The Green Bay Packers signed their 20th player to a reserve/futures contract to start the 2025 offseason. The team announced the signing of defensive lineman Leonard Payne on Wednesday.
General manager Brian Gutekunst signed 12 players from the team’s practice squad, seven outside free agents and now Payne to a futures deal, which acts as a placeholder until the start of the 2025 league year in March and places the player on the team’s offseason 90-man roster.
Payne (6-3, 301) went undrafted out of Colorado in 2024. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins but released at the end of training camp. Payne played in three preseason games for the Dolphins, logging 43 snaps. He produced one pressure, four tackles and two stops while earning a 59.1 overall grade, per PFF.
Payne played in 41 games over four seasons at Fresno State and one at Colorado. He produced 7.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, and he blocked two blocked field goals. Payne was credited with 38 pressures and 24 stops over just over 1,000 total snaps by PFF.
Here’s the list of players signed by the Packers to reserve/futures deals so far:
DE Deslin Alexandre
S Omar Brown
DL James Ester
CB Kamal Hadden
K Alex Hale
G Marquis Hayes
WR Julian Hicks
OL Donovan Jennings
WR Cornelius Johnson
CB Kalen King
DL Jeremiah Martin
TE Messiah Swinson
CB Isaiah Dunn
WR/KR Tulu Griffin
CB Kaleb Hayes
C Trey Hill
TE Johnny Lumpkin
DL Keith Randolph
DL Nesta Jade Silvera
DL Leonard Payne
