Packer Central

Packers Sign Tight End to Practice Squad

The Green Bay Packers have signed Johnny Lumpkin, a former standout at Louisiana, according to a source.

Bill Huber

New Packers tight end Johnny Lumpkin (83) warms up before a New England Patriots preseason game in 2023.
New Packers tight end Johnny Lumpkin (83) warms up before a New England Patriots preseason game in 2023. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have signed tight end Johnny Lumpkin to the practice squad, a source told Packers On SI on Tuesday.

Lumpkin went undrafted in 2023. He spent his rookie preseason with the Patriots, then served stints on the Colts’ and Broncos’ practice squads as a rookie.

He was not on a team during training camp this summer.

At Louisiana, Lumpkin caught 36 passes for 408 yards (11.3 average) and six touchdowns in four seasons. As a senior in 2022, he caught 16 passes for 143 yards (8.9 average) and four touchdowns.

Tight ends come in all shapes and sizes. Lumpkin is a big man. Before the 2023 NFL Draft, he measured 6-foot-5 3/8 and 264 pounds. With 4.81 speed in the 40, his Relative Athletic Score was 6.46.

“He has a lot of value for us for the way we run the football and the things that we do,” his college position coach and now the school's head coach, Michael Desormeaux said, told The Advocate.

“For him, if he wants to play at the next level, his value is still going to be in the run game. You’ve got a bunch of guys in the NFL that are elite pass catchers and route runners, but every roster has two or three guys that they need to block the ‘C’ area (the gap between tackle and tight end).”

Lumpkin missed 2019 with a shoulder injury, and COVID made 2020 a challenge.

“I’ll say it was a little frustrating on my part,” Lumpkin told The Advocate. “In my mind, I felt like I was back to 2019 before I got hurt. I felt like I was ready to produce right then and there — but in reality, I was out. So the speed of the game was very different than what I thought it would be.”

Lumpkin essentially replaces Messiah Swinson, an undrafted rookie who was signed off Green Bay’s practice squad to Carolina’s 53-man roster last week.

The Packers have three tight ends on their 53-man roster – Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave and Ben Sims. They did not have a tight end on the practice squad.

The Packers also signed a receiver, T.J. Luther, to the practice squad.

The Packers started the day with a full 17-player practice squad so had to make corresponding roster moves. To make room for Lumpkin and Luther, the Packers released receiver Jalen Wayne and running back La’Mical Perine.

Three 2021 draft picks also participated in the workout: receivers Seth Williams and Racey McMath and defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.