Packers Mock Offseason 2.0: Green Bay adds a nose tackle in free agency

It’s been a month, so let’s take another crack at a mock offseason. This one will be shorter than our Mock Offseason 1.0, only because we’ve touched on some of these overarching topics before. With that being said, I would like to make some changes to our current free agency and draft projections in comparison to our January edition, if for no other reason than to add some variety.

First, let’s talk about free agency.

Packers Free Agency Prediction

Green Bay releases Elgton Jenkins and Rashan Gary

These moves will almost certainly happen. The Packers are already over the salary cap going into 2026 and desperately need to get rid of center Elgton Jenkins and defensive end Rashan Gary, who underperformed in 2025, just to put the team in a position where they can sign rookie draft picks.

Green Bay re-signs Sean Rhyan

We’ve broken down the upcoming center draft class, including converts that scouts believe can make the switch, pretty thoroughly this offseason. I wouldn’t say that the center class is bad, but there aren’t many NFL-ready guys who are clearly ready to start Year 1. The top true center prospect in this class is probably Auburn’s Connor Lew, the only top-80 center on the consensus board, and he’s coming off an ACL tear.

If there’s any year to play the position conservatively and then take a flier in the draft, it’s this one. I think Sean Rhyan’s market will be something in the ballpark of the deal that Jon Runyan Jr. signed, three years for $30 million. The Packers usually like to lock up long-term starters to four-year deals, but we’ve seen them go under that four-year mark for guys who are borderline starters for them, like Isaiah McDuffie’s two-year deal to be the team’s third linebacker.

Green Bay signs one of Khyiris Tonga or Roy Lopez

The nose tackle free agent market is going to be pretty dry this year, as only three players currently under 30 years old have played half as many nose tackle snaps as Colby Wooden and also posted a better PFF grade than Wooden in 2025. The good news? Two of those players, Khyiris Tonga and Roy Lopez, have previously played for Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.

Neither should break the bank, but either could give Green Bay a legitimate starting nose tackle to add to the rotation. The Packers desperately need another body there, as it was clear throughout the year that their interior line wore down as games went on. Their players just couldn’t handle their snap counts. In the first quarter, there are arguments to be made that the Packers were the best defense in football. In the final three quarters, they might have been the worst. It all started up front.

Green Bay tenders Darian Kinnard

Of all of the Packers’ restricted free agents, the one I could see them bringing back on a roughly $3.5 million tender for 2026 is swing tackle Darian Kinnard. Green Bay will need some depth at the position, as Rasheed Walker is likely to leave in free agency, Jordan Morgan will take over for Walker at left tackle and Zach Tom recovers from his patellar tendon tear.

Packers bring back depth on modest deals

I could see Green Bay re-signing players like safety Zayne Anderson, tight end Josh Whyle and running back Chris Brooks on low-level contracts, just for depth on the roster. When they make these types of moves, it’s usually something in the ballpark of a minimum deal with a $500,000 signing bonus. They will probably try to bring back one of Nick Niemann or Kristian Welch, two linebackers who primarily play special teams instead of defense, too. The Packers almost certainly will retain all of their exclusive right free agents, players who will make the league minimum and have no guarantees tied to their deals if they’re brought back.

It’s extension time

With the rest of the Packers’ cap space, be it straight up or post-manipulation after they turn salaries and roster bonuses into signing bonuses that can stretch over the cap over the lifetime of players’ current deals, I believe Green Bay will double down on its own internal options this offseason. Receiver Christian Watson, tight end Tucker Kraft and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt are due for big paydays, and I think they’ll get them from the Packers. There’s also the potential of a Lukas Van Ness extension. Green Bay might even extend one of Jayden Reed or Dontayvion Wicks at receiver, but if they do, it will almost certainly shut the door on Savion Williams having an impactful first contract with the Packers after being drafted 87th overall last April. I think LVN is more likely than the receivers to get a new deal in 2026.

