Packers sign linebacker, brother of former NFL star

Jared Bartlett, the newest Green Bay Packer, is the younger brother of former Pittsburgh Steeler defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt.

The Green Bay Packers have signed linebacker Jared Bartlett, just one day after they brought in another linebacker — Michael Batton — in for a workout. Green Bay apparently wanted to bump the number up in that position group, which, before the Barlett signing, had seven players.

At the moment, the expectation is that Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Isaiah Simmons and Ty’Ron Hopper will make the 53-man roster. From there, the Packers will have to make the decision on whether or not they’ll keep a sixth player at the position or expose Kristian Welch and Jamon Johnson to waivers.

There’s no promise that either Welch or Johnson will re-sign with the Packers’ practice squad, considering that they both had a market this offseason. Last year, Welch was released at the cutdown deadline and signed with the Denver Broncos before landing with the Baltimore Ravens. He played in 15 regular-season games between those two squads, mostly on special teams. Johnson, meanwhile, received $115,000 in guarantees from Green Bay as an undrafted free agent in April, a huge number relative to how much the Packers have spent on undrafted rookies in the past.

In short, both Welch and Johnson are positioned to be the rare players who might actually have a waiver market post-cutdowns, meaning that there’s no assurance that Green Bay will be able to keep one on their practice squad if they only keep five linebackers on their 53-man roster.

Hence, the signing of Bartlett.

The brother of former NFL defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt, Bartlett played 50 games for West Virginia before transferring to Cincinnati for his final college season last year. According to Pro Football Focus, Bartlett mostly played a line-of-scrimmage role (1,125 snaps) compared to an off-ball linebacker role (297) with the Mountaineers. When he got to Cincinnati, though, he played 519 off-ball linebacker snaps to just 13 on the line of scrimmage.

Pro Football Focus had him with a significant grade jump with the Bearcats, going from a 56.0 defensive grade in his last year with West Virginia to 69.4 in his lone year with Cincinnati. At Cincinnati, he was teammates with offensive lineman John Williams, who was picked in the seventh round of April’s draft by Green Bay.

From an athletic standpoint, Bartlett is a slightly above-average athlete, but not by much. He originally signed with the New York Jets as a free agent, where he was waived last week. Yesterday, Bartlett worked out with the New Orleans Saints.

In a corresponding roster move, because the Packers’ roster was already full, Green Bay released safety Kahzir Brown. Brown signed with Green Bay as an undrafted rookie for just a $10,000 bonus, which was the second-lowest rate of any of the Packers’ undrafted players.

Brown, who measured in at 6’1” and 223 pounds in the pre-draft process, was attempting to make the transition from outside cornerback, which he played at Florida Atlantic and Maine, to safety this offseason. Post-Brown, the Packers’ safety room is now made up of Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, Zayne Anders, Kitan Oladapo, Johnathan Badlwin and Omar Brown.