2026 Roster Thread - Semi-Live

[Pokerbrat2000]

TE Luke Lachey has been waived, due to a failed physical.

Time to sign FA TE Jonnu Smith

 

[milani]

Nice interview with Zaire Franklin. I'm excited to see him play for the Packers, as is he. He and Cooper should be a stronger force in the middle for the Packers.

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Good to have that veteran voice both in the locker room and on the field for a change. We need it.

 

[gopkrs]

What I liked about the interview is that Zaire thinks he's really gonna work well in tandem with Cooper. And that makes sense to me.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Time to sign FA TE Jonnu Smith

Hey Poker that name sounds familiar. Can you tell us a bit more about him?

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Hey Poker that name sounds familiar. Can you tell us a bit more about him?

Jonnu Smith will be 31 in September. He is an athletic, versatile H-back style tight end who thrives as a run-after-catch (YAC) weapon. While undersized for inline blocking, his exceptional agility, speed, and contact balance make him a dangerous underneath receiving threat who excels on screens, crossing routes, and in space.

He's played for the Titans, Patriots, Falcons, Dolphins and Steelers. I think that he would be a valuable rotational TE for the Packers. A guy that can be an offensive weapon in the flat and manufacture yards on underneath concepts. He's also managed to stay pretty healthy during his 9 seasons in the NFL

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[DoURant]

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Played most of his college career at Eastern Washington, before transferring to Vanderbilt.

 

[milani]

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Played most of his college career at Eastern Washington, before transferring to Vanderbilt.

WOW! Just hoping he can live a healthy, long life. Playing football now is gravy in the tank.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

What I liked about the interview is that Zaire thinks he's really gonna work well in tandem with Cooper. And that makes sense to me.

it seems like the defense fell apart completely when cooper got hurt in the playoff loss.

 

[Heyjoe4]

What I liked about the interview is that Zaire thinks he's really gonna work well in tandem with Cooper. And that makes sense to me.

That would be great, Cooper and Franklin working together.

Walker always seemed like he was on an island, pretty much doing what he wanted and not really working well with teammates. That's just my observation. He is a very athletic guy and it surprised me he hasn't done better in the NFL.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

The veteran free agents are starting to sweat a little I'm sure. Time to start throwing some prove it deals out there maybe.

I seen Clowny and cameron Jordan are still out there. CB Diggs.

 

[OldSchool101]

Imo The Packers are most improved at iDL over the 2024 group. Last year at cutdowns GB’s depth chart consisted of Clark and Wyatt with Wooden behind that and Brinson as a 6th Round addition + Stack (UDFA). Past Kenny and Wyatt we had concerns as TJ Slaton was gone also. A Day later on August 28th Kenny Clark was sadly clearing out his locker and headed to Dallas. This left iDL as a major vulnerability going into September.

This year, Brian immediately fixes the interior hole left in the wake of the Micah Parsons trade. He takes a reliable and experienced Veteran DT first thing by signing Javon Hargrave. Basically a Kenny version 2.0 to pair with Wyatt. Hargrave was a key component from the Minnesota Vikings Defense surge late last year. Hargrave played between 33%-79% of D snaps during the last 9 games of 2025.


GB then double moves at DT by pairing RD3+RD5 draft selections to take Lucky #77. GB gets an SEC battle tested, pure interior Defender in Chris McClellan. Several scouts say he is an immediate fit at NT as his play weight floated 320-325lb, about 10lb heavier than his Combine 313lb. He also graded nicely against Alabama and Texas A&M, so he’s played ranked College teams without dropoff in impact.

Without a doubt, the biggest flaw last season has been addressed with a clear cut starter and clear cut quality depth piece.

 

[OldSchool101]

In 2025, CB was our next most pressing need for a position group. Actually we were extremely fortunate GB didn’t have injuries to either starting boundary CB. The experiment of transitioning Hobbs outside was immediately seen as a failure. That left Carrington Valentine as our definitive starting outside CB. The depth behind that? A converted WR in Bo Melton, our 2024 Practice Squad Rollover, Kamal Hadden and Tom Grossi’s #237 announced pick, Micah Robinson. Essentially 3 CB’s with ZERO snaps on Defense. The Packers were very fortunate their starting CB’s didn’t go down in 2025.

In 2026 and similarly to DL, Brian doubled down. He started by going outside signing a Veteran FA from Washington in Benjamin St Juste. While maybe not some high profile, All-Pro type move, St Juste is a very experienced CB. He has 47 Starts across 5 seasons with both Washington and the LA Chargers. For Harbaugh, St Juste was PFF’s #1 Graded Zone Coverage CB in the NFL (90.1). Yet it didn’t stop there. His overall PFF Coverage grade on Defense was at 77.1. His Defensive grade was 75.6, which ranked #12 of 112 CB’s. He’s also an excellent Run Defender and missed just 1 tackle in 2025. He’s a Special Teams Leader also.

