Since reporting for training camp early last week, the Green Bay Packers have already completed multiple practices. On Monday, they’ll put on pads for the first time. At long last, something approximating real football will take place on the practice fields around 1265 Lombardi Ave.

At the same time, the topic du jour in Green Bay involves a player who began camp on the sidelines and only just passed his physical on Friday. Today’s edition of The Leap tackles that heady matter.

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With Tucker Kraft back in practice, the clock truly starts on extension talks

Jason B. Hirschhorn: The Packers have made a handful of major contractual commitments this offseason. Between new deals for Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, and Devonte Wyatt, the team officially committed $197.15 million ($73.22 million guaranteed at signing). That figure doesn’t include smaller extensions for players like Isaiah McDuffie or money allocated to free agents such as Javon Hargrave and Benjamin St-Juste.

Yet, the Packers’ biggest piece of business remains unresolved: completing a long-term extension for star tight end Tucker Kraft.

Unlike the players who signed extensions earlier this year to remain in Green Bay, Kraft began training camp on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to work his way back from last season’s ACL tear. Though both he and team leadership expect he’ll ramp up to a full workload prior to Week 1, his recovery still complicates contract talks.

“There’s been discussions,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said of negotiations with Kraft. “Both us and him, I think it’s in the best interests to try and get something done. But these things take time, and we’ve gone through a bunch of extensions this summer kind of knowing this was going to be the one right about now. We have a little bit of time. He’s just not there yet. I would expect, hopefully, that would get done, but you never know how they’re going to go.”

Those comments came last Wednesday, before the first practice of training camp. In the time since, Kraft has passed his physical and returned to practice, a significant milestone in his rehab process.

So, with Kraft officially back in the fold, will a new contract finally come to fruition?

While certain aspects of contract talks will always stay behind closed doors, the public generally doesn’t understand the nuances of these types of negotiations. In particular, some fans worry that the team and Kraft’s agent could have material disagreements over a potential deal’s total value and/or duration.

However, given the circumstances of this negotiation -- a 25-year-old emerging superstar at a position where the two largest contracts emerged over the past 16 months -- both sides already know approximately where those figures will land. Kraft’s extension will feature an average annual value at or near George Kittle’s deal ($19.1 million) with the vast majority or all of the fully guaranteed money coming in a signing bonus (a Packers staple). As for the contract’s length, it will most likely mirror the agreements signed by Kittle and Trey McBride (four years).

A contract negotiation like Kraft’s still involves plenty of variables outside of the overarching terms that every NFL insider will race to post on social media when the time comes. For example, the two sides must agree on incentives for offseason-program participation (another Packers staple), the timing and amount for roster bonuses (often converted to signing bonuses later to spread cap hits or used to force favorable timing of a player release), and any void years tacked on to the deal (also for cap purposes).

And, of course, the Packers had no reason to rush an extension this offseason while Kraft mended from his ACL tear. While knee reconstruction has transformed from a career changer to the type of surgery and rehabilitation process from which most players fully recover, no doctor can guarantee a good outcome. Just because, say, Christian Watson returned from his torn ACL and looked like the best version of himself doesn’t mean that Kraft will do the same. Green Bay surely remembers all the challenges involved with David Bakhtiari’s reconstructed knee.

Accordingly, when Gutekunst said the Packers “have a little time” because Kraft was “just not there yet” in his recovery, those words carried real weight. The team wanted to see the young tight end clear the necessary hurdles in his rehab before moving forward with a long-term extension.

But soon, Kraft will check the final box in his return. Over the next few weeks, he’ll begin participating in 11-on-11 periods, the final checkpoint in his recovery. Once that moment arrives, the Packers won’t have a compelling concern holding them back from extending Kraft.

So, while a certain segment of fans vents on the internet about the absence of an agreement, the signs always pointed to a deal materializing after Kraft came off the PUP list. And for his part, he seems to understand this as well.

“I think the best chance for Green Bay to win a Lombardi is with me on the field as well,” Kraft said last week. “That’s people in the front office telling me that, and the importance of us getting this deal done in a timely fashion. But ultimately, I’ve said over and over again that I’m so grateful to be a part of this organization, and I would like to keep it that way.”

Barring an unforeseeable development, the Packers and Kraft will reach an agreement on a new contract, likely before the start of the regular season. Every available sign points in that direction. That might not quiet the most vocally nervous members of the team’s fanbase, but that contingent shouldn’t have to worry much longer.

Jonathan Gannon’s Arizona Cardinals, though he didn’t coordinate the defense, played the most diverse defense in the league in 2025. They would play three and even four safeties at a time. The Buffalo Bills under Bobby Babich, now the Green Bay Packers defensive passing game coordinator, also played one of the highest rates of dime defense last season.

As the league wants to get more pass defenders on the field, the Packers brought in two coaches who love to play more defensive backs. Case closed, right?

Don’t be so sure, especially if the first few glimpses of the Green Bay defenses offer a barhinger of things to come. And it’s less about league-wide trends than about the Packers’ specific personnel. That’s because playing the extra defensive back would take Edgerrin Cooper or Zaire Franklin off the field, and for the Packers, that flatly doesn’t make a lick of sense.

Instead, the Packers have already shown a willingness to slide bigger edge players like Lukas Van Ness and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton inside to create more advantageous pass rush options, while leaving their dynamic linebackers on the field.

They’re attempting to do the same thing teams who move to dime are, namely, find better ways to defend opposing passing attacks. But they’re moving to NASCAR packages rather than flooding the field with defensive backs. Dime puts smaller, quicker bodies on the field to defend the pass. It appears the Packers will do the same, only they’re doing it with defensive linemen.

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With so much excitement arriving in such a condensed period, observers will cling to any bit of new information and attempt to draw far-reaching conclusions from it. Some cases will warrant this approach, but other developments won’t survive long enough to see Week 1.

So, what situations merit monitoring and which should go ignored until further notice?

Monitor: how the Packers deploy Zaire Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper

Following the Packers’ trade for linebacker Zaire Franklin, it seemed fair to wonder how he might alter the defense. Already, that unit appeared headed for significant changes under new DC Jonathan Gannon, though the arrival of a former All-Pro with a preexisting relationship with the new defensive play-caller raised legitimate questions about the deployment of the off-ball linebackers.

By the time organized-team activities arrived, it became clear that the Packers expected Franklin to become the literal voice of the defense.

“Zaire has been awesome, just a real leader, an alpha, you can feel him, he does a great job communicating,” head coach Matt LaFleur said in May. “He wears the green dot, so, naturally, you’re the quarterback of the defense. I think he holds himself to a high standard, and he holds those around him to a high standard.”

But with Franklin serving as the “green dot” -- the player designated to relay defensive play calls to the rest of the defense -- could Edgerrin Cooper see a snap reduction in the Packers’ new-look defense? And if so, in what situations will Cooper come off the field?

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This week, the Green Bay Packers open camp for the 2026 season, and while the Chicago Bears playoff loss looms over the start of the year, along with Micah Parsons’ health, there’s not actually anything the team can do about that in late July and August.

But training camp can still provide plenty of answers to essential questions for this team as they set themselves up to make a run the 2025 team couldn’t muster.

Thank you for reading and supporting our coverage. You can also support our work by following us on social media:

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Who is starting at cornerback?

Peter Bukowski: Expect this competition to go right up to Week 1 and perhaps even into the season, with Matt LaFleur proving himself willing to rotate players in search of a positional winner.

Neither Keisean Nixon nor Carrington Valentine have contracts beyond this year, and Valentine didn’t open the 2025 season as the preferred starter either; Nate Hobbs did. His injury opened the door for Valentine, but once Hobbs returned, he immediately captured the lion’s share of snaps.

His ineffectual play and injury problems gave Valentine a firmer grasp on that starting job, but his own inconsistent play caused the Packers to see if Kamal Hadden could steal a spot. He also got hurt, leaving Valentine as the last man standing.

Benjamin St-Juste got a bargain deal to compete for a starting spot with the Packers, and Brian Gutekunst tabbed Brandon Cisse with his first pick in the draft to come in and compete.

Coverage breakdowns led to 25 fourth-quarter Bears points, including messy play from Valentine and Nixon. It’s possible the 2026 team will open with two new starters on the boundary, with St-Juste coming off the No. 1 graded zone corner season according to Pro Football Focus. Meanwhile, Cisse already does one of the most important things most rookies struggle to do: tackle.

Can the Packers trust rookie kicker Trey Smack?

