The Green Bay Packers have signed running back Kenyan Drake, a former third-round choice with 868 NFL regular season runs, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson. Drake’s Twitter account indicates that he will be given the number 32, which is presently worn by James Robinson, a running back on the practice squad. This season, Robinson has been signed to the practice squad of the Packers twice. It appears that his second release from the taxi squad was a roster adjustment made to accommodate 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.
Drake’s signing has not yet been formally publicized by the organization, but given that the team assigned him Robinson’s number, it is expected that he would be added to the practice squad. Additionally, the Packers have claimed another third-round pick from waivers yesterday, meaning they no longer have a spot available on their active roster.
