media.
The Packers have uncertainty at the position, with starter Josh Jacobs, who is charged with two misdemeanors related to his May arrest in Wisconsin. Jacobs could go on paid leave while the league investigates the domestic incident that prompted the charges.
Johnson, 23, provides the Packers with insurance.
He entered the NFL as a third-round pick of the Steelers in 2025 and totaled 29 touches for 78 yards in 10 games.
As all NFL franchises scramble to reduce their rosters to the maximum of 53 players as of 6:00 p.m. ET today, the possibility of paid leave lingers for several players and teams.
The Seahawks officially signed cornerback Terrion Arnold on Saturday, but he has yet to be officially placed on the Commissioner Exempt list. If that doesn’t happen before today’s deadline, they’ll have to devote to him a spot on the 53-man roster that could have been filled by another player.
Several other players are facing off-field issues that could result in paid leave, at some point. They include Rams receiver Puka Nacua, Rams offensive lineman Alaric Jackson, Packers running back Josh Jacobs, and Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper.
If they’re not placed on paid leave before 6:00 p.m. ET, they’ll occupy one of the 53-man roster spots. They’ll only move off the roster if/when the league exercises its prerogative to put them on the Commissioner Exempt list.
Under the Personal Conduct Policy, paid leave doesn’t happen until a player is formally charged with a felony or a crime of violence or the NFL concludes through its own investigation that a violation may have occurred or the NFL believes, as to an alleged crime of violence, that further investigation is warranted.
Will any players other than Arnold (who has been formally charged with eight felonies arising from an alleged armed robbery and kidnapping) be placed on paid leave? For now, it’s not known by the players or by the teams.
Free agent tight end Jonnu Smith agreed to a one-year deal with the Packers earlier this week. Smith signed his deal on Saturday, and the Packers needed to make room.
In a corresponding move, the Packers waived defensive back Travion Fluellen, the team announced.
Fluellen signed with the Packers on Aug. 11.
Fluellen played collegiately at Houston Baptist for one season before transferring to Middle Tennessee State.
In three seasons at Middle Tennessee State, he played 36 games and recorded 197 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, one sack, five interceptions and 16 pass breakups. As a senior in 2023, he ended the season ranked third on the team with 64 tackles, including 2.5 stops for loss, a team-high three interceptions and three pass breakups.
Fluellen went undrafted in 2024, signing with the Saints as a college free agent.
Fluellen spent the final five weeks of the 2024 season on the Saints’ practice squad, but he did not appear in a game. The Saints signed him to a futures contract after the season.
New Orleans waived him in June 2025, and he was not signed elsewhere last year.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs is charged with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property, but head coach Matt LaFleur expects Jacobs to remain with the team.
“I fully anticipate him being a member of our team,” LaFleur said of Jacobs after Friday night’s preseason finale.
Asked about the court process with Jacobs facing charges, LaFleur said the Packers will respect that process but believe Jacobs will be part of their team.
“I think you’ve got to let everything play out, but I anticipate him being a member of our football team,” LaFleur said.
Because the woman who accused Jacobs of battery was his girlfriend, the NFL may invoke its typical approach to domestic violence cases, which could include putting Jacobs on paid leave while the legal process plays out, and then suspending him six games if there is a finding against him. That could mean Jacobs missing a significant period of time, and LaFleur said he doesn’t know whether Jacobs will be on the field Week One.
“I can’t really comment on that, because I don’t know,” LaFleur said.
Packers third-string quarterback Kyle McCord had an excellent game in the preseason finale, throwing for four touchdown passes and leading a fourth-quarter comeback as the Packers beat the Cardinals 42-38. And it was Packers first-string quarterback Jordan Love’s voice in McCord’s helmet during that comeback.
Love was given the play calling duties by Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, who delegated the duties to offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich for the first half and surprised Love by making it his job in the second half.
“Steno called the first half, did an outstanding job, and then we had J-Love call the second half,” LaFleur said. “That was pretty cool, to hear his demeanor on the headset and how calm, cool and collected he was throughout the entire game, especially during those critical moments. That’s what we see on the field, too.”
It was the first time Love had called plays, and LaFleur didn’t tell him he would have the job until they were on the field before the game.
“I just went up to him. It’s not like he had time to prep. I was just like, ‘Hey, you want to call the second half?’” LaFleur said. “He said, ‘Sure. Yeah, I’ll do it.’ And he did it and he did an outstanding job.”
McCord also did an outstanding job, and might have given the Packers a tough decision for the 53-player roster. Love is the No. 1 quarterback and Tyrod Taylor is No. 2, but the Packers might have to consider keeping three quarterbacks rather than risking another team claiming McCord before Green Bay can put him on the practice squad. Love helped McCord look good.
The misdemeanor charges against Packers running back Josh Jacobs arise from a domestic incident. And a portion of the incident apparently was captured by the surveillance system at Jacobs’s house.
Via the incident report posted by Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, “Jacobs grabbed [the victim] and threw her to the ground and she struck her head, suffering an injury. Jacobs then took her phone from her while she was on the ground. [She] laid on the ground for a while and then struggled to walk back into the house.” The incident report strongly suggests that this altercation appears on the video.
As everyone learned nearly 12 years ago in the Ray Rice case, if video exists the video eventually will emerge. And seeing the video will spark a much stronger action than knowing the video exists.
It could be enough to prompt the NFL to place Jacobs on paid leave, even though the charges are misdemeanors and not felonies. Depending on the specific content of the video, the Packers could also release him.
For now, the Packers have issued a predictably perfunctory statement.
“We are aware of the charges brought against Josh Jacobs,” the team said. “We will continue to cooperate with the NFL as we work through the process. We will have no further comment at this time.”
Jacobs’s lawyers also have issued a statement, which omits the typical insistence that their client is innocent: “The Brown County District Attorney has reviewed evidence and elected to file misdemeanor charges against Josh that do not include domestic violence. The allegations will be addressed in court, and not in the media. Mr. Jacobs respects the District Attorney’s office and the process it followed.”
Although the Personal Conduct Policy applies to a wide range of off-field misconduct, the league typically takes a stronger position in cases involving domestic violence; the fact that Jacobs’s lawyers claim the charges of battery and criminal damage to property “do not include domestic violence” does not change the domestic nature of the incident.
Regardless of whether Jacobs is placed on paid leave, he’s subject to a baseline suspension of six games — based either on any resolution pursuant to which Jacobs accepts responsibility for the situation or through an independent investigation that the league conducts.
