It appears that Green Bay has moved on from James Robinson, who has had multiple stints with the team in 2023.
According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the Green Bay Packers have signed running back Kenyan Drake — a former third-round pick with 868 regular season carries at the NFL level. Per his Twitter account, it appears that Drake will be assigned the number 32, which is currently held by practice squad running back James Robinson. Robinson has been signed to the Packers’ practice squad twice this season. Now it seems like his second release from the taxi squad is a corresponding roster move to make room for Drake.
For his NFL career, Drake has taken 868 carries for 3,866 yards (4.5 yards per attempt) and 33 rushing touchdowns to go along with 218 receptions that turned into 1,655 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Drake has also returned 41 kicks for 964 yards and a touchdown. Drake’s last return came in 2021 with the Las Vegas Raiders, when he was playing for current Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.
Drake was originally drafted by the Miami Dolphins back in 2016 and was eventually traded for a fifth-round pick at the 2019 trade deadline to the Arizona Cardinals, who later signed Drake to a one-year, $8.5 million transition tag in 2020. He then signed a two-year, $14.5 million deal with the Raiders, but only played out one season of that contract. Over the last two seasons, Drake has split time between the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns. Most recently, he was let go from the Browns’ practice squad last week.
In 2023, he’s played 12 offensive snaps over two games, both with the Ravens. Last season, he played 366 offensive snaps for the Ravens (46 percent of their total offensive snaps) and registered five starts for the team.
While the team has not officially announced Drake’s signing, the assumption is that he’ll be added to the practice squad, considering that the team gave him Robinson’s number. The Packers also no longer have an opening on their active roster, as they claimed another third-round pick from waivers yesterday.