GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers signed a wide receiver Tuesday, but his name is Osirus Mitchell and not Julio Jones.
On the same day the Packers saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers add the veteran Jones, they signed recent USFL product who spent the majority of last season on the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad.
The Packers reportedly checked in on the 33-year-old Jones, the former Atlanta Falcons superstar who has missed seven games due to injury in each of the last two years and managed just 82 catches and four touchdowns for the Falcons (’20) and Tennessee Titans (’21). It’s unclear if they made him an offer.
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The 6-5, 206-pound Mitchell hasn’t played a snap in the NFL but after joining the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in ’21 and finishing out the year on the practice squad, he played for the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL this past spring.
He caught 23 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games.
At Mississippi State, Mitchell caught 107 passes for 1,413 yards and 14 touchdowns in 36 games.
In addition to signing Mitchell, the Packers added two other street free agents on the day before training camp practices start:
♦ Ty Clary, a 6-4, 299-pound undrafted rookie from Arkansas, who signed with the Miami Dolphins but was released after failing a physical May 14. He started 39 games over five seasons for the Razorbacks while making starts at right and left guard.
♦ Donte Vaughn, a 6-2, 211-pound cornerback from Notre Dame who signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020. Vaughn spent his rookie season on the Chargers’ practice squad but was released in training camp the following year and was not signed the rest of the season. He started eight games at Notre Dame.
To make room for Mitchell, Clary and Vaughn, the Packers released defensive lineman Hauati Pututau, safety Tre Sterling and cornerback Raleigh Texada.
Pututau, who signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent on May 2, was placed on the physically unable to perform list on July 22. Sterling and Texada were signed as undrafted free agents May 2.
