Green Bay Packers Could Make This Shocking Roster Move

The Green Bay Packers are quickly on the rise just a little over a year after trading away franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Many are high on their potential for the upcoming season, and some have even tabbed them as Super Bowl contenders.

While some are looking at the Packers a little too much through rose-colored glasses, the optimism is real.

They have an apparent stud under center in Jordan Love, a quartet of young, promising wide receivers and a new addition at running back in Josh Jacobs. Green Bay also took University of Southern California running back MarShawn Lloyd in the third round of April’s draft, and he could project as a decent second or third-string player.

The Packers’ moves to address their backfield has made franchise mainstay AJ Dillon—who the club re-signed earlier in the offseason—look like the odd man out.

Wendell Ferreira of A to Z Sports wrote that Dillon is a candidate to be cut by Green Bay as training camp slowly approaches.

“The Packers didn’t plan to keep Dillon this year in free agency, but his market was so slow that it allowed the team to bring him back on a four-year qualifying offer, an unusual CBA tool to get a player slightly above the minimum salary, when only counting the minimum against the cap,” wrote Ferreira. “However, the Packers also signed Josh Jacobs in free agency and drafted MarShawn Lloyd in the third round. If the Packers get early indications that Lloyd can be fairly impactful right away, it might get difficult to find a roster spot for Dillon.”

There may not be any room for AJ Dillon in Green Bay

Dillon has spent all four of his NFL seasons with the Packers, and he has totaled 2,428 rushing yards, 763 receiving yards and 18 total touchdowns from scrimmage during that time. He had previously shared their backfield with Aaron Jones, who joined the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings after being released by Green Bay this past spring.

Jacobs led the league in rushing yards in 2022, but his production fell last year to 805 rushing yards in 13 games, while his efficiency dropped from 4.9 yards per carry in 2022 to 3.5 yards per carry in 2023. It is hoped that a change in scenery from the perpetually struggling Las Vegas Raiders to the ascendent Packers will result in a bump in his production.

While Dillon will make less than $3 million this coming season, Green Bay may prefer to try to develop Lloyd, who had 820 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground on an average of 7.1 yards per rush in 2023. Running backs have a short shelf life and are largely seen as disposable in today’s NFL, and if Lloyd proves his worth, it could make Dillon expendable.

Perhaps the better play for the Packers would be to try to get some value for Dillon on the trade market by midseason, although the fact that he will become a free agent at the end of the 2024 season could scare other teams away from him.

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