The Green Bay Packers have cut loose two defensive linemen from their roster in preparation for their veterans to report for 2025 NFL training camp next week.
According to the team’s official transaction wire, the Packers released defensive tackles Cameron Young and Nesta Jada Silvera on Friday in a series of pre-camp roster moves.
Young — a 2023 fourth-round pick for the Seattle Seahawks — signed with the Packers in June during their mandatory minicamp with hopes of vying for a depth role in their defensive tackle rotation in 2025. He had played 17 games and made one start in his first two seasons with the Seahawks, but an injury upended most of his 2024 season.
Instead, though, the Packers opted to thin the herd at defensive tackle without giving him or Silvera much of a fighting chance to win a roster spot with the team for 2025.
The Packers now have three available openings on their 90-man roster despite having 88 total players in the fold, as kicker Alex Hale has an international player exemption and will not count against their 90-man roster total until the start of the regular season.
Packers Also Sign Anthony Belton to Rookie Contract
While the Packers did not add any players to their roster with Friday’s moves, they did lock one of their rookie draft selections — second-round Anthony Belton — into place.
According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, the Packers finalized their rookie contract with Belton on Friday, signing him to a four-year deal worth $8.016 million that included $2.47 million in bonuses and guaranteed him nearly 73% of the contract’s total value.
As Wilson noted, Belton’s guaranteed percentage (72.95%) is a “major increase” from what last year’s No. 54 overall selection (Cleveland defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr.) received — which was roughly 61.95% of his $7.069 million four-year rookie contract.
With Belton’s signing (a move that Green Bay announced Friday), the Packers now have all eight members of their rookie draft class under contract ahead of the start of camp.
How Will Packers Go About Filling 3 Roster Spots?
The Packers now have three roster vacancies with less than a week to go until they hold their first training-camp practice on July 23, and expectations are they will look to fill all three of them before they dive too deeply into the on-field action this summer.
The question is: At what positions are they most likely to add more talent?
The Packers’ decision to release two defensive tackles suggests they feel comfortable with their depth at the position, but it is possible they could look to replace two less-established players with a more formidable veteran who can improve the competition at the position heading into 2025. Former Chicago Bears starter DeMarcus Walker is still unsigned and possesses inside-out versatility that could appeal to the Packers.
The Packers could also use their roster openings to sign camp bodies who can tide them over in practice until some of their injury-list players are ready to return. Cornerback seems like the priority position with seventh-round rookie Micah Robinson landing on the active/physically unable to perform list to start camp — and depth already thin.
