A familiar name from the Green Bay Packers’ recent past is set to join a new NFC East club this week.
Veteran linebacker Krys Barnes is expected to sign with the Washington Commanders, according to a report from CBS Sports.
“The Commanders are expected to sign veteran linebacker Krys Barnes, sources tell CBSSports,” reporter Matt Zenitz wrote on Tuesday. “He has posted 303 career tackles.”
Barnes first arrived in the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA in 2020, when the Packers gave him a chance few other teams were willing to offer. He quickly turned that opportunity into something more substantial.
During his rookie season, the Packers waived him during final roster cuts only to bring him back to the practice squad. One week later, coaches elevated him and named him a starter alongside Christian Kirksey.
He ended up starting 10 games that year, an impressive total for a player who had gone unselected in the draft. The next season, Barnes continued starting at inside linebacker next to De’Vondre Campbell. He showed steady play against the run but struggled at times in pass coverage, which led Green Bay to use single-linebacker packages more often.
Those coverage concerns played a role in the team drafting Quay Walker in the first round the following spring.
After the Packers declined to tender him, Barnes moved on to the Arizona Cardinals. He spent two seasons there as a reliable depth piece, appearing in 33 games and starting six of them.
In 2025 he joined the Carolina Panthers, where he saw limited action, starting three of the seven games he played. Now 28 years old and carrying six years of NFL experience, Barnes will try to carve out a role in Washington. He is expected to compete with 2024 fifth-round pick Jordan Magee, 2025 undrafted free agent Ale Kaho and 2025 sixth-round selection Kain Medrano for one of the final linebacker spots on the 53-man roster.
Meanwhile, the Packers’ own inside linebacker group looks different this year after significant changes.
Former first-round pick Quay Walker signed a four-year, $40 million extension with the Las Vegas Raiders. Green Bay responded by acquiring former All-Pro and Pro Bowl linebacker Zaire Franklin in a trade that sent defensive tackle Colby Wooden the other way. Ty’Ron Hopper and Isaiah McDuffie remain the primary backups behind Franklin and third-year player Edgerrin Cooper.
Cooper ranked among the top 10 off-the-ball linebackers in an ESPN survey of executives, coaches and scouts earlier this offseason.
Franklin, who turned 30, is coming off a 2025 season that did not match his previous All-Pro form, though coaches have praised the energy he has shown in camp. Hopper has primarily contributed on special teams so far and has yet to prove he can handle a larger defensive role.
With the Packers aiming to contend for a championship this season, the play of the inside linebackers will be closely watched. Barnes’ journey from undrafted free agent to multi-year starter and now veteran journeyman offers a reminder of how quickly opportunities can open and close in the NFL.
Packers fans who followed his surprising rise in 2020 and 2021 will recognize the name, even if he now wears a different uniform. Whether he sticks on Washington’s final roster will depend on how well he performs in the coming weeks of practice and preseason action.
At this stage of his career, experience and special-teams ability often decide such battles.