PB: It may be a little unfair to put this on training camp, but after a spring that saw Smack miss a slew of kicks, the Packers rookie has a chance to show Green Bay was right to trade up for him in April’s draft.

It will be yet another proposition for Smack to go out and show it during the regular season. Still, at the very least, if Smack wins the kicker job over Lucas Havrisik, who does have the Packers record for longest field goal, it will show the team’s faith in his trajectory.

The last time Green Bay put its faith in a rookie kicker, Anders Carlson hardly covered himself in glory, culminating in a debut campaign that saw him miss a crucial field goal in the fourth quarter of the playoffs. Smack would replace Brandon McManus, who did the same back in January against the Bears.

The season hardly hinges on Smack being capable. Havrisik flashed plenty of his own ability last season in place of McManus, but training camp will be the first chance for these two to truly have it out for that spot.

Does the defensive front have enough to make it by while Micah Parsons is out?

PB: Players like Lukas Van Ness and Barryn Sorrell may not be able to prove definitively the defense will be fine without Parsons, but they certainly can show the opposite.

Van Ness had one of those camps last season when he started to dominate consistently. It felt like a lightbulb moment. Then he got hurt. Again. Another injury would seal the team’s fate as plainly not good enough. But even if he’s healthy and has another one of those camps, Jonathan Gannon will need more than that.

Sorrell, Collin Oliver, and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton have to show something too, and if they don’t, the calls for Gutekunst to rescue Josh Sweat from football purgatory in Arizona will only get louder. Sweat began training camp on PUP, and his reported disinterest in remaining a Cardinal has already been reported.

If Sweat can be pried from the other LaFleur, it’s worth exploring in any case, but a discouraging camp from the Packers’ other edge players would create far more urgency to make some sort of move, whether it’s Sweat or signing a veteran like Jadeveon Clowney.

There’s also the time element. As we move into August, the Packers and Parsons will have a clearer health picture for their superstar pass rusher. Will it be six games or eight? Nine? The longer the projected window, the better the players on the roster have to be for the Packers to feel comfortable moving forward with them as temporary replacements.

A lot will happen between the players arriving at 1265 Lombardi Ave. and the final cuts in September. Still, this moment provides a perfect opportunity to evaluate the roster and figure out who has the inside track to roster spots and key roles. With that in mind, The Leap has made its initial projection of the Packers’ 53-man roster to set a baseline from which to draw comparisons over the ensuing month and change.

A few things to note: Player order does not necessarily reflect the order of the depth chart. Those projected to begin the regular season on the physically unable to perform list do not count against the 53-man roster limit. Also, teams can place up to two players on injured reserve before final cutdowns and bring them back to the active roster during the same season.

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At its most basic, there is always that it’s better to have an awesome player than not to have him. More than that though, Kraft’s injury dulled a key arrow in LaFleur’s otherwise deadly offensive quiver.

The desire to play 12 and 13 personnel has become the new hotness in the NFL, regardless of whether a team wants to throw it a lot or a little, because it allows the offense to dictate terms. If an offense can put two tight ends on the field (12) and credibly run the ball (ideally better than from 11 personnel) the theory goes that defenses have to adjust with base defenses.

In a perfect world, that makes it easier to throw over the top, leaving linebackers to run with tight ends. With a tight end like Kraft, that’s a mismatch in favor of the offense.

This is why being able to defend the run from nickel is the advantage in modern defense right now

Without Kraft, though, the offense doesn’t generate the same type of advantage.

With their star tight end, the Packers played with a second tight end on 39.91% of snaps, which would have been second in the league on the season. After Kraft got injured, that number plummeted to 29.28%.

And as you’d expect, their efficiency fell off a cliff as well. With Kraft, the Packers generated .111 EPA/play with two tight ends and .03 without him. To put that into perspective, the Packers had a .10 EPA/play on all plays in 2026, and finished fourth in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens had a .03 EPA/play and landed 13th.

With Kraft, the Packers used two tight ends like one of the best offenses in football. Without him, they were closer to average.

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Later this week, the Green Bay Packers will report for training camp, effectively kicking off the 2026 season in earnest. While the majority of the past few months have focused on which players need to step up for the team to achieve its goals, today’s edition of The Leap will spotlight the notable veterans who need to perform well during camp and the preseason or risk leaving town for good.

Thank you for reading and supporting our coverage. You can also support our work by following us on social media:

Jason B. Hirschhorn: @by_JBH on Twitter / @byjbh@bsky.social on Bluesky / @by_jbh on Threads

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The Leap: @TheLeapGB on Twitter / @theleap.bsky.social on Bluesky / The Leap's YouTube channel

If you appreciate thoughtful, independent coverage of the Packers and NFL, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows us to serve this community with the stories and reporting it deserves.

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As always, thanks for making The Leap a part of your day.

Which Packers veterans are running out of time in Green Bay?

Jason B. Hirschhorn: At this point, any regular reader of The Leap knows which players need to take the leap in 2026 for the Packers to reach their goals. For example, Lukas Van Ness must build on the potential he flashed over the previous three years and become a major contributor, especially with Micah Parsons sidelined to start the season. MarShawn Lloyd, now apparently healthy, has the chance to supercharge the backfield if he can finally avoid injury.

However, even if Van Ness doesn’t show progress or Lloyd’s explosivity doesn’t manifest on the field, both will presumably remain in Green Bay for the 2026 season. The same might not apply to some other notable veterans on the roster.

• Travis Glover and Jacob Monk

The Packers’ offensive line faces a lot of valid questions entering training camp -- can Aaron Banks bounce back from a disappointing first year in Green Bay, will Anthony Belton settle in at guard after a rough midseason transition, and has Sean Rhyan finally found a home at center -- but the hierarchy does appear well established. Barring injury or an unforeseeable development, the coaching staff probably already knows the starting five before the first practice in pads.

The situation looks far less certain behind the starters, however. Darian Kinnard returns as a versatile tackle-guard backup, and fifth-round rookie Jager Burton spent the offseason program as the top interior swing. Still, Kinnard spent the vast majority of 2025 as a backup right tackle and “jumbo” tight end, and Burton’s status remains entirely in flux until he shows something in pads. Accordingly, the Packers likely need competition from some of their Year 3 linemen to feel confident about the depth in the trenches.

That means Travis Glover and Jacob Monk, two draft picks from 2024, have a lot at stake over the coming months. The former has played meaningful snaps, including some in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the latter has mostly made the 53 due to his draft status, playing six offensive snaps outside of a de facto exhibition against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18 of last season. However, a season-ending shoulder injury prevented Glover from pushing for a top backup role in 2025, and Monk saw his potential replacement drafted in Burton earlier this year.

Glover has tackle-guard versatility as well as the size that the Packers have prioritized over the past two offseasons. Head coach Matt LaFleur spoke glowingly of him when the aforementioned injury wiped out his 2025. That suggests Glover has real potential in the coaching staff’s estimation, but the front office won’t continue to make space for him without evidence of progress. As for Monk, he’ll have to fight just to get consistent practice reps and preseason snaps with either the No. 1 or No. 2 offense.

Given the numbers, it seems unlikely that both Glover and Monk will earn safe passage to the initial 53-man roster later this year, and a scenario exists where neither makes the cut.

• Ty’Ron Hopper

General manager Brian Gutekunst went against consensus when he selected Ty’Ron Hopper in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. While the linebacker started college games at Florida and Missouri -- both quality SEC programs -- he lacked the type of elite physical tools that typically push prospects at his position into the top 100.

Though two full seasons in the league, Hopper has yet to validate the Packers’ faith in him. While he has appeared in every game over that stretch, Hopper has managed just 144 defensive snaps thus far. More concerning still, nearly half of those snaps came in Green Bay’s meaningless regular-season finale in Minnesota. Hopper has carved out significant roles on special teams, but that alone might not save him when final cuts arrive.

For better or worse, Hopper will have new coaches to impress in 2026. On defense, he’ll operate within a new system installed by recently hired DC Jonathan Gannon. The Packers also have a new special-teams coordinator following the departure of Rich Bisaccia. Perhaps Hopper benefits from those changes and can push for playing time from scrimmage. Of course, if Green Bay felt good about such an outcome, the front office probably wouldn’t have just extended reserve linebacker Isaiah McDuffie.

• Messiah Swinson

Though the Packers didn’t draft Messiah Swinson, they have still invested a considerable amount of time into the former UDFA. Officially, the tight end has three separate stints in Green Bay, the most recent beginning in early January when the team signed him to the practice squad.