It’s collect comp picks time

I’m assuming the rest of the Packers’ free agents end up leaving. This includes left tackle Rasheed Walker, Mike linebacker Quay Walker, receiver Romeo Doubs, defensive end Kingsley Enagbare and quarterback Malik Willis, among others.

Green Bay can only collect up to four compensatory draft picks this offseason. The signing of Tonga/Lopez would likely offset the Enagbare pick, which will probably be the fifth-highest draft choice that the Packers could net, if they re-sign center Sean Rhyan. For losing the Walkers, Doubs and Willis, I’d assume Green Bay would net three fifth-round picks in 2027 and a fourth-round pick (Rasheed Walker). If Willis can crack the $20 million per year average on his next deal, it could be two fourth-round picks.

Packers Depth Chart

So, after these moves, this is what Green Bay’s depth chart would look like going into the 2026 draft. Every player who has been brought up to the gameday roster for at least one game in his Packers career (plus the Tonga/Lopez outside signing) is included.

2026 Packers Mock Draft

This is the mock draft simulator I used, if you want to play around with it.

#52: Davison Igbinosun, Ohio State, CB

In my heart of hearts, I’d probably turn in the pick for Iowa State nose tackle Domonique Orange, because I like his upside, but I picked him in our Mock Offseason 1.0, so I’ll go in a different direction here.

Among the cornerbacks who should be available when the Packers are first on the clock in this draft, I believe that Igbinosun is the most talented. He’s got great movement skills, which should be a premium in Gannon’s quarters-based defensive system. He’s one of the handful of Day 2 cornerbacks who I think could actually push Nate Hobbs and Carrington Valentine for playing time opposite Keisean Nixon in 2026.

Adding Igbinosun also probably frees up Hobbs for a trade, and his market as a trade asset will only be stronger if the Packers pay him his roster bonus, which will be dished out in mid-March. Green Bay can probably get a pick for Hobbs if they want to eat the bonus.

#84: Caleb Tiernan, Northwestern, OT

I like the player here. If Caleb Tiernan is available in the mid-to-late third round, just take him. He’s a great pass protector and is expected to measure in at a legit 6’6” and 325 pounds at the combine. He sort of fits what the Packers are looking for up front.

Tiernan will probably be a tackle-only guy in the NFL, but tackle is a position that the Packers probably want to get some long-term contracts at, too. I believe that Jordan Morgan will be a good starting tackle, but we haven’t seen that for a full year yet in his career. Zach Tom is coming off a patellar tendon tear, which is an injury serious enough that it dropped Ohio State’s Josh Simmons from being a top-10 lock to being the last pick in the first round last year. Darian Kinnard was tendered by me in this mock offseason, but that’s a one-year stopgap, even if they bring him back.

Catch the falling value and sleep well at night.

#120: Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech, OG/OC

As we’ve written about before, Keylan Rutledge is a mauling guard who got some looks at center at the Senior Bowl. Some scouts believe that he can play center well at the next level if the team that drafts him needs a center more than a guard.

Rutledge could be a potential Sean Rhyan or Aaron Banks replacement in 2027, if things don’t go well this year. At minimum, it could give the Packers some good depth on the offensive interior, which the team has lacked in recent years.

He has a pretty incredible story, too. Rutledge transferred from Middle Tennessee, but before he enrolled at Georgia Tech, he was in a major car crash that flipped his truck into a barricade. When he got out of his truck, he walked the crash site barefoot, which led to an infection. For six weeks, antibiotics were fed into a PICC line straight to his heart twice a day. He then needed a second surgery to re-break the toe that he got pins in from the impact of the crash. It took him seven months of rehab before he returned to conditioning for football.

Despite the episode, he has been named a first-team all-conference lineman for the last three seasons and earned first-team All-American honors in 2025.

