The next few days are wild in terms of movement in the NFL. Players are waived, released, traded, and teams adapt to the reality of reducing their roster from 90 to 53 pieces . And it goes beyond the idea of adjusting their current roster to the new limit, teams want to look for opportunities to get better.
For the Green Bay Packers, three positions have been particularly talked about throughout training camp and preseason. And if general manager Brian Gutekunst is willing to make moves , there are still solid options to make it happen — both in free agency and among lists of players who might lose their jobs this week.
Quarterbacks
Quarterback is a tough position to add so late in the process, because he has to get in there and learn the offense before even being playable. That’s why it would make sense for the Packers to sign veteran Ryan Tannehill . He learned a similar offense under Arthur Smth with the Tennessee Titans one year after Matt LaFleur left the team to be the Packers head coach.
There are other options as well, players like Taylor Heinicke and Trey Lance, but you might not want to touch them after difficult preseason performances. Bailey Zappe from the New England Patriots is another intriguing possibility with starting experience — and you can argue that he will play better under viable circumstances outside of New England.
Offensive tackles
It’s hard to imagine teams cutting big-time offensive linemen this time of the year, because positional scarcity is a real factor here. The best available tackle in the NFL is certainly… David Bakhtiari, and we have already discussed a return could make sense for both sides if Green Bay wants more depth and if Bakhtiari is healthy and willing to come back with a reasonable salary.
There are other veterans still available, like Donovan Smith, DJ Humphries, and Charles Leno. The Packers decided to sign Andre Dillard because he’s cheaper and younger, and he did play well in the preseason. But if they feel like adding another veteran is the way to go, there are solid options. However, if the plan is to find a developmental piece, the names they have on the roster (Kadeem Telfort, Caleb Jones, Luke Tenuta) are the best ones.
Kickers
This is last here, but it’s actually the position where it’s more likely that the Packers will make a move, and the more realistic one to have a real upgrade over what they have at this point. Riley Patterson is still a free agent after being cut by the Washington Commanders, and several other players around the league are expected to be waived or released over the next few hours.
A good example is the New Orleans Saints, where second-year kicker Blake Grupe and rookie Charlie Smyth (from Northern Ireland, as part of the International Pathway Program) had strong preseason performances.
The Tennessee Titans will also be forced to make a move after a battle between veteran Nick Folk and rookie Brayden Narveson.
Related: Packers roster cuts tracker: Green Bay builds its initial 2024 53-man roster
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