Even at a position like tight end, Swinson quite literally stands out, measuring over 6-foot-7 and weighing roughly 260 pounds. Such imposing size offers upside on special teams and as a blocker on offense, especially in a league that has seen a significant uptick in the use of 12 and 13 personnel over the past year. Swinson also has a notable college pedigree, having split his time between Missouri and Arizona State.

However, the Packers have brought in competition for the final roster spots at the position, signing 2025 draft pick Luke Lachey off the street and adding RJ Maryland as a UDFA. The Lachey acquisition in particular puts Swinson behind the eight ball, given their comparable statures.

Swinson, who has spent more time in the league, could still overcome the competition. But if he doesn’t, the Packers probably won’t consider a fourth stint for him.

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate is the slate. It’s the best players on the Packers, some of them fighting for respect as the best at their position and others already stamped as elite playmakers.

10. Jayden Reed

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: second-round pick (2023)

Clearly, the Packers agree with our rankings because they extended Jayden Reed with a three-year $50.25 million deal that pays him annually only slightly less than Romeo Doubs got in the offseason market.

They chose between Doubs and Reed, with Reed coming out on top despite an injured, beleaguered season between a foot injury to open the year and a collarbone break that kept the Packers star slot out half the season.

“You guys see how we’ve used him in the past in regards to moving him all over the place,” LaFleur said as Reed returned from injury last season.

“There’s a lot of things that he brings to our team just in regard to—he’s a YAC machine. He really does a really good job whether it’s handing him the ball, flipping him a screen, getting him downfield in a pass concept.”

Green Bay schemes Reed to get more touches than any receiver on the roster since he’s been in the league. When the Packers face zone coverage, Reed has been their go-to killer, someone able to break down underneath coverage or stretch it vertically. With Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks out, expect Reed to get even more chances this season.

9. Evan Williams

Position: safety
How acquired: fifth-round draft pick (2023)

Outside of another player coming up on this list, Evan Williams has a case as the most underrated player on the Packers. He immediately thrived as a rookie in training camp, despite the perception that the fifth-round draft capital used on him was a reach.

Williams was the only defensive back last season who didn’t appear to be allergic to catching the ball; he defends the run from depth as well as any safety in football, and he’s a cerebral player who sees plays even before they happen. Pro Football Focus graded him as the third-best run defender at the position last season.

If there’s one knock on Williams, it’s the high number of missed tackles, but one of the reasons for that is that he gets into positions to make tackles most safeties would not be able to make.

Williams deserved Pro Bowl consideration last year, and not even getting a vote in ESPN’s safety rankings was a joke. Along with Xavier McKinney, who is coming up on this list, Williams is part of one of the best spines in any defense in the NFL.

And if you don’t believe me, before the fateful Wild Card game against the Chicago Bears, Jeff Hafley declared, “He’ll be one of the best safeties in this league.”

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Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate features a handful of recent draft picks and bounce-back candidates.

20. Aaron Banks

Position: guard
How acquired: unrestricted free agent (2025)

The Packers’ decision last offseason to sign free agent Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million deal raised eyebrows from the rip. While the veteran guard had played at a high level for stretches of his time with the San Francisco 49ers, he hadn’t established himself as a premier player at the position. Nevertheless, Green Bay awarded him a contract that, even a year later, ranks among the top 10 for a guard by average annual value.

Banks’ agreement wouldn’t remain a talking point if not for the disappointing debut campaign with the Packers. Injuries limited him to just two starts over the first five weeks of the season, and he missed snaps in each of the games in which he did play over that span. He lasted just nine snaps in Week 9’s loss to the Carolina Panthers as well. Banks’ fluctuating availability contributed to the game of musical chairs that the offensive line devolved into over the course of 2025.

But while expectations for Banks have understandably fallen, he remains a capable guard when healthy. From Week 11 to Week 14, he played every snap and allowed zero sacks or quarterback hits, his best sustained run thus far in Green Bay. Given that three of the four other spots along the offensive line will feature either a new starter or a player who has less than a full season working at his current position, the Packers likely need Banks to deliver a solid performance in 2026.

19. Carrington Valentine

Position: cornerback
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2023)

Carrington Valentine has reached a crossroads of sorts. Over his first two years, he received plaudits for playing admirably for limited stretches, including stepping in for Jaire Alexander during the 2024 season. Then in 2025, Valentine emerged as a de facto starter, playing 70% of defensive snaps but allowing a team-worst seven touchdowns and letting multiple “gimme” interceptions slip through his fingers.

Now in a contract year, Valentine remains in the starting conversation entering 2026. However, the Packers have reloaded at cornerback, drafting Brandon Cisse in the second round and signing Benjamin St-Juste early in free agency. Those additions don’t mean Valentine has lost the inside track for his job, but he will need to outperform the competition during training camp and the preseason to maintain the status quo.

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Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s group looks at a slew of young players and key veteran free agents with a chance to establish themselves as central to what the Packers do in 2026 and beyond

Thank you for reading and supporting our coverage. You can also support our work by following us on social media:

Jason B. Hirschhorn: @by_JBH on Twitter / @byjbh@bsky.social on Bluesky / @by_jbh on Threads

Peter Bukowski: @Peter_Bukowski on Twitter / @peterbukowski@bsky.social on Bluesky / @peter_bukowski on Threads

The Leap: @TheLeapGB on Twitter / @theleap.bsky.social on Bluesky / The Leap's YouTube channel

If you appreciate thoughtful, independent coverage of the Packers and NFL, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows us to serve this community with the stories and reporting it deserves.

Subscribe now

As always, thanks for making The Leap a part of your day.

30. Tyrod Taylor

Position: quarterback
How acquired: unrestricted free agent (2026)

After the Packers let Malik Willis walk in free agency this offseason, they added a player in Tyrod Taylor who once followed a similar trajectory. Taylor, who turns 37 in August, earned the nickname T-Mobile for his ability to make plays with his legs. He’s also a smooth thrower who can play with touch and accuracy to all fields.

Although Taylor can’t move like he used to, he’s always taken care of the football, which is what a backup quarterback has to be able to do if Jordan Love misses time. And unfortunately for the Packers, that has been a theme of the season each of the last two years, though he only involuntarily missed one game last season after being knocked out of the second Chicago Bears game on a questionable hit from Austin Booker.

Taylor can no longer handle the type of zone-read offense the Packers could deploy with Willis because his athleticism has waned, but he can be a caretaker of this offense, letting Matt LaFleur do what he does best.

T-28. Luke Musgrave

Position: tight end
How acquired: second-round pick (2023)

On the flip side, athleticism has never been the problem for Luke Musgrave, at least not his speed for his size. Musgrave came into the NFL as a premier size/speed athlete at the tight end position, drawing rare rookie raves from LaFleur as early as spring ball back in 2023.

Musgrave started from Day 1, showing off his ability to stretch the seam and make difficult catches. But his struggles as a blocker, coupled with injuries, allowed Tucker Kraft to steal his starting job and supplant him as a core player in the passing game.

When Kraft went down last year, the Packers tried to use Musgrave once again as a vertical weapon, but his inefficiency as a blocker became too big a problem to overcome. With Kraft returning, Musgrave can resume his rightful role as TE2 and someone who has to do just enough as a blocker to survive.

There’s still plenty of potential here, but Musgrave appears to be capped out as a pass-catching secondary tight end despite his size and strength.

T-28. Brenton Cox Jr.

Position: edge
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2023)

If Brenton Cox Jr. could ever stay healthy, he may have already earned a starting job. In 2024, Cox showed the most pass rush juice on the roster, but only managed to stay on the field for seven games.

Still, he had 17 pressures in just 97 pass rush reps. That 17.5% pressure rate led the team. But he’s not just some designated pass rusher. Cox plays with physicality and ruggedness that belies his size. That’s not to say he’s some Maxx Crosby-level run defender — he’s not — but if he could stay healthy, he’s an impact edge player who has the skills to beat players currently getting more hype around the defense right now.

Don’t forget about him.

27. Savion Williams

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: third-round draft pick (2025)

When Jordan Love speaks about his receivers, listen. Love brought up Savion Williams multiple times this spring as a player he’s looking to be a more impactful part of the offense in 2026. Injuries and a crowded depth chart precluded Williams from making the kind of dent in the target share most third-round picks would get.

But when he was on the field, usually LaFleur was designing a touch specifically for him, whether that was as a wildcat quarterback or a receiver screen player.

Whether or not Savion Williams plays running back, as Jason has suggested, LaFleur has shown he will be inventive with the ways he gets Williams involved, but in order for the former top-100 pick to ingratiate himself fully into this offense, he will have to show he can play the boundary as a receiver. With the reps streamlined following the departures of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, Williams now has a more straightforward path to playing time.

