Packers Bringing Back One of Two Free-Agent Linemen

The Green Bay Packers have given an exclusive-rights free-agent tender to guard Donovan Jennings, a source told Packers On SI on Wednesday.

However, fellow interior offensive lineman Lecitus Smith was not tendered and will be a free agent.

An exclusive-rights free agent really isn’t a free agent at all. It’s a player with two years of experience with an expired contract. If the team wants the player back, it will tender him with a one-year, league-minimum contract and that’s it.

The Packers signed Jennings as an undrafted free agent in 2024 out of South Florida, where he was a standout left tackle. He suffered a knee injury early in his rookie training camp and spent his rookie season on the practice squad.

In 2025, he made the 53-man roster but was a healthy scratch for most of the games. He wound up playing in two games, with six snaps on offense and seven on special teams.

With the Packers opting to rest their starters for Week 18 at Minnesota, Jennings was in line to start at left guard. Instead, he got hit in the throat at practice and wound up inactive.

“It’s definitely tough knowing that I would’ve been in a good spot this week to play a lot of football,” he said at the time. “I was looking forward to putting a lot of good stuff on film. But God never has no doubts and He’s just delaying the inevitable.”

Jennings will get a chance to show his progress again. The Packers moved him to guard as a rookie, and he took some reps at center this past season.

“Yeah, he plays with good physicality, and he’s fired up,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said late in the season. “He’s always ready to go. He’s got a great attitude. And you’ve seen him, especially as this year has gone on, just playing with more confidence, more physicality, more get-off in the run game, more strength. And his fundamentals in pass pro have really improved. I’m excited about him.”

Lecitus Smith Started in Week 18

Smith, on the other hand, will be looking for a new opportunity. He has been in and out of Green Bay so many times that he probably recognizes people at the airport. The Packers signed him to the practice squad in November and he wound up starting the Week 18 game at Minnesota at left guard because Jennings was unavailable.

Smith was a sixth-round pick by the Cardinals in 2022. He played in 10 games with two starts as a rookie and also started one game for New England in 2024 after the Patriots plucked him off Green Bay’s practice squad.

“I want to show that I can be a consistent, good football player for this team,” he said when the Packers signed him early in training camp. “I think that’s what they want to see out of me. They want to see a guy that can play multiple spots – both guard spots, center, of course – and be able to do it consistently. Not high one day and low the next or no drop-off.

“Just being a consistent, good football player. I get to that point and I’m consistent with that, I think I’ll be happy with myself.”

Bo Melton Returning, As Well