Isaiah Simmons will begin his Packers career in the linebackers room

Isaiah Simmons signed with the Packers on Monday. He can play linebacker, safety or the nickel, and he played 370 special teams snaps the past two seasons with the Giants.

That begs the question: Which position group will Simmons be in with the Packers?

Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Friday that Simmons will be in the linebackers room.

“The thing that you love about him is he’s got a lot of versatility to do a lot of different things,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “I know in New York, just when we went against him a couple years ago, specifically situationally, he was all over the place. So I think that just tells you his mental capacity in order to be able to understand defensive schemes. And we had a lot of great conversation with him leading up to him signing with us. I know he’s working hard at it. I think we have a vision for him and we’ll just watch and see how that progresses over time.”

The Cardinals made Simmons the eighth overall pick in 2020, and he now is on his third team. The Cardinals traded him to the Giants for a seventh-round pick in August 2023, and he re-signed with New York on a one-year deal last April.

LaFleur said he consulted safety Xavier McKinney about Simmons before the signing.

“I asked X, and X gave it two thumbs up,” LaFleur said of McKinney. “That is meaningful, though, when you have a player like X, coming from New York, who was a teammate with him, and you just ask those questions. He said he’s a great teammate and that’s all I needed to hear.”

In 84 career games with 42 starts, Simmons has tallied 21 passes defensed, five interceptions, nine forced fumbles, and 8.5 sacks.