The physical skillset is obvious, but the actual skills are more opaque. He has to clear them up this season.

26. Chris McClellan

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: third-round pick (2026)

After Brian Gutekunst traded up for Chris McClellan in the third round, he immediately started in base defense during spring practices. While half-speed reps in shorts don’t tell us much about the quality of trench players, their placement speaks loudly about what the Packers think McClellan can do this season.

Nazir Stackhouse and McClellan are the only true nose tackle bodies on the roster currently, and Stackhouse did not look like an NFL player last season. That opens the door for McClellan to come in as a base run defender for Jonathan Gannon’s new-look odd front defense.

Last year, teams bled the Packers on the ground to limit Love’s possession and keep Micah Parsons out of third-and-must-pass situations. In order to maximize both the offense and the pass rush, McClellan has to live up to those expectations and help stabilize a run defense that struggled once again in 2025.

25. Brandon Cisse

Position: cornerback
How acquired: second-round pick (2026)

Somehow, the perfect developmental cornerback fell into the Packers’ lap. Brandon Cisse already does the things well that keep rookie cornerbacks off the field: he was one of the best tackling cornerbacks in college football at South Carolina. And he’s not just some try-hard grit player.

Cisse runs 4.4 with a 41’’ vertical jump. And he only just turned 21 earlier this month despite playing four years of college football.

He has to improve his recognition and awareness in coverage, but he has the explosive click-and-close burst to close down space in off coverage and the speed to turn and run in man coverage or man-match.

Cisse saw some reps with the 1s in the spring, and the arrival of a new defensive staff provides a chance for him to earn a legitimate shot to start despite some veterans standing in his way on the depth chart.

24. Benjamin St-Juste

Position: cornerback
How acquired: unrestricted free agent (2026)

The L.A. Chargers acquired Benjamin St-Juste as a veteran flyer to help an ailing secondary. He ended up being the best corner on the team and Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded zone cornerback last season.

The Packers signed the former top-75 draft pick to a three-year $30 million deal, a hint that St-Juste will be a presumed starter come training camp. Considering the investment at the position with St-Juste and Cisse, it’s fair to assume all the boundary cornerback spots are up for grabs.

LaFleur has no problem rotating players on either side of the ball either, and gave Nate Hobbs a shot to win his job back from Carrington Valentine after an injury kept Hobbs out to start the season. Valentine ultimately kept his job, but he didn’t do nearly enough to feel secure in his spot.

23. Anthony Belton

Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: second-round pick (2025)

There’s no player who more directly represents the Packers’ push toward bigger, power-centric offensive linemen than Anthony Belton.

“I just think it's his style of play,” LaFleur said of Belton.

“He's a mauler, and he does a great job. I love the way he plays the game”

The PFF grades don’t reflect play style, and while Belton had inconsistencies in the passing game, he was playing a position he’d never even practiced until the Packers desperately needed him to play.

Now, with a full offseason to prepare for his transition to guard, Belton can settle into a position. He was solid filling in for Zach Tom, though a brutal penalty cost the Packers a touchdown on one of the best throws of Jordan Love’s career, the play that cost Jayden Reed half a season with a broken collarbone.

Still, Belton has as much potential as any offensive lineman currently on the Packers roster and could develop into a stalwart.

22. Karl Brooks

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: sixth-round pick (2023)

After a promising rookie season, Karl Brooks failed to take the step forward many predicted in 2024. Part of that stemmed from having to play undersized nose tackle as Green Bay asked Kenny Clark to do more pass rushing from a traditional three-technique alignment. Brooks just isn’t built for that type of play.

That problem compounded when the team traded Clark last season in the Parsons deal because not only did Brooks have to once again play some nose tackle, but when he wasn’t playing the nose, it was even-more-undersized Colby Wooden playing that spot, and between the two of them, they couldn’t hold up consistently inside.

Brooks is best as an interior disruptor, someone who can beat blocks and get upfield. This defense is perfectly suited to his skillset, and despite the arrival of Javon Hargrave and McClellan, that overlap could result in the best season of Brooks’ career.

Green Bay might need it with Parsons out and no proven edge rushers on the roster. It may be up to the interior rush to carry the day while they wait for their superstar to return.

21. Lukas Van Ness

Position: edge
How acquired: first-round pick (2023)

For the Packers to reach a championship-caliber defense, this ranking has to end up looking bad in a few months. With Parsons expected to be out into October, there isn’t an edge player on the team with more than two career NFL starts.

Barryn Sorrell and Cox got a token start in Week 18 last year, and they still have half as many career starts as Van Ness, who was stuck behind Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare, as well as Parsons last season.

The fact that Van Ness couldn’t beat out Enagbare earlier speaks to his lack of polish coming out of Iowa, as well as his inability to stay healthy. Still, he was in the midst of the best month of his career to open the 2025 season before he broke his hand on a sack of Joe Flacco.

Until Parsons gets back, he has to play like a guy worthy of a first-round pick. The Packers season, and Van Ness’ career, may ultimately depend on whether or not he can.

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate features players with perhaps the widest range of outcomes on the entire roster, including some at key positions.

40. Daniel Whelan

Position: punter
How acquired: street free agent (2023)

When now-former coordinator Rich Bisaccia first arrived in Green Bay, he pushed the team to sign multiple specialists and core special teamers to the roster to bolster his units. That list included a punter, veteran Pat O’Donnell, who received a two-year, $4 million deal, a sizable investment for the position.

O’Donnell didn’t see the back half of that contract. In the 2023 offseason, he lost a head-to-head battle with a virtually unknown Irish punter who had never appeared in a regular-season NFL game: Daniel Whelan.

In the three seasons since, Whelan has outgrown his underdog story. His 47.8 yards per punt currently ranks as the all-time Packers career record among qualifiers, and his 51.7 yards per punt last season led the NFL (and set a team single-season record). Those figures look even wilder when factoring in the adverse weather at Lambeau Field late in the year. Accordingly, it came as little surprise when Green Bay rewarded him with a multiyear deal worth $6.2 million.

T-38. Kitan Oladapo

Position: safety
How acquired: fifth-round draft pick (2024)

Speaking of those ostensibly brought to Green Bay at Bisaccia’s behest, Kitan Oladapo has grown into a core special-teams player over the past two seasons. In 2025, he appeared on almost exactly half of the Packers’ special-teams snaps, seeing action on every unit except field-goal kicks. That utility, along with his cost-controlled rookie contract, put him in a strong position to make the roster again despite the change at special-teams coordinator.

For Oladapo to take the next step, he’ll need to prove he can regularly handle defensive snaps in meaningful games. To date, he has played only 20 of those snaps outside of Week 18 matchups. While he doesn’t necessarily need to add that to his résumé to have a long NFL career, demonstrating competence as a backup safety would bolster his job security.

Perhaps under new DC Jonathan Gannon, Oladapo will get that chance. Gannon’s defenses with the Arizona Cardinals regularly featured three safeties playing together, creating more opportunities for a player with Oladapo’s skill set. While he won’t surpass Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, or Javon Bullard on the depth chart, one injury could press Oladapo or another safety into action.

Read more

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate features players who are likely to make the roster, but nearly all of them as special teams players first and potential rotation players in a few cases.

50. Nazir Stackhouse

Position: Interior defensive line
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2025)

Had the Green Bay Packers not signed a priority free agent and traded up on Day 2 to take a nose tackle, Nazir Stackhouse likely finds himself much higher up this list as a former undrafted free agent. In fact, when the Packers signed him last offseason, we pointed out he was higher on the consensus boards than his Georgia teammates Warren Brinson, who Green Bay actually drafted.

The problem is Stackhouse failed to show the promise of his frame and collegiate flashes as a run-stuffing nose tackle on a team that desperately needed someone, please, God, anyone, to be a run-stuffing nose tackle.

Stackhouse has been working out with Micah Parsons and a group of Packers front players this offseason, which doesn’t speak to the run defense portion of his game, but if he can improve at getting off blocks, he has a chance to be in Jonathan Gannon’s defensive line rotation for a guy who loves to rotate bodies.

49. Matt Orzech

Position: long snapper
How acquired: unrestriced free agent (2023)

He’s a long snapper. Presumably, Matt LaFleur doesn’t talk to them either.

