If you’ve been following the Green Bay Packers’ roster over the last couple of weeks, two positions have stood out as potential weaknesses when it comes to the depth of the team: linebacker and the interior offensive line.
At linebacker, the team nearly had to go into their Thanksgiving night matchup against the Miami Dolphins with just three healthy linebackers — as starter Isaiah McDuffie was listed as questionable going into the game — including rookie Ty’Ron Hopper, who has only received defensive snaps in one career NFL game thus far. The Minnesota Vikings also plucked away former first-round pick Jamin Davis from the practice squad two days before Thanksgiving, which only put the team’s depth at the position more into question.
The interior offensive line wasn’t an issue when first-round rookie Jordan Morgan was filling in as a right guard, but the future starter is currently on the injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Over the last two weeks, the Packers’ only backup interior offensive lineman on their 53-man roster has been rookie Jacob Monk, who has been a back-to-back healthy scratch.
All of these factors explain why Green Bay’s signing of two former draft picks, linebacker Michael Barrett and guard Marquis Hayes, on Saturday wasn’t surprising.
Barrett, a smaller coverage linebacker at a listed 5’11”, 232 pounds, was originally drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round in April. He was actually traded to the Seattle Seahawks before the cutdown deadline, leading to a stint for him on their practice squad before being picked up by the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad. The Michigan product was a team captain on the Wolverines’ national championship team.
Michael Barrett’s RAS score takes a hit because of his size and a really poor short shuttle score. But his speed is good enough and he plays faster than that because of his football IQ, instincts. #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/2MzprvqUFW
— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) August 22, 2024
Could he be a little bigger? Sure. Can the Packers really be choosers when they’re so clearly beggars at the linebacker position? Absolutely not.
Hayes was drafted in the seventh round out of Oklahoma two years ago and has spent time with the Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders. He was just released from the Commanders’ practice squad on November 26th after spending the better part of two months with the team.
The loss of Davis meant that the Packers had an open practice squad spot already, but the team released receiver Malik Knowles — one of their four practice squad receivers — as a corresponding roster move to make the math add up. Barrett is now the lone linebacker on the team’s practice squad while Hayes joins Donovan Jennings and Spencer Rolland as the practice squad’s offensive linemen.
