The Green Bay Packers spent a weekend off while the rest of the NFC delivered chaos, and the timing may have helped Green Bay more than anyone realized. With the front office using the mini-bye to start patching obvious roster problems, the biggest move so far has been the addition of veteran guard Laken Tomlinson - and even that looks more like the first step than the fix.
That’s because the Packers’ guard play had become impossible to ignore. On Thursday, the unit allowed a combined 16 pressures and eight hits on the quarterback, a brutal outing that finally pushed the team to act. On Saturday, Green Bay reportedly reached an agreement with Tomlinson, bringing him over from the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad.
The reaction was immediate. Packers fans started arguing about whether Tomlinson would quickly replace Jacob Monk, and whether this move shut the door on any possible pursuit of Taylor Decker or Kevin Zeitler. Some of that is still murky, but Tomlinson’s track record points in a pretty clear direction.
He has played in 173 games with 162 starts, and Pro Football Focus’ charting shows that only 67 of his nearly 11,000 career offensive snaps have come anywhere other than left guard. He also hasn’t taken a meaningful snap at right guard since 2016, his second NFL season. That makes him look like either insurance for Aaron Banks or a direct replacement if Green Bay decides Banks’ availability is too shaky to keep trusting.
That would make sense on paper. Banks has been one of the bigger reasons the line has felt unstable, and Tomlinson brings something the Packers clearly need: durability. He has never missed more than one game to injury in any of his 11 seasons.
The problem is that Tomlinson’s recent play does not scream savior. In his most recent meaningful action, he looked like one of the weak spots on a middling Houston offensive line, and the Texans released him on Dec. 9 while they were in the middle of a playoff push.
The numbers back up the concern. Over his last three seasons of action, Tomlinson has allowed 16 sacks and 100 total pressures on 1,643 pass-blocking snaps, according to PFF.
That works out to a pressure allowed on more than 6% of dropbacks. It is an improvement over Monk’s 8.2% and Jager Burton’s 13.5%, but it does not suggest a dramatic cure for Green Bay’s protection issues.
So the Packers are still shopping in a bigger market than just Tomlinson. General manager Brian Gutekunst and his staff still have work to do, even if that does not necessarily mean they have to chase Decker or Zeitler. Those names remain on the table, and the team has room to make something happen.
There has been internet chatter that Zeitler wants an eight-figure deal, but that claim has not been confirmed, and neither has the idea that CAA, his agency, has formally talked numbers. His last contract was worth $9 million for one season, according to NFLPA records.
Green Bay also has the financial flexibility to make a move if it wants one. The Packers currently have eight figures in available cap space, and void years could keep the 2026 cap hit manageable. In other words, cost should not be the thing that stops them.
The schedule may be helping, too. Week 4 brings the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Baker Mayfield likely will not be available after dislocating the thumb on his throwing hand on Sunday. A week later, the Chicago Bears come to Lambeau Field with either a backup quarterback or a hobbled Caleb Williams, who would be making his first start since straining his hamstring.
None of that matters much if Green Bay’s line performs like it did on Thursday. But the Packers do have time, cap space, and a clearer sense of the problem than they did a week ago. Add in Micah Parsons’ pending return, and there is still a path out of the September slump.
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Brian Gutekunst is the one staring at the decision now, and the list of available veteran help gives him a few possible ways to steady the group. Mekhi Becton, Jack Conklin and Kevin Zeitler all stand out as proven free-agent options who could make sense if Green Bay decides the current answer is not good enough, leaving the front office to balance urgency against whatever it takes to get a deal done. [Read more 🡒]
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Packers Just Caught A Needed Break In The Bears Rivalry
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For Green Bay, the timing matters because Williams has already shown he can make life difficult for the Packers in this rivalry. His absence does not solve the issues facing the Packers, who still have plenty to clean up on their own, but it does remove a familiar challenge from the matchup and could alter how the Bears approach the next few weeks. The Packers will take the break, but they still have work to do before it means anything. [Read more 🡒]