GREEN BAY, Wis. – Christmas came three weeks early for Jordon Riley.
On Monday, Riley was a member of the New York Giants’ practice squad. Riley was at home that night when the Giants played at the Patriots. That’s when his agent, Brandon Smart, called.
The Green Bay Packers needed a defensive tackle and wanted to sign Riley to their 53-man roster.
“Man, this sh** been crazy,” Riley said after practice on Wednesday.
Crazy good. Imagine going from the practice squad of a two-win team to the 53-man roster of a championship contender.
“I’m blessed bro. Excited. Just excited, man,” the 27-year-old continued. “Watching TV at home, then getting a call from my agent telling me I got [signed]. Man, never moved so fast in my life. Opportunity just to be around some winning culture, man. Something in the tradition here, bro, I was doing some research and just all the things that happened here.
“All the great games. It’s just speechless at the moment. Still trying to soak it all in. Everything’s happening fast. I just finished my first practice. Just taking it all in still.”
One of the things that “happened here” was winning the Super Bowl in 2010. An unsung hero from that team was defensive tackle Howard Green.
Green was released by the other New York team, the Jets, at midseason. While driving back to his home in Louisiana, he learned he had been signed by the Packers. He played in nine games with three starts during the regular season, then started three games in the playoffs – including the Super Bowl, when his quarterback hit on Ben Roethlisberger resulted in Nick Collins’ pick-six.
Green was a mountain of a man. So is Riley, who the team lists at 6-foot-5 and 338 pounds. His job description with the Packers is a simple one.
“Just stopping the run,” he said. “We got so much talent in the pass rush, but we ain’t going to get there if we don’t stop the run.
“So, I think I’ll come in just stopping the run. Making it my priority to stop the run and then obviously first-, second-down pass, if that comes then making my rushes to go get a sack. But at the end of the day, I feel like they brought me in to come stop the run. Like help out on that end and then let our edge rushers eat.”
Riley’s fortunes changed in an instant, but he’s not unfamiliar with big changes. He played at four colleges – North Carolina, Garden City Community College, Nebraska and, finally, Oregon. He went undrafted in 2023. He started five games for the Giants in 2024. He failed to make their roster in 2025.
The Packers had a glaring need for defensive line help after Devonte Wyatt sustained a season-ending ankle injury against Detroit on Thursday. That left the Packers with third-year pros Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks and rookies Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse. That’s a lack of depth and a lack of experience.
Enter Riley, who played 385 snaps for the Giants in 2023 and 2024 and had four tackles for losses.
Up next comes a crash course in learning the playbook.
“It’s different because now you’re more timid compared to knowing the defense and you can go down and play fast,” he said. “I feel like I’m a rookie all over again just trying to learn the defense. But there’s guys, leaders out there that help you out, so I’m getting the hang of it pretty good.”
At least there is a familiar face. Riley, Wooden and Giants star Dexter Lawrence have trained at Clemson the past couple offseasons.
Wooden learned of the addition when he turned around and saw Riley in a team meeting.
“Jordon’s a heavy-handed guy,” Wooden said. “He comes from the Giants, where they played a lot of shade, a lot of zero. They’ve done a lot of different things. For him to come in, it’s going to be an easy transition I feel like. He’s a get-along guy. He goes along. He doesn’t cause any (issues). For us, he’s going to be great. He’s going to fit right in with us.”
