Packers swap CBs on roster, sign former Jaguars draft pick  Gregory Junior

The Green Bay Packers made a swap at cornerback on the 90-man roster on Wednesday, releasing Kaleb Hayes to make room for the signing of Gregory Junior.

Hayes, a first-year player out of BYU, signed a futures deal with the Packers in January.

Junior (6-0, 203) was a sixth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2022 draft. After playing in 10 games with the Jaguars during his first two NFL seasons, Junior was released prior to the 2024 season and then spent time on the practice squads of the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts during the 2024 season.

The Packers had Junior, a standout at Ouachita Baptist University, in Green Bay for a pre-draft visit ahead of the 2022 draft.

Junior, 25, played 112 snaps on defense while with the Jaguars between the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He allowed 11 catches on 13 targets for 103 yards while playing almost two-thirds of his snaps in the slot. Junior produced 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and one batted pass. He did not miss a tackle or commit a penalty.

Almost all of Junior’s special teams experience came in 2023, when he played 105 of his 110 career special teams snaps. He played snaps on four different units: Kick return, kickoff coverage, punt return and field goal block.

At his pro day ahead of the 2022 draft, Junior ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds, hit 39.5″ in the vertical leap, covered 10-3 in the broad jump and finished the three-cone drill in under 7.0 seconds.

Junior’s pre-draft scouting report from Lance Zierlein: “Developmental defensive back with size, speed and fluidity that stands out on tape against his level of competition. Junior’s technique and field awareness could be early stumbling blocks but are certainly correctable. He’s smooth and athletic working around the field and teams will go to work discovering his level of talent and versatility during the draft process. He had limited ball production against a lower level of competition, but the traits are present for that to change. He will be an early special teams worker as a draft-and-stash talent on Day 3.”