The Green Bay Packers launched LB Christian Kirksey and T Rick Wagner. General manager Brian Gutekunst announced the transactions on Friday.
Kirksey (6-2, 235) started all 11 games of the regular season in which he appeared during his one year with the Packers, finishing tied for 2nd place in the team with 78 tackles (47 solo). He was also in action in both postseason competitions with one match. Kirksey was originally selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round (No. 71 overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft at the University of Iowa. Over seven seasons with the Browns, he played 73 games with 54 games, registering 463 tackles (289 solo), 11.5 sacks, two interceptions, 16 defended passes, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Kirksey served as a team captain for three years (2017-19) and was the Browns’ nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2018. He recorded the second highest number of tackles (281) in the 2016-17 NFL (by press box), including the 143 best career in 2016.
Wagner (6-6, 315) played one season for the Packers, appearing in 16 regular season games with nine matches and starting both postseason disputes. He helped Green Bay tie for second in the NFL in permitted sacks (21) in 2020, Green Bay’s fourth lowest number in a 16-game season. Wagner was part of a line that allowed a sack or zero sack in the 13 best games in the league, with the biggest draw in the team’s history (2004), including four games of sack zero, the maximum for Green Bay since 2008 (four). He was originally chosen in the fifth round (No. 168 overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens at the University of Wisconsin. After four seasons with the Ravens, the West Allis, Wisconsin, native signed with Detroit in 2017 and played three seasons with Lions. In the first seven years of his career, Wagner played 102 games, with 87 matches during the regular season, including all the matches he played, except one from 2014-19.