Surprise Green Bay Packers cut officially claimed off waivers

On3 imageby:Nikki Chavanelle02/15/22

NikkiChavanelle

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Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire

The Houston Texas officially claimed former Packers defensive lineman Kingsley Keke on Tuesday. Keke, along with punter Corliss Waitman and DBs Juju Hughes and Essang Bassey, got his new assignment this week, and now he’ll head back to his home state of Texas.

The Green Bay Packers drafted Kingsley Keke with a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft. The 6-foot-3 defensive end played for Texas A&M from 2015 to 2018 before heading to Wisconsin. The Packers cut him in a surprise move ahead of the playoff game versus the San Francisco 49ers. He dealt with concussions through the season.

Keke showed an increase in production from his rookie year to his second year in the league. In his 2020 season, he played in 15 games, starting nine of them, and recorded 18 total tackles, nine solo, two passes defended, or sacks, and a forced fumble.

This season Keke maintained the pace of production from last year. However, he was limited in playing time throughout the season for various reasons. The former Aggie played in nine games, starting six of them, but recorded 19 tackles, seven solo, 2.5 sacks, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble.

Former Green Bay Packers coach joins bitter rival

A former position coach for the Green Bay Packers is heading to a new NFL team next season, and it’s one of the Packers’ biggest rivals. Former tight ends coach Brian Angelichio is joining the Minnesota Vikings as their pass game coordinator and tight ends coach, per a Monday report.

“[The] Vikings will be hiring Brian Angelichio as the pass game coordinator/tight ends [coach],” stated ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Monday. “Angelichio was tight ends coach in Carolina so the veteran NFL assistant gets a bump in title.”

Angelichio has moved around the NFL as a tight ends coach for nearly a decade, beginning his career as tight ends coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 after coaching at Rutgers. After Tampa Bay, he coached for the Cleveland Browns before coming to Green Bay in 2016. Angelichio was not retained by Packers head coach Matt LaFleur for the 2019 season, and he joined Washington before finally becoming the Carolina Panthers tight ends coach in 2020.

Now, Angelichio’s career takes him to Minnesota. He is replacing Brian Pariani as the tight ends coach, as well as taking a promotion to passing game coordinator. Pariani joined the Vikings because of his relationship with Gary Kubiak. The changing of coaches to Kevin O’Connell next season opened the door for additional staff changes. Angelichio worked with O’Connell before in both Washington and Cleveland.

On3’s Austin Brezina contributed to this report.