Green Bay cut its roster to 53 players on Sunday evening, setting the Packers' initial player pool for the 2026 season and forcing a long list of releases and reserve-list moves before practice squad planning can begin. The team can start building that squad after the waiver process ends at 12 p.m. on Monday.
The move is the one that matters now because it locks in who survived the first round of NFL mandated reductions and who did not. Chris Brooks, MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson were the three running backs kept, while Josh Jacobs was on the Commissioner's exempt list, leaving the backfield in a shape that is not finished yet. At wide receiver, Green Bay kept Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Skyy Moore, Bo Melton and J. Michael Sturdivant. At tight end, the group was Tucker Kraft, Jonnu Smith, Josh Whyle and Mark Redman pending a physical.
That position-by-position breakdown is why the roster cut drew attention beyond the usual churn. Savion Williams was on injured reserve with a designation to return, Luke Musgrave was on the physically unable to perform list, and Micah Parsons was also on the physically unable to perform list. The offensive line count held at 10 with Zach Bako-Bewele, Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan, Jordan Morgan, Anthony Belton, Jacob Monk, Jager Burton, John Williams, Donovan Jennings and Travis Glover, while the edge group included Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox Jr. and Dani Dennis-Sutton.
The unresolved part is built into the list itself. Kaleb Johnson is on the 53-player roster, but only pending a physical, and Mark Redman carries the same qualifier at tight end. That leaves open whether both stay on the active roster once those checks are completed, even as the Packers moved on from Pierre Strong Jr., Damien Martinez and Jaden Nixon, and also released Isaiah Neyor, Will Sheppard, Kaden Prather, Kisean Johnson, Chris Hilton Jr., Drake Dabney, Messiah Swinson, Darian Kinnard, Brant Banks, Dalton Cooper, Josh Gesky, Dylan Barrett and Dillon Wade. McCallan Castles and Thomas Yassmin were waived and injured.
For now, the Packers have done the hard part of roster cutdown day. By Monday afternoon, the focus shifts from trimming to sorting, and then to the quieter business of finding who fits on the practice squad once the waiver process clears.
