Packers Host Former First-Round Pick Isaiah Simmons for Free-Agent Visit

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Former first-round NFL pick Isaiah Simmons is set to visit the Green Bay Packers on Monday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The linebacker, who last played for the New York Giants, could find a new home as the Packers look to bolster their roster ahead of the 2025 season.

Simmons, 26, has had a fluctuating career since being selected eighth overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2020 NFL Draft. After spending two seasons with the Giants, he appeared in all 17 games last season, recording 21 tackles, two passes defensed, and forcing one fumble. He played a total of 17 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps and was utilized in special teams for 33 percent of the time.

After starting only five games in New York over the past two years, Simmons was primarily recognized for his contributions on special teams, where he was named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week after a significant blocked field goal last season.

“He’s a phenomenal talent,” Rapoport stated, highlighting Simmons’s athletic prowess. At the 2020 Scouting Combine, he measured 6-foot-4 and weighed 236 pounds, clocking a remarkable 40-yard dash time of 4.39 seconds and achieving a 39-inch vertical jump.

Green Bay’s linebacker depth chart currently lists just five players, which includes Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper, and Kristian Welch. As training camp approaches, the Packers may look to expand this number, making a potential signing of Simmons strategically important.

Despite his initial success in Arizona, where he earned All-Rookie honors as a linebacker, Simmons’s NFL career has been inconsistent. After declining his fifth-year option, the Cardinals traded him for a seventh-round draft pick to the Giants in August 2023. Simmons subsequently re-signed with New York on a one-year, $2 million contract last season. In his career to date, he has recorded 42 starts in 84 games, totaling 21 passes defensed, five interceptions, nine forced fumbles, and 8.5 sacks.

“In our minds, he would be a first-, second-down nickel and then playing money [dime linebacker] on third down,” said Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who utilized Simmons in multiple roles across the defense. This flexibility has been a hallmark of Simmons’s game, allowing him to adapt within various schemes.

Having won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker while at Clemson in 2019, Simmons has showcased his capabilities as a dynamic player. “Just kind of like a Swiss Army knife, move me around because then I’m able to show what I can really do,” Simmons said of his versatility in college.

If Simmons signs with the Packers, it’s expected to be on a veteran minimum contract, possibly positioning him as a special teams asset rather than a starter. His future role on defense remains uncertain, especially with the recent signing of Welch, which could set up a competitive dynamic for the backup linebacker position.