The Green Bay Packers are experimenting with wide receiver Bo Melton playing snaps at cornerback during mandatory minicamp, which began Tuesday and was open to the assembled media in Green Bay.
General manager Brian Gutekunst said the Packers are seeing if a position change is a “possibility” for Melton, who has played his entire collegiate and professional career at wide receiver but who also has elite athleticism and a younger brother — Max — who plays cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals.
“We’ve talked about this for a couple of years, just his skill set and how versatile he is. You watch him on teams and you’re like, wow, he can probably do some of that,” Gutekunst said. “I think it’s just something we’re going to look at and see if that’s a possibility. There have been very few guys have done it in our league, but there have been a few. And when a guy can do that, it certainly helps your football team. Bo is everything we want in a football player out there as far as his ability as a receiver, on teams, and he’s able to add this to his arsenal he’ll be really, really valuable to us.”
Offseason position experiments at the professional level are often a bad sign, and it’s possible Melton is feeling the squeeze of the Packers’ competitive and crowded wide receiver room. With first-round pick Matthew Golden and third-round pick Savion Williams in Green Bay, Melton has a big battle ahead of him to make the 53-man roster to open 2025. But the Packers like the way Melton plays special teams — often as a gunner on punt coverage or a blocker on punt return — and think it could translate to playing cornerback, where the depth chart is far less settled.
During Tuesday’s minicamp practice, Melton went through individual drills with the cornerbacks and eventually played both receiver and cornerback during live 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 periods.
At 5-11 and 189 pounds with a 4.34-second 40-yard dash and 38″ vertical leap, Melton has the size and athleticism profile of a cornerback. The Packers have long believed his size and blocking ability at receiver are elite traits, but it’s possible his athleticism and physicality could be plus traits on defense, too.
The Packers released cornerback Jaire Alexander on Monday, and Gutekunst said he’s comfortable with the depth of the cornerback group ahead of training camp. Melton may get a chance during the summer to prove he can provide dual-threat value for the Packers in 2025.
A seventh-round pick in 2022, Melton emerged as a legitimate pass-catcher for the Packers in 2023, producing 16 catches for 218 yards and a score. But he didn’t build on the success in 2024 and caught only eight passes for 91 yards. Melton did play a career-high 153 snaps on special teams, including over 100 covering kicks and punts. He made four tackles.