Six Street Free Agents Who Won’t Break Bank, Cost Comp Picks for Packers

At this point, it might be roster mismanagement for Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst to spend significant money on an unrestricted free agent.

It’s no surprise that Gutekunst has been cautious in free agency. He’s got compensatory picks lined up for quarterback Malik Willis (potentially a third-rounder), receiver Romeo Doubs (fourth rounder) and linebacker Quay Walker (fifth round). At some point, Rasheed Walker will sign a contract and Gutekunst will have maxed out his compensatory-pick haul with four.

Signing an unrestricted free agent, depending on the contract, would mess with those compensatory picks, which is a big reason why he waited until Wednesday to sign defensive tackle Javon Hargrave following his release from the Vikings.

In that light, here are six street free agents – one at six Packers positions of need.

QB Cooper Rush, Ravens

The Packers probably at least feel decent about the upcoming backup battle between Desmond Ridder, a third-round pick in 2022 who has made 18 career starts, and 2025 sixth-round pick Kyle McCord, who spent his rookie season on the Eagles’ practice squad.

That’s especially true with Ridder, who started four games as a rookie and 13 games in 2023. In Week 2 of 2023, he beat the Packers 25-24 by going 19-of-32 passing for 237 yards and rushing 10 times for 39 more yards.

The Ravens released Cooper Rush this week. In 42 career games that include 16 starts, he’s thrown for 3,766 yards with 20 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and an 80.7 passer rating. He’s not much of a runner. Last season for Baltimore, he lost both starts with zero touchdowns, four interceptions and a 48.8 rating.

He played for the Cowboys from 2017 through 2023 and went 9-5 as the starter with an 83.8 rating. He won four of five starts in 2022.

IOL James Daniels, Dolphins

A second-round pick in 2018, James Daniels has been a very good interior lineman when healthy. Being healthy has been the problem, though. He missed most of 2020 with a torn pectoral, most of 2024 with a torn Achilles and all but three snaps in 2025 with another torn pectoral. The Dolphins dumped him last month to escape the final two years of a three-year, $24 million contract.

In a combined 32 games as the Steelers’ right guard in 2022 and 2023, Pro Football Focus charged him with just two sacks.

Intriguingly for the Packers, he’s played 3,437 snaps at right guard, 1,626 snaps at left guard and 508 snaps at center.

RB Antonio Gibson, Patriots

The Packers need a No. 2 back, having chosen the pass-protecting ability of Chris Brooks over the running ability of Emanuel Wilson. Why? Pass protection is the tougher skill to find in the backfield.

Antonio Gibson was a third-round pick by Washington in 2020. He rushed for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie and 1,037 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. For his career, he’s averaged a strong 2.93 yards after contact.

Former Washington Commanders running back Antonio Gibson catches a touchdown pass against the Packers in 2022. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Not surprisingly considering he played receiver at Memphis, he averaged 43 catches per season in four seasons with the Commanders.

He had a solid season for New England in 2024 but missed most of 2025 with a torn ACL sustained in early October. When healthy, he’d be an upgrade over Wilson.

The need at returner has been solved by the signing of Skyy Moore, but Gibson returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown this past season.

TE Will Dissly, Chargers

The Packers could use a dirty-work tight end to take some of the stress off Tucker Kraft as he comes back from a torn ACL and potentially replace John FitzPatrick, who is a free agent and coming off a torn Achilles.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Will Dissly has played in 96 games with 75 starts in eight seasons. He caught a career-high 50 passes for the Chargers in 2024 but had only 11 catches for 98 yards in nine games in 2025. He might not be FitzPatrick but he’s a good blocker.

DT Dalvin Tomlinson, Cardinals

Javon Hargrave spent two seasons with new Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia. Dalvin Tomlinson spent last season with Gannon in Arizona.

Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson tackles Aaron Rodgers on January 1, 2023. | MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 32-year-old started all 17 games for the Cardinals and had one sack and three tackles for losses among 26 stops. Age might be catching up with him, but the Packers need a run-stopping complement to Hargrave and Tomlinson has it in his history.

“Everyone plays a little bit of a different role, everyone has a little bit different of a skill-set, where they are at in their career, but Dalvin brings an element of leadership and experience,” Gannon said last year. “He is very smart and he'll help the younger guys grow as players.”

DE Anfernee Jennings

Anfernee Jennings was a third-round pick by the Patriots in 2020. After spending 2021 on injured reserve, Jennings started 30 games in 2023 and 2024 and played in all but seven games the last four seasons. While he has only 7.5 sacks in five seasons, he had 14 tackles for losses in 2023.

His pass-rush win rate of 9.9 percent was just behind Kingsley Enagbare’s 10.1 percent and ranked near the bottom quartile of the league. He’s a good run defender, though. The Patriots’ run defense was 0.48 yards per snap better when he was on the field last season.

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