Bubbles, Battles, Starters: Packers Roster Prediction After Free Agency

Big battle: With Brooks and Emanuel Wilson restricted free agents, the Packers sided with pass protection over running ability by re-signing Brooks and letting Wilson join the Seahawks. That means the No. 2 job is up for grabs. Gutekunst almost certainly will draft a running back or add one in free agency.

Roster bubble: A third-round pick in 2024, Lloyd has played 10 snaps in one game in two seasons due to a mile-long list of injuries and ailments. No matter how talented a player is, he can’t be on injured reserve in perpetuity. If Gutekunst picks a running back early, that could mean the end is near for Lloyd.

Prediction (3): Jacobs*, Brooks, Rookie.

Receivers

Starters: Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden.

Backups: Dontayvion Wicks, Savion Williams, Skyy Moore, Will Sheppard, Jakobie Keeney-James, Isaiah Neyor.

Big battle: The Packers signed Moore in free agency. He’s obviously not being asked to replace Romeo Doubs in the lineup, but in essence he’ll be taking Doubs’ place on the roster. The $1 million signing bonus doesn’t guarantee a place on the roster, though, and with Watson, Reed, Wicks and Moore all entering contract seasons, Gutekunst might feel compelled to draft a receiver this year so he’s ready to contribute next year.

Roster bubble: If Gutekunst drafts a receiver, would he really take seven into the regular season? Would Moore be fighting to keep his roster spot with every punt booted his way in training camp and in the preseason? Would Wicks be potential trade bait?

Prediction (6): Watson*, Reed*, Golden*, Williams, Moore, Rookie.

Tight Ends

Starter: Tucker Kraft.

Backups: Luke Musgrave, Josh Whyle, Drake Dabney, McCallan Castles, Messiah Swinson.

Unsigned free agent: John FitzPatrick.

Big battle: A lot of this will depend on the health of Kraft. Plus, with FitzPatrick coming off a torn Achilles, the Packers might be on the lookout for a blocking tight end in late-stage free agency, the draft or the waiver/trade market.

Roster bubble: Let’s say Kraft is ready for Week 1. Would the Packers give up on Musgrave, who had opportunities to become a major contributor in 2024, when Kraft suffered a torn pectoral during the offseason and missed the start of training camp, and in 2025, after Kraft sustained a torn ACL, but failed both times?

Prediction (4): Kraft*, Musgrave, Whyle, Blocker TBA.

Offensive Line

Starters: LT Jordan Morgan, LG Aaron Banks, C Sean Rhyan, RG Anthony Belton, RT Zach Tom.

Backups: T/G Darian Kinnard, C/G Jacob Monk, T/G Travis Glover, G Donovan Jennings, G John Williams, G Karsen Barnhart, T Brant Banks, T Dalton Cooper.

Big battle: It’s impossible to believe this will be anywhere close to the depth chart that the Packers take into training camp. Kinnard, who was acquired at the end of training camp last year, became a valuable backup, but what else do the Packers have for depth? Monk, Glover and Jennings have played a combined 76 snaps in their two-year careers. Williams, a seventh-round pick last year, missed his entire rookie season with a back injury.

Aaron Rodgers used to say that being the backup center was a sure-fire way to earn a roster spot. He’s right, and the Packers don’t have one. And who would play left tackle should something happen to Morgan? The Packers have to find those answers.

Roster bubble: Monk (fifth round, 2024), Glover (sixth round, 2024) and Williams (seventh round, 2025) will be among those fighting for roster spots with whoever else is added.

Prediction (9): Morgan*, Banks*, Rhyan*, Belton*, Tom*, Kinnard, Monk, Rookie, Veteran TBA.

Edge Defenders

Starters: With Micah Parsons injured, Lukas Van Ness and Barryn Sorrell.

Backups: Brenton Cox, Collin Oliver, Arron Mosby.

Big battle: With Parsons injured and following the departures of Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbre, the big battle will not be for a roster spot. Rather, as Parsons finishes his comeback from a torn ACL, who will be the starting outside linebacker/edge defender opposite Van Ness?

Roster bubble: One member of the 53-man roster to open the season might not be on it for long. Once Parsons is activated from the physically unable to perform list, the Packers probably will release someone from the group of Cox/Oliver/Mosby.

