Zach Ertz and Five Roster Moves Packers GM Brian Gutekunst Should Consider

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are a good team but they’re also an incomplete team.

Some of their potentially weak position groups have risen to the occasion through the first seven practices of training camp. Defensive tackle is front and center in that conversation. Other positions could use a helping hand.

Here are five players that would be worth signing to help the Packers in their race to the Super Bowl.

TE Zach Ertz

In Green Bay, tight end Luke Musgrave is out with a neck injury. Coming off two underwhelming seasons, the Packers probably needed to add to that position, anyway.

Meanwhile, free agent tight end Zach Ertz has been cleared following last year’s torn ACL.

The 35-year-old and three-time Pro Bowler remains a productive player. In 13 games last season for Washington, he caught 50 passes for 504 yards and four touchdowns. In a full 17 games in 2024, he caught 66 passes for 654 yards and seven touchdowns. While he averaged only 9.9 yards per catch, he turned those receptions into 51 first downs.

Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) runs against the Green Bay Packers last season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Packers have some explosive players in the passing game, including, of course, premier tight end Tucker Kraft. However, Ertz would give quarterback Jordan Love a security-blanket type of player. As it stands, who is Green Bay’s go-to receiver on third-and-5? Is there one? Ertz could quickly become that player because of his feel for the game.

Last year in Week 2 at Lambeau, he caught 6-of-7 targets for 64 yards with one touchdown.

Ertz would instantly improve the team’s depth and open some fresh options for an offense that could have a significant drop-off if Kraft or the top three receivers were to be sidelined.

OT Cam Robinson

Tired: Replacing an injured offensive lineman by shuffling around the players to create the best five.

Wired: Signing a proven offensive tackle.

Last season, Green Bay’s season went in the tank following Micah Parsons’ torn ACL at Denver. Premier right tackle Zach Tom’s season also ended with a knee injury in that game. He is Green Bay’s best offensive lineman and one of the best right tackles in the game.

The Packers have been blessed with solid starting left tackles and at least competent backups. Yosh Nijman was behind David Bakhtiari. Then it was Rasheed Walker behind Bakhtiari. When Walker became the starter, first-round pick Jordan Morgan was waiting in the wings.

Right now, the backup plan behind Morgan appears to be moving Anthony Belton out of right guard. Belton spent all of Thursday’s practice at right tackle, which isn’t exactly helpful for his development at right guard, a position he started playing last season.

Cam Robinson remains available in free agency. With his 31st birthday on the horizon, he’s no longer a quality starter (which explains why he’s available). With Houston and Cleveland last season, PFF charged him with eight sacks, 40 pressures and 14 penalties. With Jacksonville from 2021 through 2023, he allowed a total of 10 sacks, 73 pressures and 17 penalties.

The question to consider is would the Packers be better with Robinson at left tackle and Belton at right guard or Belton at left tackle and Jager Burton (or Jacob Monk) at right guard.

WR Zay Jones

The free-agent group of receivers has been picked over by the equivalent of a plague of locusts. Now that Stefon Diggs has landed with the Commanders, there’s probably not a single needle-moving receiver available.

Green Bay’s receiver depth, though, is precarious at best. The top trio of Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed is good. Perhaps very good. But all three have injury histories. Moreover, receivers need breaks, whether it’s after being shaken up or having just run five consecutive routes.

Arizona Cardinals receiver Zay Jones (17) catches a pass against Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) last season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

At age 31, Zay Jones’ best days are behind him. He caught 12 passes for 183 yards for the Cardinals last season. He hasn’t scored a touchdown since 2023. But he’s a big body who can block and typically has been a sure-handed receiver.

The Packers probably aren’t looking for a veteran receiver right now, and that’s the right course of action. They need to figure out if Savion Williams, Bo Melton and Skyy Moore can be reliable contributors. Combined last season, they caught 19 passes.

“They’ll definitely play a lot,” quarterback Jordan Love said on Thursday. “I feel like Bo’s been here. Skyy, obviously, is new to our offense, but he’s played a lot of ball. And Savion was here with us last year. So, with those guys, it’s just continuing to build.

“Obviously, they might be getting reps with Tyrod (Taylor), too, but we can learn from each other every time we’re out there watching each other go. We can still talk about certain things we saw, how we expect guys to run routes, and just make sure we’re still on the same page, even though we might not be getting the reps together because that’s how the season is. Things happen, and guys will be out there.”

Edge Joey Bosa

The season-defining question for the Packers is whether they’ll be able to create a consistent pass rush without Micah Parsons.

So far, the answer is no – unless it’s defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon creating it. It’s been effective so far on the practice field, with the defense rolling up the wins, but blitzing everyone under the sun comes with its own set of perils, especially for a team with questionable cornerbacks.

Maybe the eventual returns of defensive tackles Devonte Wyatt and Javon Hargrave will help, but the key edge players – Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox and Dani Dennis-Sutton – have gotten after the quarterback only sporadically, with Cox pretty clearly the best of the bunch.

Joey Bosa could help. The 31-year-old played in 15 games last season. He had only five sacks but tied for the NFL lead with five forced fumbles.

Last season, 110 edge players had at least 150 pass-rushing opportunities. (Van Ness had 151.) Bosa was 22nd in pass-rush win rate; Van Ness was 28th, Rashan Gary was 56th and Kingsley Enagbare was 75th.

Some patience with the young pass rushers is probably prudent but the Packers could be in big trouble if someone doesn’t step up without Parsons.

K Daniel Carlson

Brothers Anders Carlson and Daniel Carlson (right) talk before the Packers-Raiders game in 2023. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Family Night will be a huge practice for rookie kicker Trey Smack, whose offseason struggles have carried into the start of training camp. With 60,000-plus fans expected to be in attendance, this will be his first series of pressure kicks.

“He kicked at an SEC school, big school, went through some of those things,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said before Thursday’s practice. “He’s an exceptionally bright, mentally tough kid, and so I expect him to go through those things, just like Mason (Crosby) did, and come out the other side of it.

“That’s part of being a kicker in the National Football League. When you have had the experiences he’s had in his short career in college, it wasn’t like he was kicking where it didn’t matter. It was an important thing. So, he’s had some of that training, and he’ll continue to have it here. I’ve seen no reason to be concerned about that.”

Will Gutekunst be speaking a different tune after Friday night?

Smack has been flying solo through training camp. Lucas Havrisik was released before the start of training camp in favor of Lenny Krieg, who was released before there was any live kicking.

Daniel Carlson – the older brother of former Packers kicker Anders Carlson – is the best kicker available in free agency. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2021 and a first-team All-Pro in 2022. After three consecutive seasons of making better than 90 percent of his field-goal attempts, he fell to 86.7 percent in 2023, 85.0 percent in 2024 and 81.5 percent in 2025.

The last six seasons, he has missed a grand total of two field goals from inside of 40 yards. Of his 15 misses the last three seasons, nine were from 50-plus yards.

After a couple clutch kicks at the end of 2-minute drills this week, a big night would be a big help for Smack.

If the Packers are merely looking for someone to apply some on-the-field heat, Joshua Karty made 79.6 percent of his field-goal attempts the past two seasons with the Rams. He made 6-of-7 from 50-plus yards in 2024 but was erratic last season.

Winners and losers from Practice 7 of Packers training camp include Isaiah Neyor, who used his ridiculously long arms to make a ridiculous touchdown catch. ⬇️https://t.co/Ta9q01sjVZ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 7, 2026

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