Packers Meet With G Kevin Zeitler

It appears Zeitler is not interested in continuing his career for veteran-minimum money or anything close to it. The 36-year-old guard may be eyeing a deal for at least $6MM, Silverstein notes. Zeitler played out a one-year, $9MM Titans contract last season; prior to that, he played on a one-year, $6MM Lions accord. The Packers have just more than $11MM in cap space, per OverTheCap.

Zeitler’s sixth-month-long presence in free agency has been surprising. He was still playing at a solid level in Tennessee, despite the AFC South team’s struggles last season; Pro Football Focus ranked the nomadic starter 13th overall at the position last season. The former first-rounder has played for six NFL teams (Bengals, Browns, Giants, Ravens, Lions, Titans) but has never had to settle for a second-string role. With 213 career starts, Zeitler is near the top of the all-time list in that area.

In terms of starts at guard, Zeitler saw his Titans season move him into third place all time. He trails only Hall of Famers Randall McDaniel (223) and Will Shields (220). Zeitler’s name sticks out in this range of the all-time list, as the other guards in the top six (McDaniel, Shields, Gene Upshaw, Alan Faneca) are in the Hall of Fame or made an All-Decade team (as ex-Raider Steve Wisniewski did in the 1990s). Zeitler has one Pro Bowl on his resume, but he has brought durability and consistency to teams even into his mid-30s.

The Titans expressed interest in re-signing Zeitler this offseason, but no deal emerged. Tennessee is battling injuries at guard, though Zeitler playing out the string for one of the NFL’s worst teams may not be appealing to him at this stage of his career. A return home might be, however. Zeitler is a Wisconsin alum who grew up in Waukesha, Wis. Zeitler has made it this far without showing any positional versatility as well. Of his 13,985 career NFL snaps, all but four have come at right guard (conversely, Tomlinson has done most of his NFL work at LG; he has not played a snap at RG since 2016).

Cincinnati drafted Zeitler 27th overall after he starred for the Badgers. This would be an interesting move for a Green Bay team that has run into protection issues and generating a rushing attack sans Josh Jacobs. The Packers rank 29th in scoring and 28th in rushing yards. ESPN’s pass block win rate metric also places Green Bay last in the NFL through three games. As our Connor Byrne pointed out, a Packers lineup without left guard Aaron Banks and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele allowed 12 hits to quarterback Jordan Love and cleared the way for a meager 17 rushing yards on nine attempts in a Week 3 blowout loss to the Falcons. Bako-Bewele is out for the season.

Tomlinson, whose 162 starts place him 35th all time among guards, is on the Pack’s active roster; Becton — whom the Eagles converted to guard in 2024 after a disappointing Jets tenure at tackle — is on the practice squad. PFF has ranked Jacob Monk 58th among qualified guards while slotting other options Donovan Jennings and Jager Burton as bottom-four options thus far. A Zeitler addition in the above-referenced salary range would show Green Bay means business in an effort to fix early-season issues, and the Wisconsin return would make for an interesting potential conclusion to Zeitler’s career.