Packers Claim Former 1st Round Pick Off of Waivers

It isn't a wide receiver, but the Green Bay Packers made a splash in their own way with a surprise signing on Wednesday afternoon.

The Green Bay Packers have claimed Johnathan Abram off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Abram, a 2019 first-round draft pick by the Raiders, was waived on Tuesday.

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He had been a starter at strong safety since being drafted but with a new regime taking over the Raiders in general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels, Abram lost his starting job in Week 8 this season to Duron Harmon. Abram's special teams snaps started to go up, and he was rumored to be shopped at the trade deadline, but to no avail.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, of the 121 players who have logged at least 1,000 coverage snaps since 2019, Abram has allowed the second-highest completion percentage as a nearest defender.

Abram, who turned 26 last month, has three career interceptions and 11 passes defensed in 36 career games, 34 starts. He also had 255 tackles, with 9.5 stuffs and a fumble recovery.

Abram will bring a different style to the back-end of the Packers defense, as the team has struggled with tackling in the secondary thus far this season.

Additionally, the move comes with a bit of familiarity as Packers Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia was the interim Head Coach of the Raiders last season following Jon Gruden's mid-season firing.

The Packers get a potential starter in the secondary on the cheap, while Abram gets another chance to live up to his first-round pedigree by joining a Packer team in need of a spark after a 3-6 start.