GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 07: Bo Melton #16 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates with teammate Jayden Reed #11 after scoring a touchdown against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Lambeau Field on December 07, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I teased this yesterday, when I wrote about the
Green Bay Packers’ injuries and their players’ recovery timelines, so it’s time to deliver: Here’s your 2026 53-man roster projection after the first couple of days of free agency. We’re months away from the Packers having to play a football game, but here’s where their team is at (ballpark) going into the bargain bin portion of free agency and the draft cycle.
PUP List
- DE Jordon Riley
- OLB Micah Parsons
Based on the realistic timelines of the Packers’ injuries, it’s a virtual lock that defensive lineman Jordon Riley starts the year on the physically unable to perform list with his Achilles tendon tear, and it’s likely that pass-rusher Micah Parsons will start the season on the list, too.
If Parsons is on the PUP list to start the year, he will miss at least the first four weeks of the season. If he’s on the 53-man roster, even if he’s unable to play in say Week 1 and Week 2, he can return to the field earlier. I’m sure we’ll be debating about what the Packers should do in the coming months, so don’t get yourself worked up too hard about this one yet.
The rest of the timelines match up well with the following players returning to a game-ready state by the time the regular season kicks off: tight end Tucker Kraft, right tackle Zach Tom, defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt and cornerback Kamal Hadden.
Quarterback
- Jordan Love
- Desmond Ridder
The Packers made two moves at quarterback at the end of the season,
signing Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord, after moving on from 2025 practice squadder Clayton Tune. My guess is they had it in mind that Malik Willis would not be returning in 2026 and wanted to give themselves a better shot at a 2026 backup with these additions.
Ridder has started 18 games in his NFL career after being taken in the third round in 2022. McCord was a sixth-round pick last season and spent all of 2025 on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad before signing a reserve-futures deal with Green Bay.
If the Packers can’t find a backup quarterback at a good price point for them, be it in the trade market, the cap casualty market, the draft market or the post-draft free agency market (when free agents are no longer considered compensatory free agents), Ridder and McCord will probably battle it out this summer to be Jordan Love’s QB2.
Running Back
- Josh Jacobs
- MarShawn Lloyd
- Chris Brooks
As it stands right now, MarShawn Lloyd is going to be the number two ball-carrier on this team, even though
blocking back Chris Brooks just signed a two-year deal. If Lloyd’s injury streak continues, he’ll be pushed by Pierre Strong Jr. (a former fourth-round pick) and Damien Martinez (who was projected to be a borderline top-100 selection going into last year’s draft). The team could look to add here, but I don’t think it’s certain, especially in a bad draft class, in terms of the volume of draftable backs.
Receiver
- Christian Watson
- Matthew Golden
- Jayden Reed
- Dontayvion Wicks
- Bo Melton
- Savion Williams
- Skyy Moore
I don’t want to be a hot take artist, so I’m going to have all seven receivers making the team this round. With that being said, there’s a bunch of weird stuff going on with this room right now.
First,
the Skyy Moore deal has the potential, but is not certain, to offset a fifth-round pick the Packers would receive for losing Quay Walker. If that’s on the table (we don’t know the full contract details yet, which will be what decides if this is play or not), I absolutely believe it will be a factor in whether or not the return specialist makes the team after the cutdown deadline or not.
Second, it’s
very interesting to me that the team is “oversigned” at the position right now, in terms of rosterable bodies, and that
five of the seven rosterable receivers are going into the final year of their current contracts. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the Packers tried to turn one of these players into a draft pick, which they could either use in the draft or in a trade to shore up another position,
since they’re restricted in free agency by their compensatory draft pick situation.
And yes, I will continue to count Bo Melton (a very important special teams player to the team) as a receiver, not a cornerback, until he finally plays a snap of defense in the regular season. I’m not convinced the cornerback experiment will extend into 2026, but we’ll see.
Tight End
- Tucker Kraft
- Luke Musgrave
- Josh Whyle
The Packers could use a blocking tight end, since they don’t have a rosterable body on the roster there right now, but the fact that swing tackle Darian Kinnard played some tight end and that the team has a dedicated blocking back in Chris Brooks helps them out here.
Simply: There are only three rosterable tight ends on the team, so those three make it for me.
Offensive Line
- LT: Jordan Morgan
- LG: Aaron Banks
- C: Sean Rhyan
- RG: Anthony Belton
- RT: Zach Tom
- Darian Kinnard
- Travis Glover
- Jacob Monk
- Donovan Jennings
- John Williams
Green Bay likes to keep 10 offensive linemen, even if that 10th guy is a former undrafted player who they’re stashing, so I’m going to project them keeping 10. The starting lineup of Jordan Morgan-Aaron Banks-Sean Rhyan-Anthony Belton-Zach Tom looks locked up for the next two-ish years. Kinnard will be the team’s number one lineman off the bench. Travis Glover, Jacob Monk and John Williams are all young former draft picks who’d you have to pry from Brian Gutekunst’s cold hands. Donovan Jennings also got the nod over John Williams at the end of the year, when Williams was eligible to return to the 53-man roster.
Defensive Line
- Devonte Wyatt
- Javon Hargrave
- Karl Brooks
- Warren Brinson
- Nazir Stackhouse
- Jonathan Ford
Boy oh boy, would I like two more bodies in this room, including a true rosterable nose tackle.
