NFL teams look for an edge in any way possible. The Green Bay Packers might have just found one in their Week 1 NFC North rivalry matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
According to the NFL transaction wire, the Packers signed defensive back Kahlef Hailassie to their practice squad Wednesday. Hailassie was one of two additions Green Bay made to its practice squad four days before the season opener. The Packers also signed running back Damon Bankston.
In Hailassie, Green Bay is signing a defensive back who just parted ways with the Vikings this week.
Hailassie spent the entire offseason with Minnesota. The team waived him at the NFL’s roster deadline on August 30. The following day, the Vikings added the defensive back to their practice squad.
Minnesota, though, released Hailassie from its practice squad Tuesday.
Now in Green Bay, Hailassie will count as a veteran addition to the Packers practice squad. Hailassie has appeared in 10 NFL games during his career, all of which came with the Cleveland Browns from 2023-24.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Packers confirmed signing Hailassie to the practice squad. The Packers called him a safety while the NFL transaction wire labeled him a defensive back.
Packers Sign Safety Kahlef Hailassie to Practice Squad
Hailassie will give the Packers additional defensive backfield depth from their practice squad. But the more significant storyline entering Week 1 is whether the safety could provide Green Bay an edge at Minnesota.
Hailassie never appeared in a regular season game with the Vikings. But he experienced two stints with the Brian Flores’ defense.
First, the safety joined Minnesota during 2025 free agency. He spent the entire summer with the Vikings before the team waived him on roster cutdown day. During the 2025 campaign, Hailassie was with the Jacksonville Jaguars for two months, but he rejoined the Vikings on the practice squad in November.
Since then, he had been with the Vikings until Tuesday.
Flores’ defensive system holds the reputation as one of the most complicated in the league. So Hailassie might not be able to pass along a substantial amount of information given that he never played a snap for Flores.
But whatever information he can share might still be useful, as again, Flores’s defense is a difficult matchup for even the best quarterbacks.
The Packers will visit the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium for Week 1 on Sunday, September 13. Green Bay is 1-4 in its last five visits to Minnesota.
Green Bay Also Added RB Damon Bankston
It remains to be seen if Hailassie will be more than just an informant for the Packers. But Green Bay’s other practice squad addition, Bankston, could provide crucial depth.
Packers starting running back Josh Jacobs will open the regular season on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. MarShawn Lloyd will have the first opportunity to replace Jacobs, but the Packers also have Chris Brooks and Kaleb Johnson on the active roster. Green Bay acquired Johnson, who is a former third-round pick, from the Pittsburgh Steelers after the preseason.
Bankston is now one of two running back options the Packers will have on their practice squad. The other is fourth-year player Pierre Strong Jr.
Packers Sign Ex-Vikings Safety Just Days Before Week 1 Showdown