The Packers’ Biggest Roster Hole That Hasn’t Been Addressed in Free Agency
The Green Bay Packers made their first big signing in free agency on Wednesday by agreeing to terms with defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.
Hargrave was a Pro Bowler under the Packers’ new defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, while with the Eagles in 2021, and he was again with the 49ers in 2023. Last season, he played in 16 games with 15 starts for the Vikings. Minnesota, which was significantly over the cap, released Hargrave on Wednesday, and he agreed to join the Packers about an hour later.
Hargrave, cornerback Benjamin St-Juste and receiver/returner Skyy Moore addressed key needs.
There are others as the bargain-hunting phase of free agency approaches.
1. Interior Offensive Line
The Packers have their starting offensive line taken care of, with Jordan Morgan stepping in at left tackle for Rasheed Walker and Sean Rhyan re-signed to be the new starting center.
The depth, though, is perilous. While they re-signed Darian Kinnard, who played well at right tackle and as an extra tight end last season, the team is lacking in experienced players at the interior positions.
Jacob Monk, a fifth-round pick in 2024, has played 57 snaps on offense (most of them against the Vikings in Week 18). Travis Glover, a sixth-round pick in 2024, played 13 snaps as a rookie (and 28 in the playoffs) and spent last season on injured reserve. Donovan Jennings, an undrafted free agent in 2024, has played six snaps in two seasons. Last year’s seventh-round pick, John Williams, sat out the season with a back injury.
Maybe one of them will emerge – there’s only one way to find out, right? – but the team might be up a creek should something happen to one of their starters.
There are some experienced players available, including the Dolphins’ James Daniels, the Lions’ Graham Glasgow and former Packers player Lucas Patrick. They all have the interior versatility to help the Packers reboot for whatever goes wrong.
2. Defensive End
After trading Rashan Gary to the Cowboys and losing Kingsley Enagbare to the Jets, the Packers re-signed Brenton Cox on Wednesday. That could be a very good signing if Cox, who missed most of 2025 with a groin injury, recaptures the form that made him statistically one of the best pass rushers in the NFL in 2024.
However, Cox has played in 15 games in three seasons. They can’t possibly count on him to be the No. 3 or No. 4 defensive end. The same is true for last year’s Day 3 draft picks, Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver. Combined, Sorrell (15 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss in 14 games) and Oliver (one tackle, one tackle for loss in one game) had 1.5 sacks and two tackles for losses.
Sorrell showed some toughness against the run, which could make him a logical replacement for Enagbare, but defensive ends must rush the passer. Of 128 edge defenders with at least Sorrell’s number of 111 pass-rushing opportunities, he was 123rd in pass-rush win rate.
After a season stalled multiple times by hamstring injuries, the first thing Oliver has to prove is he can get on the field and stay on the field.
It’s quite possible both players will emerge as key contributors. However, counting on that to happen, and replace the combined 1,121 snaps played last season by Gary and Enagbare, would be one heck of a gamble considering Micah Parsons is coming off a torn ACL and Lukas Van Ness hasn’t proven himself to be an impact player.
After a reunion between Gannon and Hargrave, it’s worth recalling that Haason Reddick was a second-team All-Pro with 16 sacks under Gannon in 2022.
Before that blockbuster season, Gannon raved about Reddick’s ability to drop into coverage: “He’s a really good cover guy, so sometimes that’s a matchup-driven thing. He knows that when he would be dropping, like all our overhang players, there is a reason why we do that – flexibility within the defense, depending on what the offense does – that’s the kind of spacing we want to play, and it helps his teammates win some one-on-one battles. So, that’s a process with all those guys that we are figuring out now.”
Last year with the Buccaneers, Reddick had 2.5 sacks and was 59th in pass-rush win rate.
3. Defensive Tackle
Green Bay’s projected starting defensive tackles are Devonte Wyatt and Hargrave. Wyatt has become a solid run defender but is at his best rushing the passer. That’s the strength of Hargrave’s game, too.
However, as defensive coordinators like to say, you have to earn the right to rush the passer.
The Packers at the end of last season went on a frantic search for a run-stopping defensive tackle. Jordon Riley showed some promise before suffering a torn Achilles. With Riley on injured reserve, the Packers brought back Jonathan Ford, a seventh-round pick in 2022 who was buried on Green Bay’s practice squad for almost three seasons.
The need to find a run-stopping defensive tackle was ratcheted up last week when the Packers traded Colby Wooden. Wyatt, Hargrave and Karl Brooks aren’t great run defenders, and Ford and 2025 rookies Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse haven’t proven they can anchor a run defense for 20 snaps a game.
So, after giving Hargrave a two-year, $23 million contract, this might be a position group worth revisiting with a less expensive, dirty-work veteran. Former Lions standout D.J. Reader is among those who could fill the void.
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