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The Green Bay Packers typically only have players in for workouts on Tuesdays, the day that players usually have off during the week. So it’s out of the norm that the Packers brought in three players on Monday, coming off their loss to the Carolina Panthers. It’s possible that this could be due to the NFL’s trade deadline, which is set for 3 pm CT on Tuesday.
The three players brought in to Green Bay today, according to the NFL’s transaction report, were tight end McCallan Castles, cornerback Shemar Bartholomew and cornerback Jalen Kimber.
First of all, the expectation right now is that, at some point, the Packers will call up tight end Josh Whyle, a 2023 draft pick, to the 53-man roster following the loss of Tucker Kraft to an ACL tear. Green Bay had Whyle in on a pre-draft visit in 2023, but he was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round of that draft. When Whyle was waived by the Titans at cutdowns this year, he was added to the Packers’ practice squad.
So if McCallan Castles is added to Green Bay, it’ll probably be to backfill Whyle on the practice squad. Right now, even including Whyle on the practice squad, the Packers only have three tight ends available in practice this week. Remember, Green Bay just waived tight end Ben Sims from the 53-man roster to make room for the Christian Watson activation. Sims was picked up off waivers by the Minnesota Vikings, the team that originally signed him as an undrafted free agent rookie.
Castles is a two-time transfer, starting his career at Cal before playing at UC Davis and then finally finishing his college career at Tennessee. Castles has already been on three NFL rosters in two years, initially beginning as an undrafted free agent rookie with the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad in 2024.
He was waived by the Chargers in August before signing with the Los Angeles Rams, where he was waived at the cutdown deadline. This appears to be McCallan’s first workout this regular season.
The cornerback position is interesting on the practice squad, because the Packers recently had 2025 draft pick Micah Robinson poached by the Tennessee Titans, who actually had Robinson active after just a week of practice last week. Without Robinson, Green Bay only had five cornerbacks available for practice, so the team scrambled to sign Tyron Herring, who had previously spent time with the Packers in training camp, last week.
Based on Green Bay bringing in two cornerbacks on Monday, it doesn’t seem like they’re committed to Herring.
Bartholomew entered the league as an undrafted rookie with the New York Jets, where he was waived at roster cuts in 2024. From there, he was outright claimed by the Carolina Panthers, who were one of four teams that put in a claim for the cornerback. The other teams that attempted to claim Bartholomew...
