July 22nd, 2025
The Green Bay Packers have an offensive line that is facing a lot of questions. This pertains to center Elgton Jenkins and left guard Aaron Banks. There is also a fight at right guard, and surprisingly, left tackle, which has been a strong spot on the roster for the last few years. However, there is one less doubt now due to a contract agreement with one of their top players, right tackle Zach Tom.
The first problem is between the Packers and Elgton Jenkins, as Jenkins wants long-term security because of two reasons: 1. He is headed into his age-29 season, turning 30 years-old days before the year 2025 ends, and 2. He is switching from left guard to center. Both of Jenkins’ concerns are understandable, as he is getting older and switching to center for the first time since college. However, there is a twist to this storyline, as Jenkins is now on the active/non-football injury list. This definitely presents a big issue, as he is hurt with an injury that is unknown to the public, and needs practice time to be in sync with quarterback Jordan Love. Who knows what will happen, but the result will most likely be a contract extension because moving Jenkins to center was part of Packers’ General Manager, Brian Gutekunst’s master plan for the offensive line, which now leads to the uncertainty regarding Aaron Banks.
Green Bay’s former center, Josh Myers, disappointed the organization because of the draft capital they used on him (second-round pick in 2021), so they ended up letting him walk in free agency. The team’s solution? Moving Elgton Jenkins to his old position and signing left guard Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million contract. The whole point of these maneuvers was to reconfigure the offensive line, but it may not work out. Banks was ranked low to average according to multiple metrics used to measure an offensive lineman’s performance. Therefore, many analysts and fans think this was a huge overpay. Despite this, the Packers still decided to make these moves, and now, there are multiple concerns from people that this will end up backfiring.
A battle between multiple players for two positions on the offensive line has occurred at right guard and left tackle. For the right guard spot, this is understandable, as this is the team’s weak spot. The current starting right guard is Sean Rhyan, but faces competition, mainly from two players, offensive linemen Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton (who is a second-round rookie). It seems as if the Packers are trying to upgrade the position, but at the same time, are still giving Rhyan a shot to keep his job. In the middle to final stages of training camp, the starting spot may come down to Rhyan and Belton, as the Packers’ key objective is to see if Morgan can play left tackle. However, if Morgan cannot prove himself at the latter position, he will compete for the starting job at right guard. That would only make this situation more difficult to figure out who starts at right guard.
In regards to winning the starting left tackle job, it is mind-boggling that this is even a competition due to the fact that the team already has Rasheed Walker playing there. Walker has already proven that he is more than capable enough to be a starter at the position. Despite this, it seems as if the main competitors are Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton, but Belton has less leeway, so if the team thinks that he is not ready, they will make him focus primarily on the right guard spot. The left tackle job will ultimately come down to Walker and Morgan. The feeling is that the Packers want Morgan to win the job since they used a first-round pick on him in 2024. If the team does start Morgan in place of Walker, they may try to trade Walker to get some value out of him. Rasheed Walker was drafted with a seventh-round pick in 2022, so they may try to swing for the fences, getting multiple draft picks (and maybe players) in a trade before he leaves via free agency. Starting left tackles are a commodity in the NFL, so the chances of Green Bay receiving a lot of compensation for Walker’s services are decent enough to consider trading him.
As mentioned earlier, there was a resolution on July 21st between Green Bay and their franchise right tackle, Zach Tom, as they agreed on a four-year, $88 million extension according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media. The contract is worth $92 million at its max value. In addition, Tom gets the biggest signing bonus for an offensive lineman ever, which is worth $30.2 million. Overall, this is an outstanding outcome, as Tom is one of the best at his position in the entire league, so keeping him beyond this year is spectacular.