Packers Sign Pair of Former Bears

Cornerback Stephen Denmark, a seventh-round pick in 2019, has an elite combination of size and speed.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Along with placing Devin Funchess on injured reserve, the Green Bay Packers signed a pair of former Chicago Bears to fortify their roster for this week’s preseason finale at the Buffalo Bills.

The Packers signed cornerback Stephen Denmark, a seventh-round pick by Chicago in 2019 and an elite size-speed prospect. Denmark spent his first two seasons on the practice squads of the Bears and Cleveland Browns, then spent training camp this summer with the Pittsburgh Steelers but was released last week. He broke up one pass in the preseason.

At Division II Valdosta State, the 6-foot-2 1/2 cornerback was an all-Gulf South Conference first-team selection. He opened his career at receiver, with seven catches as a freshman, 22 catches as a sophomore and one catch in four games as a junior. As a senior, he had three interceptions, 12 passes defensed and eight tackles for losses. At pro day, he ran his 40 in 4.46 seconds with a 43.5-inch vertical leap.

“Stephen Denmark has ridiculous measurables,” Bears GM Ryan Pace said after drafting Denmark. “He’s relatively new to the position – only one year at corner after switching from receiver – so [he’s] a guy we feel has tremendous upside ahead of him and a guy that our defensive coaches, our special-teams coaches and our scouts were equally excited about, just working with that upside and the talent that he has.”

Defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Bucknell in 2018. After spending his rookie season on Chicago’s practice squad, he played in six games with one sack for the Bears in 2019 and in one game for the Minnesota Vikings last season. He was released with Denmark by the Steelers last week. He had one sack and one forced fumble in the preseason.

A four-year starter at Bucknell, Anderson had 30.5 tackles for losses during his final three seasons.

In cutting their roster from 85 players to 80 earlier this week, Green Bay released defensive lineman Josh Agnew.

While it might seem odd to sign two players with less than a week before the cutdown to 53, coach Matt LaFleur sat 30 players for the preseason opener vs. Houston and 32 for the game against the Jets. He expected to rest a similar number of players this week. So, he'll need as many players as possible to get through this game. Moreover, it will give the Packers a sneak peek at some potential practice squad players.

“Certainly, there’s some challenges with having only 80 players,” LaFleur said. “You’ve got to make sure you have enough for the game and there’s going to be some guys that are suited up, but might only play if we’re forced into that situation. I just think for where we’re at as a football team, it’s important for our young guys to get the exposure that they need to so we can make the best decisions for our team moving forward.”