Packers 2025 offseason position preview: Offensive line

Paul Bretl | 2/7/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In the coming weeks we will be taking a position-by-position look at the Packers roster with our lens focused on what’s ahead and what’s needed at each position group.

Up next is the offensive line. If you missed any of the previous previews, follow the link below.

Quarterback
Running back
Tight end
Wide receiver

Offensive line position overview

Continuity was crucial to the Packers overall play along the offensive line this season. According to ESPN, Green Bay’s starting offensive line unit played 830 snaps together during the regular season–the most in football.

When it comes to offensive line play, the sum of the parts are greater than any one individual, and when there is familiarity and an understanding in not only what you’re supposed to do as a blocker but a trust in where the blockers around you will be, that creates a cohesive and unified unit that operates as one.

We really saw the benefit of this in pass protection, particularly with how often Jordan Love was blitzed last season. During the regular season, no quarterback was blitzed more often than Love, according to PFF’s metrics. However, in terms of how often he was pressured, Love ranked 23rd in that category. Overall, the Packers’ offensive line finished seventh in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric.

“I thought our offensive line, particularly in pass pro, played really, really well all year for the most part, with the exception of a couple games,” Gutekunst said. “But I think all those guys had really solid years and improved.”

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The run game for the Packers, meanwhile, provided a steady presence for the offense to lean. It was often the catalyst behind the overall offensive success the Packers experienced, it resulted in improved third down and red zone efficiency, and we Green Bay this season with Josh Jacobs transition to a more run-centric team.

When it was all said and done, Jacobs would rush for 1,329 yards—the sixth-most in football. But in terms of generating big gains, that element wasn’t as present despite the overall success the Packers run game had.

While Jacobs would rank 11th in rushes of 15-plus yards, that in part, is a product of how often he carried the ball. From an efficiency standpoint in that regard, Jacobs was 32nd among eligible running backs in breakaway rate.

In order to have more opportunities for those explosive runs, Jacobs needs more opportunities to hit the second level cleanly where we all know he has the ability to make defenders miss. However, of Jacobs’ 1,329 rushing yards, 1,039 of them came after contact, according to PFF. That’s roughly 78% of Jacobs total yards were manufactured after a defender contacted him.

There were only backs with more yards after contact than Jacobs: Saquon Barkley (1,093) and Derrick Henry (1,137). However, a noteworthy difference is that both of those backs had about 50-55% of their total yards come after contact. So not surprisingly, both backs created explosive runs more often.

With Jacobs as the back, we saw a much more heavy dose of the gap running scheme this season rather than the traditional outside zone runs often associated with Matt LaFleur’s offense. The gap scheme suits Jacobs skill set well, but it was a change for the offensive line and may have contributed to the lack of big runs this season.

“I think coaching is, yeah, you have a philosophy of what you want to do and a foundation of what you want to do, but you’d better not be so stubborn that you just – this is what we’re going to do – if your pieces don’t necessarily match. I think that’s good coaching – putting your players in the best position possible,” LaFleur said.

Heading into 2025, I believe that part of LaFleur’s self-scouting and evaluation should be in determining what kind of running team the Packers want to be. Do they continue to lean more heavily into the gap scheme and running heavily out of shotgun, or does the pendulum swing back a bit to outside zone and running from under center with Jacobs having to adjust?

Positional need this offseason

We will see the Packers add to the offensive line—it’s just what they do under Brian Gutekunst. In three of the last four drafts, the Packers have drafted three offensive linemen.

But to be more specific, depth will be a need for the Packers in the trenches to add competition to the back end of the roster and hopefully elevate the floor of this group.

During the Packers’ playoff matchup with Philadelphia, the depth of the offensive line was exposed when Elgton Jenkins left the game. The Packers would first turn to rookie Travis Glover–his first significant NFL snaps–to fill in at right guard, and then second-year lineman Kadeem Telfort after Glover was penalized numerous times.

The Eagles’ able to generate steady pressure on Love and slow Green Bay run game, which made the already difficult task of breaking free from the Eagles’ two-high shell all the more difficult. Losing that line of scrimmage battle was an key contributing factor to the Packers’ offensive woes.

Without Jenkins, as well as Jordan Morgan who was placed on season-ending injured reserve late in the year, I’m not sure that there are many–if any–offensive lines out there who could trot out their seventh lineman on the depth chart and expect them to hold up well against that Eagles’ front.

