GREEN BAY, Wis. — Wide receiver Bo Melton and linebacker Kristian Welch are being elevated to the Green Packers’ active roster for Sunday’s divisional clash with the Minnesota Vikings.
Melton doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The Packers released the former seventh-round pick on Friday in what can only be described as a frugal, complex maneuver. Because Melton is considered a vested veteran by the league as a fourth-year player, the Packers would’ve had to guarantee his entire 2026 salary if he was on the 53-man roster for the first game of the season. By releasing him and re-signing him to the practice squad, they essentially skirted the system and saved some money.
After Sunday’s game, the assumption is that Melton will rejoin the 53-man roster on Monday. The entire saga provided the Packers with some added future flexibility if they need to make some difficult decisions once second-year gadget player Savion Williams is ready to be activated from injured reserve. Creating that roster spot at wide receiver could come down to either Melton or undrafted rookie J. Michael Sturdivant.
Melton has appeared in some big moments for the Packers throughout his three-year tenure with the team. He’s appeared in 38 games, recording 28 receptions for 416 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Last summer, the Packers cross-trained him on the defensive side of the ball at cornerback, transitioning him into a two-way player similarly to how the Jacksonville Jaguars weaponize Travis Hunter.
Although he didn’t play a single regular-season snap at cornerback, his roster value skyrocketed. When he was deployed on offense, he served as a reliable target—albeit with reduced snaps in 2025—for Jordan Love. Melton was on the receiving end of a 45-yard touchdown in the Packers’ Dec. 7 win over the Chicago Bears. He’s also blossomed into a reliable contributor on special teams, playing 339 snaps over the last two seasons for Rich Bisaccia’s unit and cementing himself as one of the Packers’ top gunners. More of the same will likely be expected under Bisaccia’s successor, Cam Achord,
Welch’s elevation, however, is more telling of Ty’Ron Hopper’s health than anything else. Hopper, a third-year linebacker, has missed two practices this past week with an Achilles injury, but he was able to work in a limited capacity in Friday’s session. He’s trending in a positive direction, but the Packers presumably aren’t ready to throw him into the line of fire quite yet.
The Packers will deploy Welch primarily on special teams in Minnesota, which has been the case in his first two years with the team.
After spending the entirety of the 2023 season in Green Bay and appearing in 14 games, the Packers released Welch the following summer. That was the first of what would be three consecutive instances where Welch was released by the team in August, falling victim to final roster cuts in 2024, 2025, and 2026. He was re-signed to the practice squad in each of the last two years.
Welch appeared in eight games for the Packers last season, playing 87 total snaps for Bisaccia’s special teams unit. That number was a significant decline from the 237 he played in 2023.
It’s worth noting that the Packers didn’t elevate one of the three offensive linemen on their practice squad. Josh Gesky, Dillon Wade, and Dalton Cooper didn’t receive a call-up despite the Packers currently dealing with injuries to starting left guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele—both players are questionable to play.
Even left tackle Jordan Morgan has been hindered by a knee injury since the preseason, but he didn’t receive a status designation for Sunday after logging back-to-back full practice sessions.
The only player who was ruled out was second-year defensive tackle Warren Brinson, who has missed a week’s worth of practice—and the preseason finale versus the Arizona Cardinals—with a calf injury. The ailment has kept him out of commission for multiple weeks now, but it wasn’t severe enough to land him on injured reserve.
Zachary Jacobson is the author of The Packer Dispatch. He is entering his 12th season covering the Green Bay Packers after spending seven as the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter @zachjacobson or contact him via email at itszachariahj@gmail.com.