We’re expecting a 3-4 base look from Jonathan Gannon, and Javon Hargrave, who is more of a 3-4 DE than a traditional 3-4 NT, signing with the team is just another datapoint leading us to the 3-4 world.
If they’re going the 3-4 route, they’ll probably need to carry six guys. The Packers are a little short on bodies, though, with the final two making the cut here being Jonathan Ford, who was plucked off the Chicago Bears late last season, and Nazir Stackhouse, a 2025 undrafted free agent signing. Credibly, Warren Brinson, Stackhouse and Ford, arguably the three lowest players in the pecking order here, are the team’s 3-4 nose tackles (though Hargrave should be able to play the nose in nickel sets). BIG NEED GOING INTO THE DRAFT.
Outside Linebacker
- Lukas Van Ness
- Barryn Sorrell
- Collin Oliver
- Brenton Cox Jr.
- Dante Barnett?
The Packers need a body here. If Parsons starts the year on the PUP list, it leaves just Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Collin Oliver and Brenton Cox Jr. at the position. Dante Barnett, who I’m using as a hold here for whoever they’ll keep as the fifth outside linebacker (they’re highly likely to keep five), is the team’s international player pathways player. He’s listed as a defensive tackle at 6’1” and 275, the next closest outside linebacker-sized guy on this team.
Green Bay probably won’t look in the veteran market here, since a veteran backup who makes the team in Week 1 will have his salary fully guaranteed for the remainder of the season. When Parsons comes back, they might need to cut bait with someone, and I doubt it will be Van Ness or the multi-year contracts of the 2025 draft picks (Sorrell and Oliver).
It’s really shaping up for a world where if Parsons starts on the PUP list, the Packers will draft someone (anyone) and then could dump Cox (whose contract won’t be guaranteed, as he’s not a vested veteran) if they need the extra roster spot. Barnett is just a placeholder here for whoever they end up drafting. (I’ve also heard that they’re interested in edge rushers in this draft.)
Inside Linebacker
- Zaire Franklin
- Edgerrin Cooper
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Ty’Ron Hopper
- Nick Niemann
This is pretty simple to me. Edgerrin Cooper is the starting Will, and Zaire Franklin is highly likely to be the starting Mike. Isaiah McDuffie is the backup Mike (assuming he doesn’t beat out Franklin), and Ty’Ron Hopper is the backup Will. Nick Niemann is basically a special-teams-only guy, but he’s very good at his job. He will battle with Kristian Welch, another special-teams-only guy that the Packers brought back for 2026, for the fifth linebacker job (assuming they keep five for special teams purposes).
If Green Bay drafts an off-ball linebacker, they might end up moving one of Franklin (unlikely) or McDuffie (more likely) for something post-draft. Neither Franklin nor McDuffie has remaining guarantees on their contracts, and they would both create cap space with their losses.
Cornerback
- Keisean Nixon
- Carrington Valentine
- Benjamin St-Juste
- Kamal Hadden
- Jaylin Simpson
I think
Benjamin St-Juste got paid like a #3.5 cornerback and special teams ace, a replacement for safety Zayne Anderson (
now a Dolphin) as the team’s punt gunner/jammer opposite of Bo Melton. I’m sure the team will give him “a chance” to compete for the starting job, but I find it more likely that a rookie draft pick will push Carrington Valentine for a starting role opposite Keisean Nixon this year.
I could see the team double-dipping at the position. I do not believe they’re committed to Kamal Hadden, who the staff has hyped up but is coming off injury, or Jaylin Simpson, a hybrid cornerback-safety who was a fifth-round pick in 2024. Simpson ended up playing almost all of the Week 18 game against the Minnesota Vikings, when the Packers tried to rest as many players as they possibly could.
Look for competition here, but I think Nixon, Valentine and St-Juste are pretty much roster locks, unless the team trades Nixon and Valentine (they’re in contract years).
Safety
- Xavier McKinney
- Evan Williams
- Javon Bullard
- Kitan Oladapo
Because the Packers actually got a cornerback who is a special teams ace (St-Juste), I’m not sure the team will need to carry a fifth safety in that role (which was filled by Anderson and Dallin Leavitt in the past). Keeping four guys who still have multiple years left on their contracts, all play some teams reps and are rosterable talents makes this room pretty clean.
Set it and forget it.
Also, Kitan Oladapo is probably the team’s backup slot defender right now behind Javon Bullard. When injuries got bad last year, and the team needed a second slot for specific sub-packages, it was Oladapo who filled the role. The NFL is leaning into the slot role being for big safeties, not small cornerbacks, because of how offenses can manipulate formations to force that player to essentially play a Sam linebacker role in the box.
Kicker
The Packers have to pay $1 million to Brandon McManus by Friday. If they do that instead of cutting him, he’s a very heavy favorite to be the kicker in 2026. He’d have to have a terrible camp to get cut, basically.
Punter
Let’s get Daniel Whelan onto the All-Pro list this year.
Long Snapper
Matt Orzech is the only long snapper on the team.
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As of March 13th, more than a month before the 2026 NFL Draft is even held, this is how I see the roster shaking out. Even if the Packers make no more moves in free agency, they’ll have seven swings in the draft, including an extra seventh-round pick (but they’ll be down a first-rounder from the Parsons trade). There’s still plenty of opportunities for the team to add to the roster between now and September.