48. Travis Glover

Position: interior offensive lineman
How acquired: sixth-round pick (2024)

Had it been up to me, Glover would have been on the list with the last set of players, but for some reason, Jason believes there’s real potential upside here. I don’t. The Jager Burton pick was designed specifically because they do not believe in their current backup offensive linemen’s ability to be relied upon should a starter go down at any of the interior spots.

The times we’ve seen Glover get into competitive football games have been a disaster. When he had to come into the playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024, he was literally unplayable, to the point that the Packers had to unplay him.

Glover is huge (6-foot-6, 317), but a torn lat cost him his 2025 season, making that Eagles game the last time we saw him on the field for the Pack. That’s a tough look to have as a lasting image.

Read more

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate features a handful of current and former undrafted free agents as well as late-round picks, some in direct competition with one another for spots on the Packers’ 53.

Thank you for reading and supporting our coverage. You can also support our work by following us on social media:

Jason B. Hirschhorn: @by_JBH on Twitter / @byjbh@bsky.social on Bluesky / @by_jbh on Threads

Peter Bukowski: @Peter_Bukowski on Twitter / @peterbukowski@bsky.social on Bluesky / @peter_bukowski on Threads

The Leap: @TheLeapGB on Twitter / @theleap.bsky.social on Bluesky / The Leap's YouTube channel

If you appreciate thoughtful, independent coverage of the Packers and NFL, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows us to serve this community with the stories and reporting it deserves.

Subscribe now

As always, thanks for making The Leap a part of your day.

T-60. J. Michael Sturdivant

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

Perhaps no member of the Packers’ 2026 UDFA class generated more initial excitement than J. Michael Sturdivant. The 23-year-old offers stellar size and athleticism for the position, and he played along the boundary for the majority of his collegiate career, a role for which Green Bay has few proven options entering 2026.

Those factors helped Sturdivant make the cut for the 2026 Packers UDFA Prospectus. As highlighted there, his biggest problem in college stemmed from picking the wrong schools. After earning an All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention in 2022, he transferred to UCLA, where he played for Chip Kelly during the coach’s final year in Westwood, followed by a doomed tenure for replacement Deshaun Foster. Sturdivant then went to Florida, where head coach Billy Napier didn’t make it to the end of the season.

Now in Green Bay, Sturdivant hopes that he will excel in a far more stable organization. The Packers will give him chances to earn a roster spot, but they have their eyes on other unproven but talented wideouts on the roster as well.

T-60. Isaiah Neyor

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

Speaking of receivers for whom the Packers have high hopes, Isaiah Neyor managed to flash during mandatory minicamp earlier this year. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound wideout arrived in Green Bay after spending part of the offseason with the San Francisco 49ers. Neyor never appeared in a non-preseason game, though he did receive a game-day elevation for the wild-card round.

“I’d say it’s night and day for him,” LaFleur said in June of Neyor’s progress. “He’s really shown a lot of flashes of excellence. He’s another big, long guy that can run. You can never have enough of those guys, especially at that position. So, I’m excited about what’s to come from training camp for him.”

Neyor will have to hold off the aforementioned Sturdivant, as well as the other wide receivers near the back of the depth chart. That group doesn’t yet have a well-defined hierarchy, though Neyor might have a slight edge at the moment.

59. Lucas Havrisik

Position: kicker
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

For a time in 2025, Lucas Havrisik seemed poised to take Brandon McManus’ job. Though Havrisik outlasted McManus in Green Bay, he didn’t exactly win the role. The Packers traded two late-round picks in order to select Florida’s Trey Smack at the end of the sixth round, effectively signaling their intentions for the kicker position in 2026.

That decision put Havrisik at a disadvantage, but it doesn’t entirely preclude him from emerging on top. Smack struggled for stretches of organized-team activities and minicamp, and though the Packers won’t shift gears after a few poor showings in spring, the rookie didn’t exactly close the door on Havrisik either. The team will give Smack every opportunity to win the job, but if he totally unravels, Green Bay will have to consider other options.

T-57. John Williams

Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2025)

John Williams effectively didn’t have a rookie season. The former seventh-round pick spent the vast majority of 2025 on the sidelines, participating in practice only for a short stretch late in the season when the Packers designated him to return from the physically unable to perform list. Williams didn’t actually come off the PUP, finishing the campaign on IR.

Now seemingly healthy, Williams will finally get a chance to push for a role. While the Packers enter training camp with their top seven offensive linemen seemingly identified, injuries could change the complexion of the group. Williams, once considered a borderline top-100 prospect, could also play his way into a larger role. Conversely, if he doesn’t flash in August, Williams could find himself without a job in Green Bay.

T-57. Donovan Jennings

Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2024)

Over the past two years, Donovan Jennings has shown an upward trajectory. As an undrafted rookie in 2024, he managed to earn a spot on the Packers’ practice squad. In 2025, he made the 53-man roster out of training camp, remaining there for the entire season. Now, he has a chance to push for a key reserve role and, if injuries open a path, perhaps a starting job.

At the same time, Jennings also faces more competition than he did a year ago. The aforementioned Williams will actually compete for a job in 2026, as will Travis Glover, a favorite of the coaching staff who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in August. Meanwhile, Darian Kinnard, who arrived via trade shortly before Week 1, will actually take part in all of camp this time around. Green Bay also spent a fifth-round pick on Jager Burton, an interior swing who seems to have the inside track for a primary backup role.

The numbers don’t bode well for Jennings, but nobody should count him out just yet.

T-55. Jordon Riley

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: signed from New York Giants’ practice squad (2025)

Jordon Riley proved to be both a beneficiary and a victim of the injury bug that took hold in Green Bay late last year. After Devonte Wyatt went down with a season-ending ankle injury, the Packers scoured free agency, the waiver wire, and other practice squads for replacements. Riley, then a member of the New York Giants’ practice squad, surfaced as one of the best options.

The Packers immediately pressed Riley into action. He played 20% of their defensive snaps in that week’s matchup with the Chicago Bears, and saw even more work seven days later against the Denver Broncos. By his third game, Riley effectively split snaps with Colby Wooden, one of the few other veteran defensive tackles Green Bay still had available.

Riley’s upswing ended soon thereafter, however. He suffered an Achilles injury in a matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, a game which would see other Packers lost for the season as well. Riley has not returned to action so far this offseason, working with the rehab group during minicamp in June. If he receives medical clearance by training camp, he’ll at least have a shot at pushing for a major role at nose tackle, where the team lacks a clear front-runner at the moment.

T-55. Domani Jackson

Position: cornerback
How acquired: sixth-round draft pick (2026)

Perhaps the least-discussed selection among Green Bay’s 2026 draft class, Domani Jackson has the chance to carve out significant roles on both defense and special teams as a rookie. The 23-year-old corner offers impressive size (6-foot-1, 194 pounds) and athleticism (9.04 Relative Athletic Score, 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash), and he played at two of the biggest programs in college football (USC and Alabama). His physical traits alone could realistically make him a significant upgrade on the kickoff and punt coverage units.

At the same time, Jackson endured an up-and-down college career. Injuries scuttled his early years at USC, and Alabama benched him for a spell last year due to performance. Those factors contributed to him falling from a preseason potential first-round pick to a prospect taken near the end of the draft.

In Green Bay, Jackson will have the opportunity to reset. The Packers don’t need him to play immediately -- they used their top pick on fellow SEC cornerback Brandon Cisse -- and Jackson will work with well-regarded pass-game coordinator Bobby Babich. That doesn’t guarantee the former top recruit will finally live up to his potential, of course. Still, he landed in a spot where that can realistically happen.

54. Kristian Welch

Position: inside linebacker
How acquired: unrestricted free agent (2025)

Over a six-year career, Kristian Welch has already notched multiple tenures with more than one team. That includes the Packers, who in 2025 finally kept him around 1265 Lombardi Ave. for a full season. Welch appeared in only eight games last year, and when he did play, he saw action almost exclusively on special teams (87 of his 89 total snaps).

Special teams remain Welch’s best path to a job, and he’ll have more competition for that role than he did during training camp in 2025. Not only will Nick Niemann directly push for a role this time around, but undrafted rookie TJ Quinn could also factor into the team’s decision-making when cutdown day arrives. Green Bay also has a new special-teams coordinator in Cam Achord, a change that could put all those players on even footing when camp arrives.

