Packers sign former Wisconsin DT Olive Sagapolu

Not only did the Green Bay Packers sign running back Corey Grant prior to the team’s Friday training camp practice; there is another new face participating — though fans of Wisconsin football will recognize him.

Former Wisconsin Badgers nose tackle Olive Sagapolu is reportedly in Green Bay and participating in practice Friday, as noted by ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. This would bring the Packers over the 90-man roster limit, so a matching roster transaction is inevitably coming later today to make room for him. In training camp, Sagapolu will presumably compete with Tyler Lancaster and Deon Simon for the backup nose tackle job behind Kenny Clark.

A fan favorite in Madison, Sagapolu was the anchor in the middle of the Badgers’ 3-4 defense over the past few years, but he did flash a bit of pass-rushing ability from over the nose. In 2017, Sagapolu played 11 games and recorded three sacks, and he tallied six sacks overall in his career. He suffered an arm injury in 2018, however, which limited him to just eight games.

The Badgers listed Sagapolu at 6-foot-2 and around 340 pounds, but he’s an athletic player for that size. He reportedly ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.53 seconds and the 3-cone in 7.71 seconds at Pro Day this March, with a 30 1/2-inch vertical.

There’s also this video that went viral during the 2018 offseason:

UPDATE: It appears that defensive lineman Eric Cotton is the player who has been released, as Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports that he is the one player unaccounted for at practice.