The Green Bay Packers practiced with Canadian linebacker Joel Dublanco on Tuesday, sources confirmed. 3DownNation.
The 27-year-old has 80 defensive tackles, six special teams tackles and two sacks in 18 regular-season games for the Edmonton Elks in 2025. He made 12 starts as a linebacker on a weak team.
Dublanco was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 CFL Draft. As a rookie, he recorded two defensive tackles and eight special teams tackles. Although Dublanco was born in Aberdeen, Washington, he acquired Canadian citizenship through his Edmonton-born father shortly before enlisting in the Army.
The six-foot-two, 231-pound defensive end played five collegiate seasons at the University of Cincinnati, where he recorded 233 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one interception over 64 games. He was named first team All-AAC in 2021 and was a team captain.
Dublanco made several appearances for the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks after going undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft, although he did not play in the regular season. In 2023, he played for the Philadelphia Stars in the United States Football League, totaling 27 tackles and 0.5 sacks over seven games with four starts.
The NFL CFL practice window opened on November 17th and will close on February 10th at 12:01 pm EST. The window to sign with an NFL team opens on January 5 and ends on February 10 at 12:01 pm ET.
NFL teams must request permission from CFL franchises to train players, but the request cannot be denied. CFL players can opt out of their agreements north of the border if an NFL team offers a contract, although the CFL team retains its exclusive rights to the remainder of the pre-existing contract.
The Edmonton Elks finished fifth in the West Division standings in 2025 with a 7–11 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Cody Fajardo started the team's final 13 regular-season games and went 6-7, throwing for 3,408 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Tre Ford started the top five with a 1-4 record and threw for 984 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Moose ranked ninth in net offense, ninth in net defense and fifth with a plus-four turnover margin. The club's leading rusher was Justin Rankin with 1,013 yards, the leading receiver was Kion Julien-Grant with 820 yards, and the leading tackler was Joel Dublanco with 80 tackles. Edmonton ranked seventh in attendance with an average attendance of 19,050, down 7.1 per cent from the previous year.