GB didn’t stop there. They had a top 5 ranked CB (Brandon Cisse) fall right into their lap. What’s somewhat interesting is one of Brandon’s only known weakness is ? Zone. This was ironically the exact strong point they had just addressed with BSJ. Here they got one of the best pure Man cover CB’s in the 2026 draft. Again, he’s unrefined, but by most accounts he’s deemed to be a Starter up to a bonafide CB1 at some point.

Then GB tripled down using a RD6 draft pick to round out the bottom of our CB room with Domani Jackson. After a stellar 2024 season, Jackson dipped mid 2025 and was severely reduced (still played though) for poor performance. Yet he was reinserted in the playoffs against Oklahoma and Georgia allowing 5 of 6 targets for?? 7 yards. Not 7 average but 7 yards TOTAL. Verses Indiana, Mendoza never threw at him.

 

[OldSchool101]

GB’s 2 glaring weaknesses from 2025 are now relative strengths. DL + CB are vastly improved with 1 starter level and 1 or 2 highly coveted draft pick(s) for both positions.

With Evan Williams coming off a Packer leading 3 INT and arguably 100 tackle season? + Xavier on the opposite side, GB has their Safety tandem. Btw both Safeties ranked # 5 and #8 respectively against the run in 2025. The first 4 player adds on the 2026 Defense are high caliber Run stoppers added to the mix. This wasn’t by chance.

At LB the Packers moved on from a good, but not great player in Quay Walker. He is replaced with a similar style LB in Zaire Franklin. Coop is Coop. McDuffie is here. Hopper is here. Mostly intact 2025 quality.

Really the only slight to moderate concern is at Edge. Yet Cox Jr is back and we return another drafted Pass Rusher (RD5) in Colin Oliver that we never got a look at. LVN will get the spotlight and Barryn Sorrell (RD4) should see more than his limited duty from 2025. We also lucked out by acquiring an easy graded Day 2 selection in Dani Dennis Sutton, who’s comp is Enagbare, yet DDS has more ceiling room.

Once Micah is back we’ll have good depth overall

 

[Heyjoe4]

The veteran free agents are starting to sweat a little I'm sure. Time to start throwing some prove it deals out there maybe.

I seen Clowny and cameron Jordan are still out there. CB Diggs.

I think the Packers must have good reasons for passing on CB Diggs. Too bad but this happens. For whatever reason, Diggs seems unemployable.

And Clowney. It seems like he was drafted just a few years ago…….

 

[Heyjoe4]

GB’s 2 glaring weaknesses from 2025 are now relative strengths. DL + CB are vastly improved with 1 starter level and 1 highly coveted draft pick for both positions.

With Evan Williams coming off a Packer leading 3 INT and arguably 100 tackle season? + Xavier on the opposite side, GB has their Safety tandem. Btw both Safeties ranked # 5 and #8 respectively against the run in 2025. All 4 player adds on the 2026 Defense are high caliber Run stoppers added to the mix. This wasn’t by chance.

At LB the Packers moved on from a good, but not great player in Quay Walker. He is replaced with a similar style LB in Zaire Franklin. Coop is Coop. McDuffie is here.

Really the only slight to moderate concern is at Edge. Yet Cox Jr is back and we return another drafted Pass Rusher (RD5) in Colin Oliver that we never got a look at. LVN will get the spotlight and Barryn Sorrell (RD4) should see more than his limited duty from 2025. We also lucked out by acquiring an easy graded Day 2 selection in Dani Dennis Sutton. I’m really thinking he’s a High caliber rotational piece similar to Rookie Enagbare. Don’t count Edgerrin Cooper out as a Pass Rusher sprinkled in.

Once Micah is back we’ll have good depth overall

I feel a little better about the iDL with the additions of veteran Hargrave and rookie McLellan. A little better. I like that Hargrave can get after the QB from the inside. But at 33 y/o, it's not a great bet.

I would not call the CB group a "relative strength", far from it. Unless St. Juste (an average CB so far) and Cisse (a talented and very young rookie) have blowout years, the CB group has been improved only at the margins. I wouldn't call it a glaring weakness, but as of today, a weakness nonetheless. It looks like the CB group will be slightly better than last year, a very low bar.

Parsons changes everything. Even so, opponents will test the CB group again and again all season.

 

[OldSchool101]

I think the Packers must have good reasons for passing on CB Diggs. Too bad but this happens. For whatever reason, Diggs seems unemployable.

And Clowney. It seems like he was drafted just a few years ago…….

Plus our depth got much better. So CB except at the very top is not much of a concern. I think St Juste can compete for a starting role, so our CB room isn’t in dire need anymore (like 2025)

 

[OldSchool101]

I feel a little better about the iDL with the additions of veteran Hargrave and rookie McLellan.