53. Kamal Hadden

Position: cornerback
How acquired: street free agent (2024)

Kamal Hadden went from a little-known addition in August 2024 to a cornerback the coaching staff seemed genuinely excited to play last summer. He finally saw extended regular-season action in 2025 when injuries created a void in Week 12. Hadden responded by allowing just two catches for 12 yards on 18 coverage snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

Hadden wouldn’t build off that nice debut, however. His next defensive action came in Week 17. During the third quarter of that game, he suffered a gruesome ankle injury that ended his season. It remains unclear when he’ll fully return to action, as he spent minicamp working with the rehab group rather than practicing. If he does get cleared by training camp, he’ll face increased competition from new additions Benjamin St-Juste and Brandon Cisse.

52. Arron Mosby

Position: outside linebacker
How acquired: waiver claim from Carolina Panthers (2023)

The Packers have invested significant resources in their edge rushers. Micah Parsons headlines the group with one of the largest non-quarterback contracts in NFL history on top of the trade package sent to the Dallas Cowboys to acquire him (two first-rounders and Kenny Clark). Lukas Van Ness arrived as the No. 13 overall selection in 2023 and, with Parsons sidelined to start the upcoming season, will need to finally live up to his draft status. Behind them, Green Bay has collected multiple mid-round pass rushers and some former undrafted free agents who have contributed when given the opportunity.

Arron Mosby falls in that latter category. By Pro Football Focus’ tracking, he generated seven pressures in 61 pass-rush snaps during Green Bay’s final five games of 2024. Mosby played only 17 total defensive snaps last year, though he managed two pressures over eight dropbacks in the regular-season finale.

The Packers clearly like Mosby’s versatility -- he played 221 snaps on special teams in 2025 -- but they might not have room for him again on the 53-man roster. Not only has the roster added meaningful competition for his role in the third phase, but new arrivals like Dani Dennis-Sutton could push Mosby further down the depth chart.

51. Luke Lachey

Position: tight end
How acquired: street free agent (2026)

Originally claimed off waivers from the Houston Texans, Luke Lachey failed his physical when he showed up at 1265 Lombardi Ave. However, the Packers brought him back a month later once he had overcome his injury.

That patience with a backup tight end says as much about Lachey as it does about the team’s current depth chart at the position. After Tucker Kraft, the Packers don’t have much in the way of traditional “Y” tight ends. Luke Musgrave never developed into a reliable blocker, Josh Whyle has seen work this offseason at fullback, and the rest of the options have seen little to no NFL action. Lachey hasn’t played a down since the 2025 preseason, but did enough in over 1,600 career snaps at Iowa -- mostly as a blocker -- to become a draft pick.

Lachey now finds himself in a decent situation. Both Musgrave and Whyle have an experience advantage over him, but nothing in Green Bay looks secure beyond Kraft’s role at the top. Lachey’s size (6-foot-6, 250 pounds) and athleticism (7.42 RAS) should allow him to compete for multiple roles on offense and special teams, and the Packers could realistically retain four tight ends on the 53-man roster.

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate features players who have traversable paths to jobs, albeit at the back of the roster. Others probably won’t push to make the 53, but they could convince the Packers to retain them on the practice squad following final cuts.

70. Nyjalik Kelly

Position: Edge
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

The Packers showed their belief in Nyjalik Kelly when they gave him over $250,000 in guaranteed money on his undrafted free agent deal. Kelly is a tall, long, traitsy edge rusher with a 6-foot-5, 263-pound frame and the longest arms of any edge rusher at the combine this year.

Without Micah Parsons for half the season (at least), Green Bay will need to find some pop in their edge rush somewhere, and while Lukas Van Ness will be a no-doubt starter if he’s healthy, essentially every spot after that is up for grabs as far as establishing a pecking order.

Kelly, a raw prospect, is a former four-star prep player who played at Miami before transferring to UCF. He’s as physically gifted as any of the guys he’ll be competing with and, given the guaranteed money, has a real chance to land on the practice squad, if not make a push for the roster.

69. Jaylin Simpson

Position: cornerback
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

Jaylin Simpson came to the Packers from the Indianapolis Colts as a former fifth-round pick in 2024. He’s a tall, skinny cornerback with truly elite explosive athleticism.

In one game of action against the Minnesota Vikings, Simpson was extremely active for a defensive back, finishing the game with eight tackles, but he had issues playing sticky in coverage, and he had a missed tackle that led to an explosive play.

Simpson has the athleticism the Packers prize in defensive backs, but at 179 pounds, he’s much slighter than Green Bay usually wants. That lack of density showed up against the Vikings, and while he has some playmaking instincts, he has to get bigger to make an impact, even on special teams, for the Pack.

But because of the position he plays, and the lack of depth at cornerback, safety, and in the slot (where I’d like to see him get a shot to play), he has value as a developmental piece.

68. Brant Banks

Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2025)

This is a 21-spot jump for Brant Banks from last season, who is the latest towering developmental prospect the Packers have taken on. If Green Bay can get out of Banks what they got out of Yosh Nijman, they’ll be thrilled, but there’s a long way to go before he gets there.

Banks is a 6-foot-7 former Nebraska transfer to Rice, where he finished his collegiate career. In limited preseason reps, Banks, who has put on 10 pounds from his combine weight to 318, showed a talent for pass blocking. In all three exhibition contests, he earned a Pro Football Focus pass block grade over 80, with his best grade coming against the Seattle Seahawks, when he also played the most snaps.

At present, he may be OT4 on the Packers, which should realistically put him higher on this list, but with Anthony Belton’s experience at tackle, the former second-round pick would likely get the call if the position became that dire.

Still, I expect Banks to land on the practice squad, and depending on how the interior offensive line shakes out, could sneak onto the final 53.

Read more

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today’s slate features players who have traversable paths to jobs, albeit at the back of the roster. Others probably won’t push to make the 53, but they could convince the Packers to retain them on the practice squad following final cuts.

80. MJ Devonshire Jr.

Position: cornerback
How acquired: waiver claim from Buffalo Bills (2026)

Despite spending little time in Green Bay, MJ Devonshire Jr. has plenty of familiarity with the coaching staff. He spent the final stretch of last season with the Buffalo Bills, where Bobby Babich served as defensive coordinator. Babich joined the Packers in January, and when the Bills waived Devonshire in May, he soon reunited with his former coach as a waiver claim.

That dynamic doesn’t guarantee Devonshire a roster spot, but Babich presumably liked what he saw from the 5-foot-11, 186-pound cornerback in practice. Those observations effectively represent most of what the Packers know about Devonshire, who has yet to appear in a regular-season game.

T-78. Dillon Wade

Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

One of multiple UDFA offensive linemen who signed with the Packers in April, Dillon Wade spent his final three seasons playing for Auburn, a blue-chip college program. Over that period, he spent time at every position along the line except center. Though he started most of his career at left tackle, he eventually settled at left guard, making 12 starts there in 2025.

Between that versatility and Wade’s athleticism (9.22 Relative Athletic Score at guard, 8.40 at offensive tackle), he checks a lot of boxes for the Packers. They’ll presumably work him at guard when training camp arrives, though he could see action at tackle late in preseason games.

T-78. Dalton Cooper

Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

After missing final cuts with the Kansas City Chiefs, Dalton Cooper joined Green Bay’s practice squad, where he spent the rest of his rookie season. The former undrafted free agent never received a game-day elevation, so the Packers have yet to see him in live game action of any kind.

Like any offensive lineman this far back in the pecking order, Cooper will have to do more than show promise at his main position. The Packers did use practice-squad elevations last year to bolster their special-teams units -- see Banks, Brant -- but Cooper never received that call. That suggests he has quite a ways to go before pushing for a spot on the 53-man roster.

Read more

Our methodology: We order the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than weighing the importance of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the “best” players, not necessarily the ones who offer the most “value.” That means the starting quarterback doesn’t have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature slightly more or less.

Today's slate features those on the fringes of the 90-man roster. Most entered the NFL earlier this year while a few have previously had a cup of coffee with a professional team or two. Less than half of the group has registered a statistic during the regular season or playoffs. These are all true long shots.

Thank you for reading and supporting our coverage. You can also support our work by following us on social media:

Jason B. Hirschhorn: @by_JBH on Twitter / @byjbh@bsky.social on Bluesky / @by_jbh on Threads

Peter Bukowski: @Peter_Bukowski on Twitter / @peterbukowski@bsky.social on Bluesky / @peter_bukowski on Threads

The Leap: @TheLeapGB on Twitter / @theleap.bsky.social on Bluesky / The Leap's YouTube channel

If you appreciate thoughtful, independent coverage of the Packers and NFL, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support allows us to serve this community with the stories and reporting it deserves.

Subscribe now

As always, thanks for making The Leap a part of your day.

