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The Green Bay Packers are bringing in a rookie free agent to help provide some additional depth for their significantly banged-up offensive line.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst signed rookie center Michal Menet to the practice squad on Wednesday, December 15. Menet was a seventh-round pick for the Arizona Cardinals back in April’s NFL draft who had two short stints in their practice squad. He was also a three-year starter for Penn State prior to reaching the NFL.
Menet and the Packers had connected on a few occasions before his signing. They brought him in for an official free-agent visit in late September when second-round rookie center Josh Myers was dealing with a finger injury, then called him again at the beginning of November after Myers was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. While Menet left both times without a contract, it would seem he built a strong enough connection in those meetings to get a mid-December callback from the team.
The Packers shed a few bodies from their practice squad to start the week, waiving quarterback Danny Etling on Monday and promoting wide receiver Juwann Winfree to their active roster on Tuesday. Now, those left-behind roster spots belong to Menet and 2017 fourth-round receiver Josh Malone — who was officially signed on December 14.
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Packers Eyeing Another Rookie for Promotion?
The Packers are once again having to move pieces around on their offensive line after losing Billy Turner to a knee injury, but could that mean giving another rookie on their practice squad his first opportunity to shine on the active roster?
For the first time this season, the Packers used one of their weekly practice-squad protections on sixth-round rookie guard Cole Van Lanen. Typically the protections are reserved for essential backups, such as third-string quarterback Kurt Benkert or backup kicker JJ Molson, but they have also been used on players who they intended to elevate to their game-day roster in the week ahead, such as wide receiver Juwann Winfree and outside linebacker La’Darius Hamilton.
Van Lanen was the third and final offensive lineman the Packers took in the 2021 NFL draft, joining the roster along with Myers and fourth-rounder Royce Newman. While he did not stand out enough in training camp to win a 53-man roster spot, the Packers made sure to stash him for development on their practice squad and have kept him there since. Especially with Ben Braden currently situated as the team’s lone backup tackle, another guard for the trenches could be essential in Week 15.
Jordan Love Activated From COVID-19 List
While Menet was the only actual roster addition on the day, the Packers also moved a step closer to having backup quarterback Jordan Love back in the lineup. According to the NFL’s transaction wire, they activated him from the reserve/COVID-19 list on December 15 and were granted a roster exemption that allows them to wait until later in the week before officially adding him back to their 53-man roster.
The Packers were forced to work with third-stringer Kurt Benkert and Danny Etling, a temporary practice-squad signing, as their backup quarterback options behind Aaron Rodgers for Week 14’s game against Chicago. The sooner Love can get back into the fold, the better — especially with Rodgers actively dealing with a broken toe that he said experienced a setback during his performance against the Bears.
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