Getty

New Packers tight end Luke Lachey.

The Green Bay Packers have officially brought back a young tight end who failed his physical with them last month after they claimed him off the waiver wire.

According to the team’s official transaction wire, the Packers re-signed former Houston Texans tight end Luke Lachey — a 2025 seventh-round pick — to their 90-man roster on Monday, June 15, in a pair of roster moves ahead of the team’s final week of OTAs.

The Packers had attempted to add Lachey to their roster on May 12 when they claimed him off waivers from the Texans, but they waived him with a failed physical designation two days later due to an unspecified medical issue. While it is unclear what caused the team to fail Lachey on his physical, it seems that he has resolved it to their satisfaction.

Lachey spent his entire rookie season on the Texans’ practice squad in 2025, but the 6-foot-5, 251-pound tight end has solid blocking skills and showed potential as an inline threat at the NFL level during his four years at Iowa, catching 74 passes for 893 yards.

Now, Lachey is in line to have a chance to compete for the Packers’ open No. 3 tight end role on their 53-man roster when they open their 2026 NFL training camp in late July.

Luke Lachey Could Get Camp Reps if Injuries Persist

As a newcomer, Lachey will have more to learn about the Packers’ offense than some of the other tight ends in the mix for roster spots, such as Josh Whyle and RJ Maryland.

If injuries are still a problem when the Packers open training camp, though, don’t be surprised if the staff explores Lachey’s potential and gives him a healthy share of reps.

The Packers are optimistic that starting tight end Tucker Kraft will be ready to play in time for the 2026 regular season, but Kraft indicated during OTAs that the team might start him on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as they slowly work him back into playing shape following the season-ending ACL tear that he sustained last year.

Even once Kraft is back on the practice field, the Packers may limit his snaps and allow him to focus on his conditioning to give him his best chances of being available for their season opener in Week 1. That likely means no preseason play for Kraft, which is good news for Lachey and the other tight ends angling for what is likely just one open spot.

The Packers might also need to spend time without Luke Musgrave when they roll into camp next month. The 2023 second-round pick suffered an injury on the first day of the Packers’ mandatory veteran minicamp last week, missing the next two days as a result.

While Musgrave will have more than a month to recover from whatever injury took him out of minicamp, his situation will remain uncertain until he reports for camp in July — and that, like Kraft’s situation, could create an opportunity for Lachey to get some reps.

Packers Also Released Young WR in Roster Moves

The Packers also made a corresponding roster cut on June 15 to create space for Lachey to join the 90-man offseason roster, releasing wide receiver Jakobie Keeney-James.

Keeney-James initially signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2025, but he wound up spending most of the 2025 season on the Packers’ practice squad after the Lions released him during their initial 53-man roster cuts last August.

He later played his first regular-season snaps with the Packers in their Week 18 finale against the Minnesota Vikings, catching both of his targets for 15 yards in the 16-3 loss.

The Packers had added multiple wide receivers to their roster in the weeks following the 2026 NFL draft, signing J. Michael Sturdivant as an undrafted free agent and claiming Brenden Rice — son of NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice — off the waivers from Las Vegas. Evidently, the team is more interested in seeing what they have over Keeney-James.