2024 UDFA Prospectus: Which undrafted free agents are best positioned to stick with the Packers?

The Leap assesses which undrafted free agents have the most favorable path to a spot on the Packers' 53-man roster or practice squad in 2024.

While all NFL teams enjoy some modicum of success with undrafted free agents, few franchises consistently kept as many as the Green Bay Packers. The team has retained at least one UDFA on its initial 53-man roster for 19 consecutive seasons with several going on to play critical roles. If that history provides any indication, one or more prospects who didn't hear their name called during the draft will find themselves with a job on Green Bay's 53-man roster or practice squad in 2024.

As the Packers bring in far more undrafted rookies than they have available spots, projecting which ones ultimately stick around presents a serious challenge. Multiple factors come into play when evaluating UDFAs and their path to success. Certainly, a prospect must possess talent. However, if he plays in a crowded position group, the coaching staff might not provide him with enough opportunities to demonstrate his skill set.

The Packers UDFA prospectus, one of my favorite projects from my time at Acme Packing Company, dates back to the 2013 season. In all but one year, the prospectus featured at least one undrafted rookie who earned a spot on the 53-man roster or practice squad. The lone attempt without a hit came in 2017, though that comes with a sizable asterisk. That prospectus picked two players Green Bay hoped to sneak onto the practice squad: QB Taysom Hill and offensive lineman Geoff Gray. Hill, famously, wound up with the New Orleans Saints as a waiver claim while Gray chose to join the New York Jets' practice squad over an offer from Green Bay.

In 2023, the Packers drafted 13 players and kept 12 of them on the 53-man roster or practice squad. They selected another 11 this past month. The sheer volume of picks in back-to-back years places a low limit on the number of undrafted rookies that general manager Brian Gutekunst can retain in 2024, a reality underscored by an uncommonly small UDFA class (eight prospects).

And those figures illustrate only part of the personnel logjam. Not counting the 2024 undrafted free agents, the Packers' current 90-man roster features 60 players who either have no more than two seasons of NFL experience or signed an extension over the last two years, the highest such total in the league. Even with the NFL expanding the practice squad in recent years, Green Bay's latest undrafted rookies have fewer opportunities than their predecessors. Accordingly, the team's UDFA streak faces its greatest challenge in two decades.

With those qualifiers out of the way, here are the undrafted free agents best positioned to stick with the Packers in 2024.