The Green Bay Packers spent the weekend making the hard choices that come with getting to 53, and one of the more notable ones was waiving undrafted edge rusher Nyjalik Kelly.
The former UCF standout, who signed with Green Bay after going unselected in the 2026 draft, had just finished a preseason that made him look like more than a long-shot camp body. He tied for the team lead with four pressures, produced a strip-sack against Denver, and closed camp against Arizona with a sack, tackles for loss, and an interception.
For a player listed at 6-foot-5 and 263 pounds who is still only 21, that kind of production is exactly what teams hope to find in the undrafted pile.
Releasing him left Green Bay thin at a premium position. The Packers were already operating with limited healthy edge depth, and cutting a player who had just shown he could win one-on-one reps in August was the kind of numbers-game decision that often looks cold in the moment and regrettable later.
Kelly cleared waivers Monday when the Chicago Bears, among others, declined to put in a claim. That opened the door for Green Bay to bring him back on the practice squad, which is the outcome the organization almost certainly wanted. However, the Packers are not completely out of the woods yet, as the Bears can still steal him if they’re not careful, as Max Dible of Heavy.com notes.
It would be a genuine blunder on Green Bay’s part if Chicago takes him.
The Bears are dealing with tehir own edge-rush issues. Austin Booker is week-to-week with a groin injury after missing significant time last year. Marcus Davenport was released after barely two weeks with the club and has a recent history of rarely staying healthy.
Dayo Odeyingbo is back from an Achilles tear and figures to start opposite Montez Sweat, with Jamree Kromah and Daniel Hardy providing depth.
Chicago also shipped Gervon Dexter to Atlanta, thinning the interior rush. A cheap, athletic developmental rusher who just produced in preseason games would have been an easy add for a rival that plays Green Bay twice a year.
Losing Kelly across the NFC North would hand Chicago a player who already knows the Packers’ scheme and has shown he can generate pressure. Practice-squad players can be elevated, and a late-season injury or a sudden need for pass-rush help would turn a cut that was supposed to be temporary into an own-goal.
Green Bay appears to have avoided that fate for now. Keeping Kelly in-house, even if only on the practice squad, is the smarter play.
Letting a productive young rusher walk to the Bears would be the kind of small roster mistake that could look larger every time the two teams meet.
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