Packers sign OL Dejon Allen, who visited Green Bay before the 2018 NFL Draft

Pre-Draft visits are a great way for NFL teams to get to know potential draft picks, but astute teams keep a close eye on these players years down the road. The Green Bay Packers in particular have been known to acquire players who visited the team before their draft days, whether doing so by drafting them, signing them as undrafted free agents, or landing them down the road.

On Thursday, the Packers executed that third option by signing a player they brought in for a visit in 2018, offensive lineman Dejon Allen. The former Hawaii left tackle was a good athletic fit for the Packers in that draft, but he ended up going undrafted and signed with the Chicago Bears as a UDFA. He spent the entire 2018 season on Chicago’s practice squad, but the Bears released him this May just after the 2019 NFL Draft.

The Packers listed Allen as a guard in the official press release on the signing, and this comes as no surprise despite his college position. Allen was widely expected to move inside once he got to the NFL, with some pundits even suggesting that he would end up at center in the pros. His height (just over 6-foot-2) was a common rationale for the move.

While Allen would appear to be a long shot to make the 53-man roster — it would be virtually impossible for him to suit up in tonight’s preseason finale — he could be a candidate for a practice squad spot when those units begin filling up on Sunday.