Packers add RB Kenyan Drake, claim CB David Long

Enjoying a busy 2023 without seeing much game action, Kenyan Drake has secured an opportunity with a fourth NFL team this year. The Packers are signing Drake, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. Drake posting a Packers logo provided a good indication he has found yet another gig this season.

After being one of the Ravens’ fill-ins during the second season to feature J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards injury trouble, Drake has since bounced from Indianapolis to Baltimore (once again) to Cleveland and now to Green Bay. This is a practice squad agreement. Drake will replace James Robinson on Green Bay’s taxi squad.

Drake, 29, joined the Colts during a training camp overshadowed by Jonathan Taylor‘s absence but did not end up on Indianapolis’ 53-man roster. After losing Dobbins in Week 1, the Ravens brought Drake back. His 2023 season (two games) came in a Ravens uniform. Drake’s Browns stint did not include game action.

In addition to the Drake move, the Packers will become the second team this season to prevent David Long from hitting free agency. Joining Drake as a 2023 nomad, the veteran cornerback will join a third team this year. 

Initially a Raiders free agency addition, Long received his walking papers last month. The Panthers scooped Long up on waivers, reuniting him with former Rams secondary coach Ejiro Evero. After the Panthers cut bait, Long will once again land in a familiar scheme. Packers DC Joe Barry spent four seasons on Sean McVay’s staff, two of them overlapping with Long.

Long, 25, joins a Packers team that has played without Jaire Alexander for stretches and has seen Eric Stokes land on multiple injury lists. The 2021 first-rounder is again on his way back, but the Packers have not activated him from IR just yet. The Pack also traded starter Rasul Douglas to the Bills on deadline day.