Green Bay Packers Add LB James Burgess & Make 2 Other Roster Moves

The Green Bay Packers were busy on Tuesday, signing LB James Burgess to the 53-man roster while also making two other roster moves.

Tuesdays and occasionally Wednesdays have been the days this season when we’ve seen the Green Bay Packers make their roster moves. And just yesterday, we saw them make what may be their biggest addition since training camp began.

Field Yates of ESPN reported that the Packers had signed linebacker James Burgess off the Atlanta Falcons practice squad and onto their 53-man roster.

Burgess was an experienced player coming out of Louisville in 2016, and, to put it simply, he has bounced around during his NFL career. During his rookie year alone, Burgess was on five different teams before finding a home with the Cleveland Browns during the 2017 and 2018 seasons and then eventually the New York Jets in 2019.

His most recent season with the Jets was his most productive. In only 10 games, all of which were starts, Burgess led the team in tackles with 80; this included eight for a loss. He’d also add an interception, a forced fumble, half a sack, and a quarterback hit.

Burgess has shown that he can be a dependable backup, and right now, that is what the Green Bay Packers need. Christian Kirksey is still sidelined with an injury, Kamal Martin is yet to be activated – but hopefully soon – and after playing nearly 90 percent of the Packers’ defensive snaps in Tampa, we saw Krys Barnes roughed up on a special teams play.

In addition to signing Burgess, the Packers made two other roster moves on Tuesday as well. The first was placing cornerback Parry Nickerson on IR after he left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. Nickerson was signed by Green Bay just before the season began and is known for his blazing speed, running a low 4.3 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine. He was activated for the first time this season against the Buccaneers.

Green Bay’s second move was releasing wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb from the practice squad. Lipscomb was an undrafted rookie in out of this year’s draft class who appeared in 46 games at Vanderbilt while hauling in nearly 2,400 yards and 22 touchdowns. After recently working out for the Packers, he was signed to the practice squad just last week.

There was one other move that reportedly took place Tuesday evening, but this one was out of the Packers’ control. It was reported by Matt Zenitz that the Washington Football Team will be signing WR Robert Foster off the Green Bay practice squad and onto their 53-man roster. Foster has been a big play threat over his career, averaging 20.3 yards per catch in 26 career games with Buffalo.

Even with the addition of Burgess, Green Bay still has room on the 53-man roster, and with Lipscomb’s release, along with Foster’s departure, they now have two available spots on the practice squad as well. So whether it’s a promotion to the 53-man roster or a new practice squad addition, there will likely be more roster moves to come this week.