Packers claim WR Brenden Rice Off Waivers
The son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice gives Green Bay another developmental option in a crowded receiver room.
By PackerAaron
The Packers are taking another low-risk swing on upside, claiming wide receiver Brenden Rice off waivers a day after adding to the roster via the same route. Yes, if something feels familiar about the name, it's because he's Jerry Rice’s son, known around these parts as That Guy Who Fumbled.
A 2024 seventh-round pick for the Chargers, Rice brings size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, and gives Green Bay another developmental option in a crowded receiver room. Having bounced between five organizations in short order, he’s clearly still searching for footing in the NFL. But in the offseason, these are exactly the kinds of lottery tickets worth scratching.
To make room on the 90 man roster, the Packers have waived DL James Ester.
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Comments (17)
golfpacker61
May 13, 2026 at 05:08 pm
Brenden Rice was a WR that I looked at and mocked to GB in the 2024 draft. He is a stud athlete who seemed to improve alot in 4 years of college. Not only is he a talented, fast WR, but his dad is Jerry Rice. How cool would it be to have Jerry hanging around GB?
Coldworld
May 13, 2026 at 06:43 pm
He tested really badly. Not the player he seemed on film. Not the player who appeared on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks list in 2022:
“6-3, 215 pounds and hit 23 MPH on the GPS and had an impressive 1.43 10-yard split. This offseason, Rice also vertical-jumped 38 inches, did 17 reps of 225 on the bench and squatted 525 for three reps.
The salient metric there is the 1.43 10 yards. He tested at 1.59. Which is more realistic? The 23 mph suggests that it’s not simply a mistake by Feldman. Who knows. He might be more interesting than his RAS and league pedigree to date.
CanPackFan
May 13, 2026 at 05:40 pm
Frankly, who really cares? He's not his father. He was a 7th round pick that went from team to team last year. We have a lot of WRs. This feels like a PR signing...
LeotisHarris
May 13, 2026 at 07:32 pm
I care, but I also cared when the Packers signed Emory Smith. I'm not sure I "really care." I do care, though.
Swisch
May 13, 2026 at 07:46 pm
Lisa Simpson: Just try not to freak out the blind man.
Bart Simpson: I'll try to try.
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As noted in the main article, this move carries very little cost.
If Gute does ten of these and hits on one, that's good stuff. If he does 50 of these, and hits on one star, that's also good stuff.
So, I also care about the claiming of brenden rice, though not getting super excited.
I like that he's the son of Jerry Rice. It could be good story in the making. And there's nothing wrong with good PR if there's a good reason to go along with the PR.
As long as we treat Brenden well, there's nothing wrong with noting that his dad was a decent player in the NFL ;-).
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On a related note, is Rasul Douglas out there for the Packers to bring in for a tryout?
MikeDV34
May 14, 2026 at 09:08 am
Haha what?
stockholder
May 13, 2026 at 08:27 pm
The more WRs signed.
The more they should have drafted one.
Good Bye Watson.
The money is drying up.
EchoGirl
May 14, 2026 at 04:20 am
I think you're assigning way too much weight to this. These kinds of back-of-the-roster fliers are normal this time of year. They're not expecting him to come in and be a superstar, they just want to see if there's anything there they can build from. Every team needs depth. It's probably a league minimum deal or close to it. Unless Rice suddenly balls out on a level no one could have dreamed of (which would be a good outcome! just not very likely), it should have zero impact on anything to do with Watson.
jannesbjornson
May 14, 2026 at 01:35 pm
The Salary CAP is moving Up, yearly.
packer132
May 14, 2026 at 06:25 pm
Packers drafted two wide receivers last year with a 1st and 3rd round pick. Why would they draft another when that group is one of the deepest position groups? TE and RB's are also receivers and there is only one football. Signings now are mostly camp bodies and maybe one or two players make the roster. In your own words, the game is won in the "trench".
Matt
May 14, 2026 at 01:17 am
Don't worry, if he will have a half of his dad's stats he will become HoFer too :)
golfpacker61
May 14, 2026 at 07:50 am
What's interesting about this transaction is it shows, even though we don't have excessive amounts of cash to throw around, Gutey is at least trying to bring in competition to upgrade the roster and make it as strong as possible. I think GB already has, on paper, a potentially very strong WR position group already, but it can always be better.
I only wish they were sharing news about potential upgrades at other areas of uncertainty, Edge & OL. While adding players like Brendan Rice & Luke Lachey is indeed positive news, a relatively small expenditure @ Edge by signing Clowney or A J Epenesa would go much farther to achieve the biggest goal, Super Bowl. We need a player that has had actual solid NFL production to add to the players behind Parsons, because they will determine whether we start 3-1 or 1-3 without Micah.
harleycops
May 14, 2026 at 08:19 am
Golfpacker says we have a "potentially very strong WR position group already...." JLove can get better throwing the ball. Sure he's thrown TDs bombs, but it's also true he has underthrown / overthrown his receivers or the WRs dropped ball. Nobody is perfect, but I hope to see higher accuracy on his throws. Note last 3 years: 64.3% completion rate. If he bumps up that %, and they limit the drops, then we'll have a very strong WR position group!
2023: 17 games, 372/579 (64.2%), 4,159 yards, 32 TD, 11 INT, 96.1 passer rating
2024: 15 games, 268/425 (63.1%), 3,389 yards, 25 TD, 11 INT, 96.7 passer rating
2025: 15 games, 291/439 (66.3%), 3,381 yards, 23 TD, 6 INT, 101.2 passer rating
golfpacker61
May 15, 2026 at 08:34 am
In 2024 & 2025 Love was banged up 1/2 of each season. Wasn't Watson out for most of 2024? 2024 was also the "Season of the drops" for all of our WRs. 2025 was the perfect storm of injuries.
I haven't been the strongest Love supporter, and I will admit I would have been thrilled with a training camp battle of Willis and Love if we weren't buried in Loves contract. But don't bash him for things he has no control over. Without the drops alone in 2024 he probably adds 5% to his completion %.
Losing Kraft last year was a major blow to the QB % and stats. Bad OL play will make any QB look worse and our OL wasn't good last year. Injuries, Injuries, Injuries. They kill a team altogether.
Coldworld
May 15, 2026 at 08:06 am
The first thing we need is a genuinely good blocking TE. Get that and our running game gets better as well as our passing game and Kraft is freed up for aggressive use more often. With Lachey failing his medical, Gute needs to find another option.
As I have said before, why not pick up Tucker Fisk and put an end to this? Formerly with the Chargers. 6’4, 285. He’s 27 but he can block in line and lead. 13 targets for 10 receptions and 67 yards in 25 games. He can do as much as we asked Fitzgerald and any other TE 2 since Lewis in the passing game (a target every 30 snaps) and block vastly better. Shouldn’t be expensive. Should be reliable and a problem resolved.
As to Edge/OLBs, who would you cut? I think that there’s a good chance Cox has the earliest impact of the returning players other than Parsons and the first to 6 sacks. Cutting him for one of the above would not seem a win. They won’t cut Sorrell or Oliver and we now know LVN is not going anywhere and obviously DDS won’t be. At some point we have to trust youth and our development it.
I would have been fine adding Epenesa and not drafting an edge until late or at all or even trading LVN and picking him up. However, those ships were allowed to sail. Since they undoubtedly will start LVN, I hope it’s Cox on the other side and that Cox can stay healthy and recapture his form from 2024.
golfpacker61
May 15, 2026 at 08:47 am
"They won’t cut Sorrell or Oliver." Coldworld, do you think some team would try to steal Oliver from the practice squad if he ended up there? I think he would be the likely player out if it came down to choices.
"I would have been fine adding Epenesa and not drafting an edge until late."
If he can pass the physical, Epenesa is still a player to grab because he is a proven NFL player, and he is cheap. Up to $5 million is all he was getting from the Browns and he most surely would be cheaper for us at this point. He hasn't really had a chance to excel while in Buffalo but he has produced decent stats for only starting 2 games.
Epenesa is cheap insurance @ Edge, he is young, a decent all round defender, and would take the worry completely away from the Edge position. TE is another animal altogether, and it should be a bigger worry than GB seems to be giving it. It looks like we are taking the "I hope something falls in our laps" approach this offseason. I am still a Luke Schoonmaker fan to solve this bigger than advertised hole. We need to take some wear & tear off Kraft or he will be gone in 7/8 seasons.
WorseWisconsin
May 15, 2026 at 06:31 pm
Fun Fact: I live in Atherton, CA, and we'd occasionally see his dad jogging in the area.
Brendan's dad sets an unrealistic standard (IMHO easily the GOAT WR), but I thought Brendan would make a dent in the NFL. I think this just shows that it takes more than physical tools to make it in the NFL.
I can't root for a GB WR to do well :) but I do hope Brendan's career makes more progress.