Prediction with Parsons on PUP (6): Van Ness*, Sorrell*, Cox, Oliver, Mosby, Rookie.

Defensive Tackles

Starters: Devonte Wyatt, Jonathan Ford, Javon Hargrave.

Backups: Karl Brooks, Warren Brinson, Nazir Stackhouse, Jordon Riley, James Ester, Anthony Campbell, Jaden Crumedy, Dante Barnett.

Big battle: Switching to a 3-4 defense means there will be three starters from this group rather than two. The Packers signed Hargrave after trading Colby Wooden. Hargrave and Wyatt will start. Who will be the third?

Preferably, that would be a big, immovable nose tackle. The Packers almost certainly will add one to compete against Ford, who showed a little something in his late-season return to the team that drafted him in 2022, and Stackhouse, who played some key snaps early in the season but logged only eight snaps during a six-game stretch late in the season.

Roster bubble: Wyatt and Hargrave are locks, obviously, and Brooks and Brinson probably are, too. Everyone else is on thin ice, and each player who’s added will make that ice even more brittle. For what it’s worth, Ford played 18 snaps in the playoff game vs. 14 for Stackhouse. So, if the right draft prospect isn’t available, there might be more comfort with Ford, who is bigger and more experienced.

Prediction (5): Wyatt*, Hargrave*, Rookie*, Brooks, Brinson.

Linebackers

Starters: Edgerrin Cooper, Zaire Franklin.

Backups: Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper, Nick Niemann, Kristian Welch, Jamon Johnson.

Big battle: Cooper and Franklin will start. Who will be the next man up? Will Hopper be the backup for Franklin and McDuffie for Cooper? Or will one player be the universal backup, like McDuffie was last season?

Roster bubble: It will be up to Welch and Johnson to earn their way onto the roster. Welch’s strong special-teams history wasn’t enough to get him over the hump for the Packers the past two training camps. Johnson, an undrafted rookie last year, had a promising performance in Week 18.

Prediction (5): Cooper*, Franklin*, McDuffie, Hopper, Niemann.

Cornerbacks

Starters: Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine.

Backups: Benjamin St-Juste, Kamal Hadden, Bo Melton, Shemar Bartholomew, Jaylin Simpson, Tyron Herring.

Big battle: There might not be a bigger battle than at cornerback between Valentine, a seventh-round pick in 2023 who started 30 games in his first three seasons, and St-Juste, who started 42 games from 2022 through 2024.

Valentine has a solid history in coverage but lacks physicality and toughness in run support. St-Juste is more physical but hasn’t been able to deliver high-level coverage with consistency.

The plot will thicken if Gutekunst uses an early draft pick on a cornerback rather than extending his streak to four consecutive years in which the only cornerback was drafted in the seventh.

Roster bubble: Hadden jumped in with the No. 1 defense in Week 17 against Baltimore but suffered a season-ending injury. So, clearly the Packers like him. They obviously like Melton, too, and Bartholomew played well against the Vikings in Week 18. That makes cornerback the odd position where the team might like a bunch of its players but might not love its starters.

Prediction (5): Nixon*, St-Juste*, Valentine, Melton, Rookie.

Safeties

Starters: Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard (slot).

Backups: Kitan Oladapo, Johnathan Baldwin, Mark Perry.

Big battle: With Zayne Anderson joining Jeff Hafley in Miami, there’s an open roster spot that’s there for the taking for Baldwin.

Roster bubble: Don’t sleep on Perry for this obvious reason.

Prediction (5): McKinney*, Williams*, Bullard*, Oladapo, Baldwin.

Specialists

Starters: K Brandon McManus, P Daniel Whelan, LS Matt Orzech.

Backups: K Lucas Havrisik.

Big battle: The Packers paid McManus’ $1 million roster bonus, setting up what might be a camp-long battle with Havrisik. McManus has had the better career. He’s made 86.3 percent of his field-goal attempts since joining the team but is coming off a brutal performance in the playoff game against the Bears.

Havrisik replaced McManus for a few games at midseason and made all four field goals, including a franchise-record 61-yarder at Arizona, but missed a couple extra points in a windstorm against the Giants. He’s 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) for his career on field goals but has the better leg.

Roster bubble: McManus in two playoff games with Green Bay is 1-of-4 on field goals and 4-of-5 on extra points.

Prediction (3): McManus, Whelan, Orzech.