91. Jaden Crumedy

Position: defensive tackle
How acquired: free agent (2026)

The Packers signed Jaden Crumedy from the Carolina Panthers, where he spent the last two seasons on and off the practice squad. He was a versatile player at Mississippi State, playing all along their defensive front thanks to his combination of size and quickness. He’s a 6-foot-4, 301-pound defensive lineman with 33’’ arms who could play 3T or 5T for Jonathan Gannon’s odd front defense.

Coming out of college, he had an 8.81 Relative Athletic Score thanks to his excellent straight-line speed numbers. He played in eight games the last two seasons for the Panthers, but despite his relative experience, he was last or second-to-last on both of our ballots.

90. Dante Barnett

Position: DL
How acquired: International Player Pathway street free agent (2025)

Dante Barnett comes to the Packers from the Cincinnati Bengals as part of the International Player Pathway program. That’s why Green Bay has 91 players on its roster. The IPP allows a team to carry an extra player as part of the program to expand opportunities for international players.

The Bengals waived Barnett last year, allowing the Packers to sign him in late October. Barnett has yet to play an NBA snap and has an atypical body type at 6-foot-1, 275 pounds. But there are athletic tools here to believe are worth developing. He ran 4.69 at his weight with a 7.33 3-cone. Those are elite numbers for a defensive tackle despite his lack of size.

Whether he’ll play on the edge or inside will have to shake out, but the whole point of the IPP is to provide players like Barnett a chance to grow and learn.

89. Marlon Jones

Position: cornerback
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

Brant Banks landed at 89 on the list last year and will end up significantly higher on the 2026 list. That’s exactly why we spend the time to go through all 90 players, because a guy who looks like a fringe roster player in June or July can quickly become a key practice squad player with a little development.

A player like Marlon Jones, who plays a position of need for the Packers, has a chance to do the same thing this year. Jones checks all the boxes for Green Bay from a physical profile perspective. He’s a shade under six feet tall, 190 pounds, with elite explosive measurables, and while he lacks S-tier top-end speed, he boasts a 87th percentile 10-yard split, which pairs with his outstanding jumps.

On paper, an SEC cornerback with the requisite size and athleticism belongs higher on a list like this, but Jones started just one game in college, making his chances of landing on the roster a decided longshot.

T-87. Murvin Kenion III

Position: safety
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

This was the first true disagreement between Jason and me on the list, with Kenion landing at the bottom of my list. Without speaking for him, I assume that was premised on the depth at the safety position, which is admittedly thin past Kitan Oladapo.

But the athletic profile here does not say NFL player. His 7.56 3-cone is in the 1st percentile for a safety — not the 99th percentile, the 1st. His short shuttle and vertical jumps were also well below average, and he ran 4.56 for a player who played at four different schools, none of them in a top conference of college football.

On the other hand, he was a playmaker, snagging five interceptions last year at Nevada and forcing two fumbles. I’m dubious that will translate to the NFL.

T-87. Anthony Campbell

Position: DL
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

The Seattle Seahawks originally signed Anthony Campbell as an undrafted free agent in 2025, ultimately landing the 6-foot-6 307-pound defensive lineman on their practice squad. Green Bay signed him in January to a futures deal, and his frame is the basis of his appeal.

He’s massive on a team without established defensive tackle depth. In addition to his height and mass, Campbell brings 34.5’’ arms, which could allow him to slide between any of the defensive line spots for the Packers. Seattle had a loaded defensive line room, so the usual wisdom of really good franchises moving on from young players doesn’t necessarily hold here. He could have been caught up in a numbers problem more than a talent problem.

Still, he’s a DT set to wear No. 60. Those guys don’t usually make the team.

T-85. Brenden Rice

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: Claimed off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders (2026)

The son of the GOAT, Brenden Rice finds himself on his fifth team since entering the league in 2024. Despite a productive collegiate career, concerns about Rice’s athleticism caused him to drop to the seventh round of the draft, where the Los Angeles Chargers tabbed him.

Back in 2024, I got a chance to talk to Rice before he was drafted about his journey to the NFL. The video is below.

Rice checks every box the Packers like at receiver: he’s 6-foot-2, 208 pounds, ran 4.5 and posted a sub-7 three-cone. He had over 600 yards in two seasons at USC, including 791, averaging nearly 18 yards a catch in his final season.

If Green Bay likes a receiver, it’s worth paying attention to, but five teams in two calendar years tell us what the NFL thinks of Jerry Rice’s son.

T-85. Mark Perry

Position: safety
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

Claimed off the street late last season after a short stint with the Chicago Bears, Mark Perry falls near the back of the safety depth chart entering training camp. Sometimes, a player like this with six NFL stops over two seasons finds a home thanks to special teams. However, Perry has just 31 total snaps in the third phase so far in his career, and all of those came in the preseason.

Perry likely needs two things to break his way to secure a roster spot in Green Bay. First, he’ll need to earn a job as one of the top special teamers rather than an end-of-preseason-game role like before. That seems plausible given the change at special-teams coordinator. Perry probably also needs to demonstrate some potential as a defender to overcome the players ahead of him, in whom the Packers have invested more.

84. Karsen Barnhart

Position: offensive line
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

Another well-traveled young player lands at 84. When the Packers signed Karsen Barnhardt to the practice squad in late December, Green Bay was his fourth team since entering the league.

But much like Rice, Barnhardt fits the Packers’ athletic profile for offensive linemen to a T. He’s 6-foot-4, 306 pounds with 33’’ arms and a 8.85 RAS. He played some tackle at Michigan but moved inside in the NFL, where he’s yet to truly find a home.

Still, an athletic lineman from a blue blood program, who won a national championship in college, offers some intrigue. On the other hand, he played for his college coach in L.A. for two seasons and couldn’t stick. The Packers’ need for interior swing help adds to his value in Green Bay.

83. Dylan Barrett

Position: interior offensive lineman
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

Dylan Barrett is discount Jager Burton. He has experience as a guard and center in college and could offer the swing interior presence the Packers need. Barrett began his career at Wisconsin before transferring to Iowa State, both teams that want to run the football and control the line of scrimmage.

Barrett follows the trend of the Packers wanting bigger interior players at 326 pounds, but he’s not the usual athlete Green Bay prizes. He’ll also be 25 as a rookie, which raises the question of how much runway he has for improvement, but there’s a pathway here for him to be a practice squad player given the questions at the position for the Pack.

82. Jaden Nixon

Position: running back
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2026)

It would be easy to say the Packers need a running back; therefore, Jaden Nixon belongs higher on this list, especially for a player who averaged almost eight yards per carry in his final collegiate season.

But Nixon received just 71 carries after transferring to UCF, and Nixon’s best chance at a roster spot is to show explosiveness as a returner. That was his best trait in college, where he had a 22.8 career average returning kicks with a score back in 2022.

Unfortunately, Nixon is small (under 200 pounds) and has little to no path as an actual running back on the Packers, and they already have Skyy Moore on the roster as the dedicated returner, with Savion Williams and Bo Melton also returning options. Nixon would have to be a preseason star to have any shot.

81. Shemar Bartholomew

Position: cornerback
How acquired: street free agent (2025)

At one point, Bartholomew may have been an injury or two away from a starting cornerback job in 2025, though his lone defensive snaps came in a meaningless Week 18 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Green Bay signed Trevon Diggs specifically to avoid having to play Bartholomew if an injury did befall Keisean Nixon or Carrington Valentine.

This offseason, the Packers signed Benjamin St-Juste, and drafted a pair of cornerbacks to go with returning players like Kamal Hadden and Jaylin Simpson. Bartholomew has the size (6’1, 200) to be a potentially useful special teams player, which is how he’d have to make the roster, but given the additions this offseason and returning players, his odds of making the roster are considerably long.

The Leap doesn’t exist without Jason Hirschhorn. Hell, my career would be fundamentally different without him. When I was working at Sports Illustrated, Jason invited me on the Acme Packing Company podcast to talk about the Green Bay Packers’ draft, and we ended up talking for hours. A friendship was forged.

Eventually, we started the Two Deep NFL Podcast that a blessed number of people decided to listen to. We were happy to get a couple of hundred downloads, and that show ended as schedules became too hard to manage.

When I got laid off from SI, Jason recommended me at APC, and I got a freelance job covering the team I grew up watching. It wasn’t exactly a dream job, but it was a start.

Shortly thereafter, Jazz play-by-play man David Locke was looking for a Packers host for his startup podcast network. He called me because I’d just done a hit on the APC podcast.

