While signing a futures contract only guarantees a player so much of an opportunity to latch on with a team, there were plenty of reasons to believe that Jamon Johnson would be sticking with the Green Bay Packers throughout the summer and into training camp after being elevated from the practice squad three times during the 2025 campaign.
Despite finishing his first career start, a Week 18 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, with 10 total tackles, one pass defended, and one run stop, it appears that Johnson has donned the green and yellow for the final time, for now, anyway. Friday afternoon, the Packers announced that Johnson was among three players, including TE McCallan Castles and CB Tyron Herring, who had been released.
Packers Move to Release Jamon Johnson Should Come as Surprise
This isn't to suggest that Johnson would have turned into a contributor at linebacker in 2026. However, he was considered by some members of the media to be as close to a lock of any of the 16 players who signed futures contracts with Green Bay in January to make the final roster, getting an 'A-plus' grade from Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company.
"Johnson was the Packers’ second-highest paid undrafted free agent of the 2025 class, tied with safety Jonathan Baldwin, who finished the season on the 53-man roster, and behind defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse, who spent all of 2025 on the 53-man [roster]. ...Johnson was on the practice squad for all of the 2025 season but was elevated to play in Weeks 12, 13 and 18. He played 67 snaps of defense and 25 snaps of special teams (mostly in Week 18) as a rookie."
While Quay Walker left in free agency, as expected, the Packers acted fast, swinging a trade to acquire Zaire Franklin from the Indianapolis Colts. This pushed Johnson further down the depth chart than he and some fans and media alike may have expected. Now, for one reason or another, Brian Gutekunst felt as though the former Kentucky Wildcats standout's services were no longer needed in America's Dairyland.
With eight selections in the 2026 draft, as of this writing, and additional roster spots coming open as a result of these releases, Green Bay is either tipping its hand on eyeing the linebacker position in the later rounds of the draft, or the Packers feel comfortable with what they have at that spot and plan to use those assets, and open roster spots, to add players in other areas of need on the roster.
One way or another, Cheeseheads around the world will have a better idea of what Green Bay's linebacker room will look like moving forward once next week's draft is in the rearview mirror.
More Green Bay Packers News and Rumors:
Add us as a preferred source on Google