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Nine Packers Veterans Who Might Not Be on 2026 Roster

A competitive offseason and training camp is on the horizon for the Green Bay Packers. These players could be on the hot seat or on the trade block.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers receiver Jayden Reed reacts after scoring touchdown against the Chicago Bears during their playoff game.
Green Bay Packers receiver Jayden Reed reacts after scoring touchdown against the Chicago Bears during their playoff game. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

Exactly one month from today, the Green Bay Packers will be on the clock for the first time in the 2026 NFL Draft. About four months from today, the Packers will hit the field for their first practice of training camp.

Added together, the 53-man roster that emerges in about five months will look a lot different than it does now. Here are nine veterans, all proven veterans and/or recent draft picks, who might no longer be with the team for Week 1.

WR Jayden Reed or Dontayvion Wicks

The Packers have a sneaky need at receiver. Of their projected top six, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Skyy Moore are under contract through only the 2026 season. That means there’s a good chance general manager Brian Gutekunst will throw a forward-thinking draft pick at the position.

That, however, would mean the Packers have seven roster-worthy receivers – and that’s before even mentioning a breakout option such as Isaiah Neyor. There’s no way the Packers are going to take seven receivers into Week 1.

That means, if Gutekunst does use a quality draft pick on a receiver, someone is going to have to go.

While he was banged up last year with a broken collarbone and injured foot, Reed is a big-time player. He is an explosive route runner, excellent after the catch, an underrated deep threat and a strong, positive presence in the locker room. Wicks has been inconsistent but was one of the team’s best players in the Thanksgiving win at Detroit. He’s not as good as Reed but he’s bigger and more physical.

T/G Travis Glover and/or C/G Jacob Monk

The Packers are incredibly deep at receiver. The same is not true on the offensive line, where the team parted ways with Rasheed Walker and Elgton Jenkins and have no proven depth aside from Darian Kinnard.

Monk, a fifth-round pick in 2024, started in Week 18 of last season for the first real snaps of his career. Glover, a sixth-round pick in 2024, was thrown into the fire in the playoff loss at Philadelphia as a rookie and spent last year on injured reserve.

If the Packers draft/sign/trade for two capable blockers, one or both of the recent draft picks could be asked for their iPads. So, too, could John Williams, a seventh-round pick last year. Because he didn’t play in a game last season due to a back injury, we won’t add him to our “veteran” count.

RB MarShawn Lloyd

The Packers drafted MarShawn Lloyd in the third round of the 2024 draft. He’s played 10 snaps in one game in his career. One setback after another, even after meeting with specialists, kept him off the field for all of last season.

The door is wide open for Lloyd once again. The Packers didn’t re-sign Emanuel Wilson, so the No. 2 job is there for the taking. That could make it a now-or-never training camp as Lloyd will battle Pierre Strong, a fourth-round pick by New England in 2022, Damien Martinez, a seventh-round pick by Seattle in 2025, and whoever Gutekunst drafts or signs in 2026.

TE Luke Musgrave

Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave misses a catch during a game against the Chicago Bears on Dec. 7.
Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave misses a catch during a game against the Chicago Bears on Dec. 7. | Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Luke Musgrave showed plenty of promise as a second-round pick in 2023 before his rookie season was derailed by a kidney injury that opened the door for Tucker Kraft.

Musgrave has had his opportunities to get back into the fray. A torn pectoral sidelined Kraft for the 2024 offseason and most of training camp. Musgrave failed to take advantage, so Kraft cemented his spot atop the depth chart. Last year, Kraft suffered a torn ACL. Musgrave, again, failed to take advantage.

Kraft is going to get a big contract extension. If he is healthy for Week 1 and the Packers are comfortable with Josh Whyle and a draft pick to round out the depth chart, it’s possible Musgrave could be traded in a need-for-need swap.

LB Isaiah McDuffie

The move to a 3-4 base defense means the Packers will need only two off-the-ball linebackers on the field. They drafted Ty’Ron Hopper in the third round in 2024, and it’s time for him to challenge for playing time.

Moving on from McDuffie is probably a long shot after he played more than 1,700 snaps the last three seasons. However, if Hopper is ready for a bigger role and capable of playing both linebacker positions and Jamon Johnson, an undrafted rookie last year, has a strong training camp, the Packers could opt to go younger and cheaper.

CB Carrington Valentine

The Packers like Carrington Valentine because he’s good in coverage. They don’t love him because he lacks physicality.

In free agency last offseason, the Packers signed Nate Hobbs. He was always injured, though, so Valentine reassumed his starting duties. In Week 17 against the Ravens, the Packers came out of halftime with Kamal Hadden running with the No. 1 defense and Valentine on the bench. Hadden suffered a season-ending injury shortly thereafter, so the Packers signed Trevon Diggs before Week 18.

In free agency this offseason, the Packers dumped Hobbs and signed Benjamin St-Juste to compete for a starting job.

If St-Juste performs like he did in limited action last year for the Chargers, Hadden gets healthy and stays healthy and a premium draft pick is used on a cornerback, Valentine might be the odd man out.

K Brandon McManus

The Packers paid Brandon McManus his $1 million roster bonus, setting the stage for a kicking battle with Lucas Havrisik.

McManus is the proven, established kicker, but the 13-year veteran no longer has elite leg strength and he imploded in the playoff loss to the Bears. Havrisik has an excellent leg but is neither proven nor established.

It figures to be a two-man battle throughout training camp, whether it’s McManus vs. Havrisik or McManus vs. Kicker TBA. McManus had a lights-out training camp last year. He was as automatic as the sun rising and setting. Even if he does it again, can he be trusted to make a big kick in the middle of January?

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.