Packers Sign Two Cornerbacks, Long Snapper, Release Three Players

On Tuesday at Green Bay Packers training camp, the team signed cornerback Don Callis. Plus, there’s some big injury news to start the day.

Green Bay Packers cornerbacks Corey Ballentine (35) and Robert Rochell (22) celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs last season. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin /

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have added some defensive back depth by signing cornerbacks Don Callis and LJ Davis before Tuesday’s training camp practice. Plus, according to a source, they re-signed long snapper Peter Bowden.

To make room for Callis, Davis and Bowden, the Packers released kicker James Turner, defensive back Zyon Gilbert, and fullback Henry Pearson.

Callis went undrafted this year; he participated in the Packers’ rookie camp as a tryout player but was not signed. His signing on Tuesday was reported by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Bowden went undrafted out of Wisconsin but signed as an undrafted free agent. He was released last week when the Packers signed quarterback Jacob Eason.

With that, he will resume his battle against incumbent Matt Orzech.

“We’ve done a lot of work on him,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said before the start of OTAs. “We like Peter and I thought he did pretty good. He’s got good size, he’s athletic, he can move his feet. He’s working on the velocity of his snap. But I do think he’s going to have a chance and have an opportunity in the future to compete and play in the league.”

Callis (5-10 1/4, 14 pounds; 4.42 40) had zero interceptions, one forced fumble and four passes defensed during his lone season at Troy. PFF charged him with 11 completions in 18 targets. He forced five turnovers (three forced fumbles, two interceptions) at East Central (Okla.) in 2022. He has significant slot experience, as well.

“Donovan is a tremendous football player and fits in perfectly with how we play on the defensive side of the football,” Troy coach Jon Sumrall said when Callis transferred to the school. “He's long, plays with an edge and has an instinct for the football that is second nature. Donovan was a highly recruited transfer, and we are excited that he has chosen to be a Trojan.”

Cornerback Robert Rochell missed the last couple practices of last week with a calf injury.

“We just needed to add another body or two,” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice.

At cornerback, Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes have formed the No. 1 tandem throughout training camp. Carrington Valentine and Rochell started camp as the No. 2 pairing; without Rochell, rookie Kalen King has gotten some of those reps.

“The more corners that you have, the better you typically are,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that can play some good football for us. Stokes has looked like the guy that we thought he could be. I think he’s done an outstanding job out there. CV, he just continues to make plays. He had another big pick last practice. I just love how he competes.

“I think both those guys have done an outstanding job, and it’ll be a great competition throughout the course of the preseason and as we get into games.”

In other Packers injury news, LaFleur said two rookies, running back MarShawn Lloyd and safety Kitan Oladapo, will make their training camp debuts.

Lloyd missed the start of training camp with a hip injury sustained during a workout with other rookies before the first practice. Oladapo missed the entire offseason program and the start of camp with a broken toe sustained during the Scouting Combine.

They’ll both be limited to individual drills at the start.

“Obviously, you want your guys out there so they can get reps and they can learn, especially when they’re rookies and they haven’t played,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Monday. “Is he behind? Yeah. But is he hopelessly behind? Absolutely not.

“We’ll get him out there. We’ll put him in situations that we think he can handle and then as we move forward, we’ll put more on his shoulders. But from what I saw from OTAs, I was very, very excited about his speed, his cutting ability, his ability to catch the ball from the backfield and stuff like that. Yeah, I can’t wait to get him out there.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

Not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, obviously, but the #Packers' primary starting safeties had zero INTs last year. The team's new safeties have five in six practices at training camp. ⬇️https://t.co/W8P4aCZzrZ

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 30, 2024

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