So, as Gutekunst said, you don’t want to overreact to that one performance. However, competition has been a hallmark on this young Packers roster the last two seasons and while the hope is that Telfort, Glover, and Jacob Monk can take big steps forward in 2025, there’s obvious risks in banking on that as well.

Not to be forgotten about when it comes to the draft, but in addition to finding some immediate help, general managers have to have their eyes two or three years down the road. And when keeping that perspective with the Packers offensive line, this is a unit that could look different a year from now.

This offseason, Josh Myers is set to be a free agent. Then next offseason, Rasheed Walker, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom are all free agents in 2026. So whether it be planning to extend any of those players—Zach Tom—or bringing in new talent to be better prepared for any potential free agency exits, those are additional factors that will be baked into how Gutekunst navigates the offseason along the offensive line.

“We’re going to continue to lean on versatility,” added Gutekunst. “We’ve got three or four guys on our line that could probably play five spots, and that’s, I believe in that. I think every coach that I’ve been around believes in that and I think that’s an asset that we have that not all teams have.”

Salary cap outlook

On paper–and Gutekunst agrees–the Packers are in a good position with the salary cap this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $42.14 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 13th-most among the NFL.

“I feel really good,” said Gutekunst about the Packers’ salary cap situation. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. Again, we’ve got to keep making good decisions, and it’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things.

“We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

There are also ways to create more cap room if needed through a veteran roster cut or trade. In this instance, if a player’s cap hit–what’s on the salary cap books that season if the player is on the roster–is greater than their dead cap hit–which is money that’s already been paid to the player but hasn’t yet counted towards the salary cap and remains on the books even if that player is on a new team–then there will be cap space gained by the team if they moved on from that player.

Another avenue to create cap space is through a restructure–which we saw the Packers utilize heavily during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons. In short, this is kicking the salary cap can down the road by taking cap charges from the current year, such as a portion of a player’s base salary, and converting it to a signing bonus so the cap hit can be pro-rated over the remaining life of the contract.

The benefit in the moment is that it creates cap space now. However, the downside is that the player’s cap hit in future seasons is now inflated. If the Packers have to go down this path to improve the roster, Gutekunst is willing to do so, but he prefers to operate from the team’s current cap position now that they no longer have the salary cam impact of those past restructures on the books.

“I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year,” said Gutekunst. “We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

Free agents available

The offensive line is a position for the Packers in free agency where we aren’t going to see them make a big splash. The big contracts they hand out along the offensive line are to their own players. The additions we do see here are Andre Dillard-like ones from a season ago to provide veteran depth and have often come after the draft, once Gutekunst sees how the room has shaken out.

So I wouldn’t anticipate any high-end additions here–other than if they decide to re-sign Myers. Here are some of the free agent options with help from Over the Cap:

Offensive tackles: Dan Moore Jr.. Ronnie Stanley. Cam Robinson, Patrick Mekari, Alaric Jackson, Cornelius Lucas, Dillon Radunz, Demontrey Jacobs, Mekhi Becton, Kelvin Beachum, Morgan Moses, Tyron Smith, Germain Ifedi, and Kendall Lamm

Interior offensive line: Greg Van Roten, Brandon Scherff, Josh Myers, Trey Smith, Robert Jones, Kevin Zeitler, Matt Pryor, Daniel Brunskill, Laken Tomlinson, Ben Bredeson, Aaron Banks, Teven Jenkins, Will Fries, Cody Ford, Ryan Kelly, Bradley Bozeman, Drew Dalman, Evan Brown, Coleman Shelton, and Liam Eichenberg.

What about the NFL draft?

When it comes to the Packers addressing the offensive line, as mentioned already, they do so very heavily and often in the draft. And when it comes to do that, versatility is key.

Here are the best prospects, according to PFF’s big board:

Interior offensive line
Tyler Booker, G, Alabama
Grey Zabel, G/C, North Dakota State
Tate Ratledge, G, Georgia
Jared Wilson, C, Georgia
Willie Lampkin, G, North Carolina
Luke Kandra, G, Cincinnati
Seth McLaughlin, C, Ohio State
Connor Colby, G, Iowa
Tyler Cooper, G, Minnesota
Jonah Monheim, C, USC

Offensive tackle
Will Campbell, LSU
Josh Simmons, Ohio State
Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas
Armand Membou, Missouri
Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon
Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota
Cameron Williams, Texas
Ozzy Trapilo, Boston College
Wyatt Milum, West Virginia
Marcus Mbow, Purdue
Charles Grant, William & Mary
Anthony Belton, NC State
Jalen Rivers, Miami
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, Florida
Chase Lundt, UCONN

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