Green Bay's backfield got turned upside down in one afternoon. Josh Jacobs, the guy the Packers signed to a 4-year, $48 million deal back in 2024, was placed on the commissioner's exempt list amid formal charges tied to a May arrest, meaning he can't practice or play for Green Bay right now. Hours later, the Packers had already replaced the carries.
Packers trade with Steelers for RB Kaleb Johnson. t.co/bofQI8BLU8
The move: Green Bay trades for Kaleb Johnson, a 2025 third-round pick (No. 83 overall) out of Iowa who spent his rookie year buried on Pittsburgh's depth chart behind a crowded Steelers backfield. Johnson finished his rookie season with just 28 carries for 69 yards across 10 games — a quiet start for a guy who'd put up a 1,500-yard, 21-touchdown season at Iowa before the draft. Pittsburgh clearly decided he wasn't part of the plan; Green Bay is betting he still can be.
Big news in Green Bay. Packers traded for Kaleb Johnson today, and are crossing their fingers that MarShawn Lloyd can finally stay healthy.
That Albert Breer post gets right at why this trade makes sense beyond just filling a Jacobs-shaped hole. MarShawn Lloyd, Green Bay's 2024 fourth-rounder, has flashed real juice when healthy but has never strung together a full season without an injury popping up. Adding Johnson isn't just insurance for Jacobs' exempt-list situation — it's insurance for Lloyd too, in case the injury bug bites again.
It wasn't the only roster move the Packers made that day. Adam Schefter laid out the full sweep — Jacobs to the exempt list, Johnson in via trade, and quarterback Kyle McCord shipped out to the Dolphins — three transactions in one news cycle that reshaped two different position groups at once.
Packers notable moves so far today include: 🏈Josh Jacobs to Commissioners Exempt list. 🏈Traded for Steelers RB Kaleb Johnson. 🏈Traded QB Kyle McCord to Dolphins.
The exempt list is a legal-limbo designation, not a suspension — Jacobs isn't cut and isn't cleared, he's just sidelined while the misdemeanor battery and property-damage charges from his May arrest play out. Nobody knows yet how long that takes or how it resolves, which is exactly why Green Bay didn't wait around to add a body. For now, Lloyd and Johnson are the answer in the backfield, with Jacobs' timeline the biggest swing factor for how this Packers season actually looks.