The Green Bay Packers are swapping wide receivers on the 90-man roster to open training camp. Per Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers released receiver Jeff Cotton to make room for the signing of wide receiver Cody Chrest, a rookie out of Sam Houston State.
Aaron Wilson first reported the signing of Chrest, who worked out for the Packers on Tuesday.
Cotton, who was the oldest receiver on the Packers roster at 26 years old, initially signed to the team’s practice squad on Nov. 9 of 2022. He spent the final nine weeks of the 2022 season on the practice squad and was re-signed on a futures deal in January.
The Packers placed Cotton on the physically unable to perform list to open training camp, meaning he failed a physical due to an undisclosed injury. With rookie Grant DuBose on the non-football injury list with a back injury, the Packers likely needed more depth at receiver to open camp.
Chrest (6-0, 193) spent four seasons at Harvard before transferring to Sam Houston State. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds and has a Relative Athletic Score of 9.77 out of 10.0. Before joining the Packers, Chrest spent time with Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent this offseason.
Chrest will wear Cotton’s former number, No. 82.
Cotton originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He spent time with the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals.