Packers tender exclusive-rights free agent Chris Banjo, per reports

One of the Green Bay Packers' core special teamers will return in 2016. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Silverstein and others, the team tendered exclusive-rights free agent Chris Banjo on Tuesday.

Banjo arrived in Green Bay three years ago, serving mostly on special teams and occasionally on defense. However, because Banjo spent virtually all of the 2014 on the team's practice squad, he did not accrue enough seasons to quality for restricted free agency. Accordingly, the defensive back doesn't become an restricted free agent until next offseason.

With Banjo back in the fold, the Packers have most of their key special teamers back in place. He re-joins Jeff Janis, Micah Hyde and a group that improved considerably in 2015 compared to a season earlier. The team must still decide what to do with unrestricted free-agent long-snapper Brett Goode, who tore his ACL on Dec. 20 during a win over the Oakland Raiders.