The Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) signed inside linebacker Joe Thomas to their 53-man roster, filling a roster spot left open because of defensive lineman Josh Boyd's season-ending ankle injury.

Thomas (6-1, 227) a Blackville, SC native,  was signed from the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad, which he joined after the Packers cut him at the end of training camp. The second-year linebacker spent last season on the Packers' practice squad. Thomas had a strong finish to his preseason, recording a sack with four tackles against the New Orleans Saints.

"He's just a good, young football player," McCarthy said. "You know, he was someone obviously we got down there on the final day (of cuts), and he was a young man we talked a lot about, and it was tough to see him go. It will be great to get him back in the mix, but we look at Joe as one of our guys."Our personnel department does a great job of building lists, boards and things like that. We're just trusting our board."

The move correlated with Boyd being placed on season-ending injury reserve. Boyd was carted off the field night with an ankle injury. An MRI showed a broken bone in his ankle and ligament damage, according to a league source.

NFL rules mandate that if a player is signed off another team's practice squad, he'll receive a minimum of three paychecks even if released by his new team during that stretch. He'll earn $76,764.71 for those three weeks, a significant raise from the $6,600 per week he made on the Cowboys' practice squad.