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I started as the host in 2017, and when Locke asked me to start Week 1, I informed him I’d be on my honeymoon. He wondered if I could get a fill-in host. I replied incredulously, “For my new podcast?”

I had to record eight shows the week of my wedding to prep for Week 1 and preview Week 2, which I did without having seen the outcome of the first game. I would need a fill-in host for the post-game show, though. I couldn’t analyze a game that hadn’t yet happened.

I asked the only person I trusted to do it: Jason. And to this day, he’s the only person who has ever filled in for me on that show. He’s long been the only person I’d trust to do it. And even then, he only got to do that one.

Now, it’s the biggest Packers pod out there, and Jason (America’s guest) appears weekly on the Squad Show.

Before he officially joined the network, though, he approached me about doing a newsletter. I was doing LOP, he was working 18 jobs because that’s what the sports media business has become, and we thought if we could create our own platform and make the same money for it that we did freelancing, it would be a win.

When I got the Locked On job, I didn’t want a co-host because I didn’t want the headache of having to schedule it every night, and frankly, I didn’t want to have to rely on anyone else to make the show.

But when Jason asked if I wanted to start The Leap, I knew he was the only person I could pick as a partner. Jason is a psycho (complimentary). He’s incredibly smart, dogged, incisive, and never takes himself off the clock because he lives and breathes football as I do.

He also has never seen a movie, so he’s got time on his hands. I left most of this post unformatted just because it would make his brain scratchy. He cares about every single detail, not just one time, but every time.

We got lucky. The 2021 offseason was unhinged. Interest in the team was at an all-time high. Green Bay was the center of the football universe because Aaron Rodgers wanted scalps, and Jason and I started this little endeavor together. It took off, thanks to you, and now we run the largest Packers-only newsletter money can buy.

It doesn’t work without Jason, who is always thinking about how to make your experience better, constantly calling or texting me about how we can improve what we give you, not because he cares about moneymaxxing ( a word he will abhor), but because he cares deeply about putting out the best possible product for the audience.

And although his attitude can often appear Spock-like, he’s a thoughtful friend, which is what makes him a great business partner. Whenever I need help, he’s already offered before I ask, suggesting he can cover posts when my kids are sick, or when I’m out of town.

I am lucky to have Jason as a friend, even if this post will make him deeply uncomfortable for what he will see as naval-gazing pablum. And the Leap family is lucky to have him because of how he keeps the train not only on the tracks but constantly accelerating.

Don’t worry, you won’t get less Jason now that he’s getting married. If anything, he’s more engaged since he got engaged. Plus, being on Pacific Time and having an unhealthy relationship with Coke Zero will allow him to keep churning out the work you come here to read.

Jason, I speak for the entire Leap and Locked on Packers community when I say we love you, we are happy for you, and for chrissake, watch a movie, one time.

While much remains uncertain about the 2026 Packers, we have already learned some important details about them. Certain elements of their team-building strategy have come into focus. Meanwhile, at least one heavily discussed narrative about Green Bay’s plan has missed the mark.

So, to make use of this quiet period in the NFL calendar, let’s have a little fun by identifying two truths and one lie about the Packers’ offseason.

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The timeline for Micah Parsons’ return has been a moving target. Earlier this month, Jason laid out the potential timelines and went through a recent history of edge rushers returning from ACL surgery. Armed with more information and some public comments from Parsons (and his brother), let’s take as accurate a look at what to expect as we can.

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What’s the latest update on Micah Parsons’ injury?

Peter Bukowski: There have been a lot of rumors and innuendos in and around social media surrounding the Packers’ superstar pass rusher, so let’s lay out in stark terms what we know for the moment:

• Parsons had surgery Dec. 29th

• He’s instituted a strict ninth-month “no football” rule as he works back

• If he starts on the PUP list, Parsons has to miss at least four games

• A player starting the season on PUP can now practice starting in Week 3

• Nine months from Dec. 29th is Sept. 29th

• Week 3 ends Monday, Sept. 28th

Based on what we know for sure, assuming Parsons sticks to his strict timeline, the earliest he would start practicing is Week 4. Based on recent Packers history with ACL injuries, we can expect three weeks of practice before returning to the field.

If Parsons practiced Week 4, that could have him ready for Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys (pretty juicy), if he stuck to the full three-week ramp-up period. In other words, even if he were eligible to play in Week 5 coming off the PUP list, he likely wouldn’t, as he works to get back in football shape.

This also presupposes he feels 100% healthy when the nine-month rule expires, which, as David Bakhtiari would be quick to point out, is far from a guarantee.

On the other hand, when Christian Watson tore his ACL Jan. 5, he returned to practice Oct. 6, which is nine months, almost to the day, from the injury. Important to note here that’s the injury date, not the surgery date, but the nine-month rule for Parsons was created with input from the team.

From Jason’s piece on Parsons:

“There’s no good outcomes with players coming back early from ACL, especially if you’re having all the other things that are getting fixed up. It’s just all about completing the rehab to the best of our ability, and seeing where we’re at from there.”

Those are Parsons’ own words. If he’s following Watson’s plan, the three weeks of practice ramp-up align with the program Watson followed last season. Though he returned to practice on Oct. 6, Watson didn’t play in a game until 20 days later.

This suggests the Chicago Bears game in Week 5 is likely out for Parsons, a huge blow for a Packers defense that lacks proven pass rush without him. Green Bay held up for 3.5 quarters against Chicago twice last season without Parsons, but on each occasion, it failed to get crucial stops against Caleb Williams late in the game.

Even the Week 6 timeline assumes a best-case scenario, and it doesn’t appear that’s the current reality because Parsons did not have what’s called a “clean” ACL tear. In a clean tear, also called an “isolated” ACL tear, the injury tears clean (hence the name), leaving the other structures of the knee intact.

Earlier this month, Parsons revealed he had a “clean-up” surgery on his meniscus, and added that Tucker Kraft’s ACL surgery was “totally different” because Kraft had an isolated ACL tear. Parsons said Kraft should be back “way before me.”

According to Matt LaFleur, Kraft could be back early in training camp, which would certainly qualify as way before Parsons, though that’s also not surprising considering Kraft tore his ACL almost two full months before Parsons.

But listening to Parsons speak in early June, he sounded like a player who knew he was not likely to be back on the early side of the timeline, even noting the Packers play the Bears twice this season (and not the Cowboys). He didn’t sound like a player who expected to be ready for those games.

“Not only is it hard to accept that I'ma miss more time than what I want, but obviously hard to accept the injury. It constantly replays in my brain,” Parsons said.

“It’s all about knowing when to go … everything is about playoffs and winning football games.”

If Parsons comes out of the ninth-month rule feeling 100% healthy, he still could be ready by around Week 6 if he follows the Watson plan, but given the nature of his injury, that’s an enormous assumption. The Packers need Parsons ready to rock in the playoffs, and have made some improvements to the pass rush this offseason to pick up the proverbial slack.

Brian Gutekunst, Matt LaFleur, and Parsons himself would gladly give up games in the first half of the season to have one of the best players in football healthy for a stretch run and a playoff push to the title.

Happy Father’s Day!

Jason and I want to express our gratitude to all The Leap’s readers.

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As the media landscape shifts, and more companies offer AI summaries or Chat GPT-level content, we constantly endeavor to provide you with unique analysis you can only find here at The Leap. And we will never give you AI slop. We know you have a lot of options for Packers coverage, and we appreciate you choosing us.

This Father’s Day, share your love of the Packers with someone who means something to you, maybe even someone who shared his love for the Packers years ago. For me, my grandfathers were the ones who started my interest and passion for the Pack. My dad took me to my first Packers game when I was barely in elementary school. Now is a great time to give back and share The Leap with him.

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Looking for a sense of what The Leap delivers?

• We’ve discussed the Tucker Kraft extension and why, even if the Packers pay at the top of the market, Kraft will be a bargain.

• We delved into the thorny Josh Jacobs situation with our own reporting and analysis.

• We had schedule coverage from every possible angle, including why the Packers schedule is weirder than you think.

• We broke down Brian Gutekunst’s paint-by-numbers draft class.

• Jason gave us another edition of his Hunting for Hasselbecks series, breaking down the 2026 QB draft class (including a player who wound up on the Packers roster).

• We analyzed why no one could explain why or how the Packers could “finish games” more effectively, even if it was a focus for the team.

And that represents just a small sample of what The Leap offers that no other outlet can. Jason and I take great pride in the work we do here and the growing community of Packers fans who support us and each other.

Thank you so much for your consideration. The Leap exists for you, and it wouldn’t exist without you.