The Green Bay Packers are signing a former top-10 overall draft pick in their first series of roster moves following the 2025 NFL draft last week.
According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, the Packers are signing former Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants linebacker/safety hybrid Isaiah Simmons to their 90-man offseason roster after hosting him for a free-agent visit two weeks earlier.
Simmons — the No. 8 overall pick in 2020 — spent his first three seasons in Arizona and started 37 games at linebacker for the Cardinals before they traded him to New York during training camp in 2023. In his second stop, he started just five games for the Giants defense but contributed on special teams, earning a weekly honor in 2024.
While Simmons has not lived up as a top-10 draft selection, he could find a place with the Packers if he can impress Rich Bisaccia as a special-teamer during training camp. Simmons is more of a safety than a linebacker after requesting a change earlier in his career, but he has the versatility to play multiple roles, including in dime packages.
The Packers also released defensive lineman Leonard Payne in Monday’s roster moves.
Can Isaiah Simmons Find Proper Role With Packers?
Simmons is a bit of an enigma because of his positionless status.
The Cardinals invested in him because he profiled as a Swiss Army knife of a defender who could contribute in several ways. He played outside linebacker, inside linebacker and cornerback (primarily in the slot) for them over his first three seasons, but while he generated some production, he never locked down a position at which he truly excelled.
Even still, Simmons could have upside if Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley believes he can do what the Cardinals and Giants could not and find a way to harness the versatility in the 6-foot-4, 238-pound defender in a more effective manner. He will need to earn his roster spot on special teams, to be sure, but he can give himself a better shot if he can find a unique role on defense and start shining as soon as this spring.
The Packers will also return safeties Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, Kitan Oladipo and Zayne Anderson for the 2025 season to compete with Simmons.
Packers Have Succeeded at Revitalization Projects Before
Whether Simmons will work out or flame out with the Packers remains to be seen, but they have found veterans by the wayside and turned them into stars in the recent past.
The Packers signed cornerback Rasul Douglas off the Cardinals’ practice squad in 2021 and turned him into a full-time starter on the perimeter for their defense. He started 34 games, then netted them a third-round pick from Buffalo at the 2023 trade deadline.
The Packers also found De’Vondre Campbell in post-draft free agency in 2021, signing him to a one-year, $2 million contract and putting him in a position where he played to an All-Pro level — and earned a $50 million extension from the team the next offseason.
Even if the Packers do not find the same success with Simmons, there is little to lose in giving him a chance to see if he can make things work in Hafley’s defense in camp.
