Packers Tender Free Agents Emanuel Wilson, Daniel Whelan, Caleb Jones
GREEN BAY, Wis. – While the Green Bay Packers did not submit tenders to restricted free agents Patrick Taylor and Robert Rochell, a source said they did tender their three exclusive rights free agents.
That means running back Emanuel Wilson, offensive tackle Caleb Jones and punter Daniel Whelan will be back to compete for roster spots in 2024.
None of those five decisions were a surprise.
A restricted free agent is a player with three years of NFL experience. The minimum tender is $2.985 million. The Packers could re-sign both players for a combined total of a little more than $2 million. But, for now, they are unrestricted free agents able to sign with another team.
In three seasons, Taylor rushed for 261 yards and caught 14 passes. In two stints with the team last year, he set across-the-board career highs with 32 rushes, 141 yards, a 4.4-yard average, 11 receptions, 49 receiving yards and 190 total yards.
Rochell was a fourth-round pick by the Rams in 2021; the Packers plucked him off Carolina’s practice squad in October. He played 112 snaps on special teams in nine appearances and made four tackles.
Rochell started five games with the Rams as a rookie, when he collected his only interception (one) and pass breakups (four). He’s an intriguing package of size (5-foot-11 3/4) and athleticism (4.41 in the 40, 43-inch vertical, 9.65 RAS).
“I definitely look at it as a reset, mentally and physically, to come in and realign myself with the game of football and show the attributes that I can do on and off the field,” he said after his first practice.
Exclusive rights free agents have less than three years of experience. Their tenders are for the league minimum.
Whelan, a native of Ireland, beat out veteran Pat O’Donnell to be the punter. While he ranked toward the bottom of the NFL in net average, he ranked among the best in hangtime. Over his final nine games (including playoffs), he had 11 inside-the-20 punts and zero touchbacks. That includes four at Detroit and three at Dallas.
Wilson, an undrafted rookie who spent a few days with Denver after the draft, led the NFL in preseason rushing to beat out Taylor for the final spot at running back to open the season, but Taylor opened the season as the No. 3 back behind Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.
Eventually, Wilson worked himself into a role. He had a 14-yard run at Denver and a 31-yard run against the Rams. A shoulder injury sustained on Nov. 19 against the Chargers sidelined him for the final seven games. In the playoffs, Wilson returned and had 12 carries (to three for Taylor) for 36 yards.
Wilson will have an opportunity to earn a much larger role in 2024 if the team doesn’t re-sign Dillon or sign another veteran to pair with Josh Jacobs.
“I’ve just got good balance,” Wilson said of his ability to break tackles. “I work on my legs a lot, too. I ain’t like the Quad Father [Dillon] but … All my life, I just had good strength below, so I don’t get knocked off my balance.”
An undrafted free agent in 2022, Caleb Jones is massive 6-foot-9 and 370 pounds. While he made the roster coming out of training camp in 2023, he played in only one game – one snap of special teams in Week 4. With the release of David Bakhtiari and the uncertain future of free agent Yosh Nijman, Jones will have an opportunity to earn a role in 2024.
“From a very young age, it was always my dream to play in the NFL,” Jones said last year. “I think I lost sight of it maybe in my younger years. I was playing the sport but I was just kind of playing it to have fun. I didn’t think about it as, ‘Oh, man, I can’t wait to play in the NFL.’ I re-found that in high school and it started to get real with [college scholarship] offers. I knew then it was going to be a way for me to pay for my schooling and it would eventually maybe pay for my livelihood. It was one of those things where it’s always been in the back of my mind.”
