We’re less than 24 hours away from the announcement of the Green Bay Packers’ final 53-man roster headed into the regular season. Brian Gutekunst and Co. will have plenty of difficult decisions to make. Here’s how we think it could shake out.
Quarterbacks (2)
Jordan Love, Malik Willis
This one is as straightforward as it gets. Love and Willis will be the two quarterbacks on the roster, and the only debate will be whether Green Bay keeps a third QB or relegates him to the practice squad.
Taylor Elgersma and Sean Clifford are the two options. Elgersma would be a fun developmental project for the Packers. That same developmental project in Clifford hasn’t panned out; he’s had multiple opportunities, including a shot to be the backup last year. The argument for keeping Clifford on the practice squad in case of emergency is flimsy. If you’re down to your third quarterback for any prolonged period of time in the NFL, you’re screwed 99.9% of the time. Keep Elgersma and see what comes of it.
Running backs (3)
Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson, Chris Brooks
Running backs were a heavily debated topic coming out of OTAs. It seemed plausible Green Bay could keep four running backs. But with MarShawn Lloyd dealing with a hamstring injury and set to miss some time, this picture has become very clear.
Green Bay will keep Jacobs, Wilson, and Brooks, and likely put Lloyd on injured reserve with the designation to return. Lloyd would miss the first four games of the season if that were the case, which seems likely at this point. There’s an argument to still keep four, including either Israel Abanikanda or Amar Johnson, but it’s more likely that both of them end up on the practice squad.
Wide receivers (6)
Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, Malik Heath
There are five locks at wide receiver: Doubs, Reed, Wicks, Golden, and Williams. Christian Watson will begin the season on the PUP list. The battle for the sixth spot comes down to Heath and Mecole Hardman.
On the one hand, cutting Hardman leaves a void at punt returner, but Hardman had two massive blunders at punt returner in the preseason opener against the New York Jets. While his reps after that were fine, it was nothing to write home about. There are other options on the roster to fill that void. Heath also had a couple of brutal drops in the preseason, but is more comfortable in Matt LaFleur’s offense.
Tight end (3)
Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave, John FitzPatrick
Tight end was one of the tougher positions to hammer down. Kraft and Musgrave are locks, and FitzPatrick did a hell of a job winning the No. 3 job over Ben Sims throughout the summer. At least, it appeared that way. Green Bay could also opt to keep four with Sims on the roster, but a couple of players had to be roster-bubble casualties to get down to 53, and Sims is likely one of them.
Offensive line (9)
Rasheed Walker, Jordan Morgan, Aaron Banks, Elgton Jenkins, Sean Rhyan, Zach Tom, Anthony Belton, Jacob Monk, Darian Kinnard
There are nine locks up front on the offensive line, and it’s up for debate after that. Monk is a potential cut, but as a fifth-round pick a year ago who can play guard and center, he gets another shot in 2025 to show he can be a depth piece. Kinnard was acquired in a trade on Sunday night from Philadelphia, presumably as added depth. The Packers could keep 10 if Banks’ back injury lingers and casts doubt upon his status for Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. John Williams starts out on the PUP list.
Defensive tackles (6)
Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, Colby Wooden, Warren Brinson, Nazir Stackhouse
Six might seem like a lot at defensive tackle, but hear us out. Clark, Wyatt, and Brooks aren’t going anywhere. Wooden is a sneaky cut candidate, but he slid by. Both Georgia guys, Brinson and Stackhouse, make the cut.
If it were to come down to keeping Sims and four tight ends or Stackhouse and six defensive tackles, it’s more likely the Packers could get away with stashing Sims on the practice squad than it is putting Stackhouse there and hoping another team doesn’t scoop him up for their active roster. At least one undrafted free agent has made Green Bay’s final roster coming out of the summer every year since 2005. Stackhouse is that guy this year.
Defensive end (5)
Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Brenton Cox Jr., Kingsley Enagbare, Arron Mosby
Where the heck are Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver!? Oliver will certainly start on the PUP list, where he spent all summer. We went with Sorrell, beginning the year on IR with the designation to return after four games.
Sorrell has said he doesn’t expect his sprained MCL to keep him out long, but think about this: If Sorrell misses Week 1 and potentially is ready for Week 2, is he getting consistent snaps from the start anyway? Probably not. Why not, then, ensure that MCL gets fully healed, place him on IR, and have him replace Mosby when he returns?
Sorrell’s injury should not cost him four games. Still, in this scenario, the Packers give additional recovery time to a rookie who probably wouldn’t see impactful snaps early on anyway.
Inside linebacker (5)
Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, Ty’Ron Hopper, Isaiah McDuffie, Isaiah Simmons
This was tough. The first four names are locks, and Hopper could really push McDuffie for snaps as the No. 3 linebacker. Hopper’s preseason really was that good. We see the Packers being too stubborn to give up on the athleticism from Simmons and his versatility to play special teams for Rich Bisaccia. Kristian Welch could also star on teams, but even with a not-so-great preseason, Simmons could be too tempting to give up on now for Green Bay.
Safety (5)
Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, Kitan Oladapo, Zayne Anderson
This one needs little explanation. It won’t be four. It won’t be six. Omar Brown was making a push before his lung injury against the Indianapolis Colts. It’ll be five safeties, and any other outcome than those five names would be pretty surprising.
Cornerbacks (6)
Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, Carrington Valentine, Bo Melton, Kalen King, Corey Ballentine
Is Hobbs going to be ready for Week 1? If he’s not, wouldn’t it be nice to have veteran insurance in the form of Ballentine?
Don’t forget it was just two seasons ago that Ballentine started six games for Green Bay after numerous injuries at cornerback and was competent. Does Green Bay trust Melton enough to actually take snaps at cornerback early in the season if need be? Probably not, but he isn’t going anywhere in terms of a roster spot. King dazzled at times during training camp and the preseason, earning a spot on the final roster.
Six is a lot of cornerbacks to keep, but it makes sense for multiple reasons.
Special teams (3)
Brandon McManus, Daniel Whelan, Matt Orzech
Self explanatory. McManus is your kicker. Whelan is your punter. Orzech is your long snapper.