#158: Nicholas Singleton, Penn State, RB

For the most part, the Matt LaFleur Packers have been in the market for 220-pound running backs, even though LaFleur inherited Aaron Jones as a starter when he took over with the team. Post-Jones, the running game has changed, as they’ve gotten away from the outside run game and leaned more into the inside run game, like how LaFleur’s Tennessee Titans played in his one play-calling stop before Green Bay.

If the Packers are going to continue to go down the big running back route, one player who makes a lot of sense is Penn State’s Nick Singleton, a 6’0”, 221-pound (confirmed at the Senior Bowl) who might run faster than a 4.4-second 40-yard dash at the combine. The 22-year-old is a two-time All-Big Ten player who was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022, after joining the Nittany Lions as a five-star recruit and Pennsylvania’s Gatorade Player of the Year in football.

His production dropped in 2025, but Penn State was a mess. At the college level, he ran for 45 rushing touchdowns and also caught 102 passes for 987 yards and nine scores. He’s also returned 48 kicks and even scored on one. He left college, despite playing more of a rotational role on a bad team in 2025, as the Big Ten’s sixth all-time touchdowns from scrimmage leader.

#200: DeMonte Capehart, Clemson, DT

At this spot in the draft, I like this player. Even with a free agent signing at nose tackle on the books, it’s worth a swing here on DeMonte Capehart, a former five-star recruit who has some underrated athleticism and run-stopping ability.

Devonte Wyatt, Warren Brinson and Tonga/Lopez would be roster locks in this spot, but the addition of Capehart would turn players like Colby Wooden or Karl Brooks, guys on the last year of their rookie deals, into potential trade bait.

If you haven’t caught on yet, trades are going to be a huge deal for the Packers moving forward. Their cap space isn’t fully leveraged yet, but there should be less wiggle room after this next round of extensions. With weaker and weaker free agency classes, because every team is now retaining their top players via cap manipulation, teams that can are trading non-extension players going into the final years of their deals and are being rewarded for it with extra draft picks.

Remember how hard it was to find a Kenny Clark replacement for all of the 2025 regular season? If the Packers can position themselves to have one “too many” defensive tackles before injuries start to happen at the position this summer, then maybe they’ll get an extra draft pick in 2027 if their unit stays healthy throughout training camp. I don’t think DT is off the table, even if Green Bay signs Tonga or Lopez.

#236: Taylen Green, Arkansas, QB

I don’t think that the Packers absolutely 100 percent need to take a quarterback in the draft, but if one falls to them, they should. Taylen Green gives Green Bay a dice roll on a dynamic runner who was measured in at 6’6” and 229 pounds at the Senior Bowl. If he doesn’t beat out Desmond Ridder or Kyle McCord in camp, then there’s little punishment for the taken shot.

#254: Vincent Anthony Jr., Duke, ED

I’m not really sure how hard the Packers will hit the edge defender market in 2026, even if Kingsley Enagbare and Brenton Cox Jr. both sign elsewhere. Ultimately, if the team does pivot to a 3-4 defense, which is what I’m expecting under Gannon, it’s going to be harder to keep the fifth or sixth edge rusher under Gannon than it was under Jeff Hafley, just because the defense demands more 300-plus pounders on the 48-man gameday roster.

Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver were taken in the mid-rounds last year, so Green Bay should have no problem rolling them out as their backups at the position. If Micah Parsons is out for the first month or so this season, though, someone will need to play as the fourth outside linebacker in September.

The problem is that if it’s a veteran, his contract will fully guarantee if he’s on the roster in Week 1, meaning that even if he’s released after the first month of the year, the Packers are on the hook for his full-season’s pay. But if Green Bay takes someone late in the draft, that outside linebacker might be able to play for four weeks and then roll back to the practice squad, if the Packers need numbers elsewhere once Parsons returns.

This selection is more about the position than the player. I just think an edge rusher makes sense for Green Bay late in the draft.

#257: Le’Veon Moss, Texas A&M, RB

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