Collin Oliver Inks Rookie Deal with the Green Bay Packers

Collin Oliver has been paid.

The Oklahoma State Cowboy turned Green Bay Packer signed a four-year deal worth $4.6 million, according to Adam Schefter. The Packers took Oliver in the fifth round of last week’s NFL Draft with the 159th overall pick. It also came out this week that Oliver is set to wear No. 45 with the Pack.

“I would say he’s a little bit more of a DPR (designated pass rusher) at this standpoint,” said Packers coach Matt LaFleur after the draft. “But one thing that I think was pretty evident throughout the course of the season is we needed a little bit more speed and a speed rusher on the edge, and I think that’s exactly what he does. But he’s another guy that has versatility in terms of we feel he can play as an off-the-ball linebacker, as well.”

Oliver played 43 games at OSU across four seasons. He finished his Cowboy career with 134 total tackles, 42 tackles for loss and 23.5 sacks. He finished fifth on OSU’s all-time sack list, a list he might have climbed to the top of had he not suffered a season-ending injury just two games into the Cowboys’ 2024 campaign.

He got to OSU as a four-star prospect out of Edmond Santa Fe High School, picking the in-state Pokes over offers from Arkansas, Georgia, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Ole Miss, Tennessee and others.

Oliver made an immediate impact with the Cowboys, recording 11.5 sacks as a true freshman in the Cowboys’ Fiesta Bowl-winning 2021 season. It was the most sacks any freshman has had at OSU.

Being measured at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds at the NFL Combine, Oliver was viewed as a bit of a defensive end-linebacker tweener. He made the move to linebacker going into the 2023 season and made a career-high 73 total tackles and matched the 16 tackles for loss that he had as a freshman.

After the injury-shortened season, Oliver received that invite to the combine and ran a 4.56 40-yard dash while recording a 39-inch vertical and a 10-foot, 6-inch broad jump.

“We talked a lot about just having guys like that that can chase the quarterback down,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “There’s not a lot of guys in our league that win with pure speed on the edge, but there are some guys that have some really good get-offs and quickness. One thing that I’m always concerned about with guys if all they can do is rush the passer and they’re that size, when you have injuries and they gotta play more on first and second down, that can put you in a spot. I think with Collin, with his situation, he can actually stand up and play some linebacker, too. He can play some Sam linebacker. I think that versatility made us comfortable with it.”