Ten Free Agents Who Played With Jonathan Gannon Who Could Interest Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers defense has a new coordinator, and Jonathan Gannon is going to need some new players. Who better to ease the transition than some of Gannon’s former players?

Here are 10 players with ties to Gannon who could help fill defensive needs.

DT Calais Campbell, Cardinals

Campbell is an absurd player. A second-round pick in 2008, he will turn 40 before Week 1. But he’s still going strong. He’s started all 17 games three consecutive seasons. He signed a one-year contract with Arizona last offseason and finished with 6.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 43 tackles and nine tackles for losses. He played 524 snaps – or about 46 percent playing time.

Green Bay had questions at defensive tackle even before trading Kenny Clark as part of the Micah Parsons deal. Last season, its defensive tackles combined for five sacks, 18 quarterback hits and 13 tackles for losses.

Campbell had four tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass defensed against the Packers on Oct. 19.

“It’s pretty impressive,” coach Matt LaFleur said before the teams met. “Kind of reminds me of in terms of a guy that’s been doing it a long time, like Marcedes. He’s had some very disruptive plays this year – drew that holding penalty in the end zone vs. the Niners that led to a safety. Yeah, he’s an impressive guy. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

At the end of the season, Campbell was undecided about playing in 2026.

“Fantastic. Better than I ever could have thought honestly,” Gannon said of coaching Campbell. “Obviously, played really well this year. Captain, leadership, pro’s-pro. Energy, juice all the time. I learned a lot from him. It's been awesome. …

“He’s been in a lot of places, he's had a lot of success. Everything from defensive line play to how we structure a team meeting to the schedule to everything. He's been around the block, and he's a really good resource because of how long he's been doing it.”

DT Roy Lopez, Lions

Roy Lopez, a sixth-round pick by the Texans in 2021 who will turn 29 during training camp, spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Cardinals. He had a career-high 42 tackles in 2023 and started a career-high 16 games in 2024.

In free agency last offseason, Lopez signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with Detroit. He had 30 tackles, including two sacks and four TFLs, in 17 games.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Roy Lopez (51) celebrates a play against New York Giants. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“He's an outstanding role player for us,” Campbell said during a Detroit radio interview. “When he comes in, we don't miss a beat, man. ... He plays with leverage, he's stout, he's strong, he's explosive. But then he can run the line of scrimmage, too, now, so you want to run wide zone on him, he can get knock-back and run.”

DT Khyiris Tonga, Patriots

Khyiris Tonga was a seventh-round pick by the Bears in 2021 who will turn 30 before training camp. He played in 13 games with one start for the Cardinals in 2024 before signing a one-year contract for the Super Bowl-bound Patriots in 2025, where he started a career-high eight games on defense and has contributed as a fullback.

The Packers dug around for true space-eating defensive tackles at the end of the season by signing Jordon Riley, Quinton Bohanna and Jonathan Ford. Tonga fits that mold at 338 pounds.

DT Justin Jones, Free Agent

Justin Jones was a third-round pick in 2018 who will turn 30 during training camp. He started all 17 games for the Bears in 2022 and 2023, tallying 7.5 sacks and 22 tackles for losses during that span, before signing a three-year, $31.1 million contract with the Cardinals in 2024. However, a torn triceps limited him to three games in 2024 and a knee injury prevented him from playing at all in 2025.

The Cardinals released him in December, and he could be worth a low-cost roll of the dice. Plus, signing him as a street free agent wouldn’t upset the compensatory-pick formula.

DE L.J. Collier, Cardinals

The Packers have a lot of questions at defensive end. Micah Parsons is coming off a torn ACL and almost certainly won’t be on the field for Week 1. Rashan Gary is coming off a dismal second half of the season and could be a cost-saving roster cut. Kingsley Enagbare will be an unrestricted free agent. The jury is out on Collin Oliver, who played one game as a rookie.

Collier, who will turn 31 at the start of the season, was a first-round pick by the Seahawks in the same 2019 draft that produced Gary. A knee injury limited him to four games in 2025, but he started 15 games in 2024. While a bust with only 6.5 sacks in seven seasons, he could provide some versatility and experience on a unit that could be short of both.

DE Victor Dimukeje, Giants

Victor Dimukeje was a sixth-round pick by the Cardinals in 2021. In four seasons, he played in 55 games with eight starts. In 2023, he set career highs in games (16), starts (six), tackles (32), sacks (four) and tackles for losses (five). He signed a one-year contract with the Giants in free agency, with injuries limiting him to five games.

The Packers could use the depth, and not just on defense. Dimukeje has played 854 snaps on defense and 1,021 snaps on special teams in five seasons.

LB Dennis Gardeck, Jaguars

Dennis Gardeck spent his first seven seasons with the Cardinals before signing a one-year $2.0 million deal with Jacksonville in free agency in 2025. He played in all 17 games with eight starts for the Jaguars, contributing 48 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and six TFLs. He had a career-high six sacks for the Cardinals in 2023.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck (45) sacks Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“He plays a lot of roles for us as a rusher, as a cover guy that is perceived as a rusher, sneaky run defender just despite his size,” Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis said after Gardeck tore his ACL in 2024. "

With Arizona, he played mostly on the defensive line. With Jacksonville, he played mostly linebacker. He’ll turn 32 during training camp.

LB Channing Tindall, Cardinals

The Packers could lose Quay Walker in free agency. While his former Georgia teammate, Channing Tindall, wouldn’t be a player-for-player replacement, he could help replenish the depth and help on special teams, with linebackers Nick Niemann and Kristian Welch also headed to free agency.

Tindall was a third-round pick in 2022 by the Dolphins. He was released during final roster cuts in 2025 and was picked up by Arizona, for whom he played in seven games and recorded seven tackles on special teams.

At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, he ran his 40 in 4.47 seconds before being drafted. That stuff matters to general managers, which is why Brian Gutekunst took a shot on Isaiah Simmons. Tindall could be worth a shot, too, even though he’s never started a game in four seasons.

CB Josh Jobe, Seahawks

This one might be a bit of a reach. Josh Jobe will be one of the better cornerbacks on the market and will be paid accordingly, and the Packers are going to be challenged to make any big moves. Moreover, Jobe’s only season with Gannon was his rookie season of 2022, when most of his action in 11 games as an undrafted rookie came on special teams.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe (29) breaks up a pass against the Jaguars. | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

However, the Packers’ cornerback situation isn’t great and Jobe started 15 games for the NFC-champion Seahawks, intercepting one pass and setting a career high with 12 passes defensed. PFF charged him with a completion rate of just 51.8 percent.

DB Darren Hall, Cardinals

Darren Hall was a fourth-round pick by the Falcons in 2021. He started 10 games in two seasons with Atlanta and two games last season for Arizona, when his playing time on defense was split between safety and the slot. For his career, PFF has charged him with seven touchdowns. He hasn’t broken up a pass since 2022.

If the Packers were to part ways with Nate Hobbs after a dismal debut season, Hall could compete for depth where the Packers have little.

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