Packers Could Move On From These Five Starters

For the Packers, Tuesday's transactions might not be limited to the players buried on the bottom of the depth chart. Here are five players who started at least once last year.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Aug 28, 2023 11:48 AM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The excruciating wait continues for players on the Green Bay Packers’ roster bubble. General manager Brian Gutekunst will trim the roster to the 53-player limit on Tuesday.

These five players who started at least one game last season might have played their last game for the Packers.

S Jonathan Owens (17 starts for Texans)

With the team electing not to re-sign veteran starter Adrian Amos, Jonathan Owens was one of the budget additions at safety. Owens spent most of training camp with the starters but was supplanted by Rudy Ford for the second preseason game against New England. Ford stuck with the No. 1 defense for the rest of camp and appears set to be the Week 1 starter alongside Darnell Savage.

If Savage and Ford are locks, Dallin Leavitt makes it as a leader on special teams and Anthony Johnson sticks as a draft pick, Gutekunst must decide whether to keep Owens, who had 125 tackles last year for Houston, Tarvarius Moore, who started eight games for the powerful 49ers in 2020 but missed 2021 with a torn Achilles, or both.

OT Yosh Nijman (13 starts)

Thrust into the lineup following David Bakhtiari’s knee injury, Nijman started 21 games the past two seasons. A former undrafted free agent, Nijman turned himself into an above-average starting left tackle. A restricted free agent this offseason, the Packers gave Nijman a $4.3 million contract.

However, he just never acclimated to life on the right side. Zach Tom ran away with the starting job during training camp. With Bakhtiari sitting out the preseason, Rasheed Walker, not Nijman, started at left tackle for the final two games.

The Packers aren’t going to release Nijman. However, he’s put a lot of good film out there for the rest of the league to see. You’d have to think some tackle-needy team will reach out to Gutekunst about Nijman’s availability. Will Gutekunst bite? Or, given Bakhtiari’s uncertain future with the knee in 2023 and contractually in 2024 and with Tom perhaps being the backup center, will Gutekunst value the strength in numbers at tackle?

OL Royce Newman (6 starts)

Royce Newman started the first 16 games in 2021 but lost the job for Week 18 and the playoffs. He started the first games in 2022 but lost the job again.

At tackle, the Packers are loaded. At the interior spots, they might prefer Sean Rhyan over Newman because of his upside as a third-round pick in 2022. Newman’s played a lot but he hasn’t grown a lot. A team-high four penalties in the preseason, including two vs. Seattle, aren't a good look. He might have some trade value because he can play both guard spots and right tackle in a pinch.

WR Samori Toure (2 starts)

The Packers’ unofficial depth chart shows Toure as a starter. But here’s the reality:

- Rookie Jayden Reed has been the obvious starter in the slot since Day 1 of camp.

- Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Reed are locks, and fifth-rounder Dontayvion Wicks and undrafted rookie Malik Heath probably are, too. So, that’s five spots.

If the Packers keep six receivers, the decision will come down to Toure, a seventh-round pick in 2022, and Grant DuBose, a seventh-round pick in 2023. The Packers have seen Toure for more than a year. They’ve seen DuBose for only a few weeks. Which player has more upside?

DB Innis Gaines (1 start)

“Thump” Gaines started in Week 18 last season and played extensively the last few games. Listed as a safety, he spent all of training camp as the primary backup to Keisean Nixon in the slot.

Weighing in Gaines’ favor are his skills on special teams, the lack of an obvious backup to Nixon and his versatility. Weighing against Gaines are a considerable injury history (two torn ACLs in college and soft-tissue injuries in camp the last two years) and the touchdown pass he allowed on Saturday vs. Seattle.

As Gaines said last week: "I’m trying to be a Swiss Army knife for the defense and being able to play wherever they need me: slot, safety, nickel or dime."