I would not call the CB group a "relative strength", far from it. Unless St. Juste (an average CB so far) and Cisse (a talented and very young rookie) have blowout years, the CB group has been improved only at the margins. I wouldn't call it a glaring weakness, but as of today, a weakness nonetheless. It looks like the CB group will be slightly better than last year, something that's not very hard to do.

Parsons changes everything. Even so, opponents will test the CB group again and again all season.

True. Correction. What I meant was more strength of depth at CB. We added 3 players who imo are all upgrades off our 2025 depth.

 

[Heyjoe4]

True. Correction. What I meant was more strength of depth at CB. We added 3 players who imo are all upgrades off our 2025 depth.

Yes that's how I see it as well. Gluten made the most out of what he had to work with. Next year he'll be back with 10-12 draft picks and a good amount of cap. Hopefully he uses the draft and FA for tweaks, rather than rebuilds, at all of the position groups.

And there will be at least a few pleasant surprises this year. They won't be a SB favorite, but the team has the talent for a deep playoff run, maybe a SB appearance.

 

[OldSchool101]

Yes that's how I see it as well. Gluten made the most out of what he had to work with. Next year he'll be back with 10-12 draft picks and a good amount of cap. Hopefully he uses the draft and FA for tweaks, rather than rebuilds, at all of the position groups.

And there will be at least a few pleasant surprises this year. They won't be a SB favorite, but the team has the talent for a deep playoff run, maybe a SB appearance.

I think we will be pleased once Micah gets back. He is a DC dream. He’s 1 of maybe 4 or 5 Defenders that allows a Coordinator to get creative without any fear of that player underperforming.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

The veteran free agents are starting to sweat a little I'm sure. Time to start throwing some prove it deals out there maybe.

I seen Clowny and cameron Jordan are still out there. CB Diggs.

Joey Bosa or AJ Epenesa might be my 2 choices for EDGE FA's for the Packers. However, I think they will probably stay pat at EDGE, for now. They have a lot of young guys at the position and I think going with the current group, isn't a bad thing. I say for now, because of Parsons injury and the unsurety that young players can bring. Who knows, maybe come mid to late August, having a Bosa or Epensa on the roster wouldn't be a bad thing.

I would actually like to see them sign a FA TE and RB. I believe those are their 2 weakest positions depth wise on offense. These are also 2 key positions when it comes to both the run and pass game. Jonnu Smith at TE and Nick Chubb at RB would be my 2 choices at this point. Both seasoned vets, both still have some tread left on their tires and I think both would fit into the Packers offense.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I think we will be pleased once Micah gets back. He is a DC dream. He’s 1 of maybe 4 or 5 Defenders that allows a Coordinator to get creative without any fear of that player underperforming.

It was amazing watching how the whole defense changed when he was on the field. He affects the play of all defenders, in a very good way.

And he poses a big problem for an offense. It seems that he is always 1) within reach of the QB in 2-3 seconds post-snap, and 2) always around the ball, run or pass. The QB is limited to his first, maybe second read on a pass play, and in most cases, the pass is rushed.

 

[milani]

I think the Packers must have good reasons for passing on CB Diggs. Too bad but this happens. For whatever reason, Diggs seems unemployable.

And Clowney. It seems like he was drafted just a few years ago…….

Clowney goes back a ways. He was a Saturday night NCAA highlight.

 

[milani]

I feel a little better about the iDL with the additions of veteran Hargrave and rookie McLellan. A little better. I like that Hargrave can get after the QB from the inside. But at 33 y/o, it's not a great bet.

I would not call the CB group a "relative strength", far from it. Unless St. Juste (an average CB so far) and Cisse (a talented and very young rookie) have blowout years, the CB group has been improved only at the margins. I wouldn't call it a glaring weakness, but as of today, a weakness nonetheless. It looks like the CB group will be slightly better than last year, a very low bar.

Parsons changes everything. Even so, opponents will test the CB group again and again all season.

On paper, yes. I will believe it when I see it actually manifest itself on the field.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Yikes. Sounds like Josh Jacob’s is facing some pretty serious charges. 5 of them.

What’s our options if he has to be cut?

 

[tynimiller]

Yikes. Sounds like Josh Jacob’s is facing some pretty serious charges. 5 of them.

What’s our options if he has to be cut?

Elite running backs don't grow on trees but running backs do if you get what I mean. Lloyd and Brooks if both are healthy are no slouch...some of the guys still available in free agency...

Joe Mixon - dude would be the best answer but also the most costly...but he's literally paced for four straight seasons to be more than 1,000 all purpose yards or close.
Najee Harris
Austin Ekeler
Antonio Gibson
Nick Chubb

No world changers and truth a guy like Khalil Herbert we've seen at times some of his best in the past, would be a cheap additional guy to add to the guys behind Lloyd and Brooks that include Pierre Strong and Damien Martinez as the two most likely to make the team out of the reserves.