Former Auburn defensive back Jaylin Simpson has been eligible to play in five NFL regular-season games, but he has yet to make his debut in the league.
Simpson will get another chance on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers play the Minnesota Vikings.
On Tuesday, the Packers announced they had signed Simpson from their practice squad to their 53-man active roster.
Green Bay promoted Simpson as the Packers placed cornerback Kamal Hadden on injured reserve. Hadden played 37 defensive snaps and 66 special-teams plays in 10 games in 2025 before he sustained a season-ending ankle injury in a 41-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.
The Packers and Vikings play at noon CST Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Green Bay originally signed Simpson on Aug. 18, and he landed on the Packers’ practice squad after being waived in the roster reduction between the preseason and the regular season.
Each NFL team can elevate two players from its practice squad for active status for every game, and Green Bay elevated Simpson for its Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions. But Simpson did not play in the 31-24 victory.
Simpson started his Auburn career as a cornerback, but he played safety in 2023 for the Tigers. The Packers have his position listed as defensive back.
A fifth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2024, Simpson was on the team’s practice squad when the New York Jets signed him on Dec. 11. He spent the remainder of the 2024 season on New York’s active roster, but he did not play in a game.
On Aug. 2, the Jets waived Simpson with an injury designation after he sustained a hamstring injury. When Simpson went unclaimed, he reverted to New York’s injured reserve on Aug. 3, and the Jets waived him again on Aug. 6 with an injury settlement that cleared him off the roster.
A former Auburn teammate of Simpson’s returned to the NFL on Tuesday when the Kansas City Chiefs signed defensive tackle Marcus Harris for their practice squad.
Kansas City is Harris’ fourth team of 2025. He started the year by signing with New England on Jan. 6 after finishing his first NFL season on the Patriots’ practice squad.
New England released Harris on April 28, and he signed with the Buffalo Bills on June 6. The Bills waived Harris when they reduced their preseason roster to the regular-season limit on Aug. 26, and he was out of the NFL until Dec. 17, when the Houston Texans signed Harris for their practice squad. But six days later, the Texans waived the former Park Crossing High School standout.
A seventh-round selection of Houston in the 2024 NFL Draft, Harris stayed with the Texans as a practice-squad member until Oct. 9. Two days after being released, Harris joined New England’s practice squad.