Just over 48 hours ahead of their season opener, the Green Bay Packers have made a mildly shocking roster move. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Packers are releasing wide receiver Bo Melton on Friday.
Melton has been a mainstay of the Packers’ special teams units for the past two-plus years and has remained a valuable depth piece in the wide receiver room, even despite being his supposed position switch to cornerback for the 2025 season. As one of the team’s primary punt gunners and kickoff
coverage players, Melton logged over 300 special teams snaps across the last two seasons, and the team’s coverage units visibly suffered late in 2025 when he missed the last few games with an injury.
Packers beat reporters all reported that the move is related to roster management and that the Packers expect Melton to remain in the organization on the practice squad in week one.
There is some question about whether Melton can immediately re-sign with the Packers, however. Melton appears to have only three accrued seasons of NFL experience (defined as 6 or more games on full-pay status). That woould not qualify him for vested veteran status and would require that he clear waivers before the Packers can re-sign him to the practice squad. Should another NFL team claim him, the Packers would lose Melton entirely. With Melton currently on a league-minimum contract, he could feasibly be an intriguing target for other teams around the NFL, especially one that, for example, has a general manager, head coach, and quarterback who are familiar with him from their time in Green Bay over the last few years. Frankly, it would be a coup for the Miami Dolphins if they were to land Melton for free given their young and inexperienced stable of receivers and Melton’s familiarity with Malik Willis.
Tom Silverstein, however, indicates that Melton is a vested veteran and therefore immediately becomes a free agent, which would allow him to immediately re-sign with the Packers’ practice squad.
The Packers signed Melton away from the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad late in the 2022 season, and he then spent most of the 2023 campaign on the Packers’ practice squad. However, he earned a callup to the active roster in November and exploded onto the scene with a 6-catch, 105-yard, game against the Minnesota Vikings on New Year’s Eve. That was the Packers’ first 100-yard receiving game by any player that season, and he continued his breakout a week late with another 62 yards on five receptions in the season finale while being on full-pay status for six games, thereby earning an accrued season for 2023.
Melton then spent 2024 buried on the wide receiver depth chart as the team’s 5th/6th wideout, only catching 8 passes despite playing in every game and logging 251 offensive snaps, but he made a name for himself on the special teams units. Melton remained an option for the offense in 2025 after his formal switch to cornerback, and he still recorded 4 receptions for 107 yards, including a long touchdown in the Packers’ week 13 win over the Bears, while never actually taking a snap on defense.
If Melton is indeed vested, then this makes some sense, but it still requires explanation. Why do the Packers need the roster spot? The team clearly is making space for some corresponding move, though that move has not yet been reported.
Stay tuned for news that will hopefully explain why this move is happening, and why now is the time for it.
