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Rob Demovsky, editor at ESPN
The Green Bay Packers will open the 2024 NFL regular season on September 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles at the Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil.
Expectations are high after the conclusion of last season – the Packers won six of their last eight games to make the playoffs. They then beat the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in the divisional round before losing 24-21 to the San Francisco 49ers. But it’s likely that this will be the youngest roster in the NFL for the second year in a row. It looks like the Packers will only keep one player older than 29: 31-year-old Preston Smith.
The roster will be reduced to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. Here’s a prediction for the Packers:
QUARTERBACKS (2): Jordan Love, Sean Clifford
Michael Pratt has given Clifford a good chance at the QB2 job, but the second-year player will likely be chosen over the seventh-round rookie. It’s possible they keep three, but the more likely scenario is that Pratt makes it off the waivers list and returns to the practice squad.
RUNNING BACKS (3): Josh Jacobs, AJ Dillon, Emanuel Wilson
Third-round rookie MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring) is expected to begin the season on the injured list, but a new rule allows teams to place two players on the injured list before cuts and still allow them to return, rather than having them on the initial 53 list for a day before they can make that move. Dillon’s recent neck/spongee issue also complicates things for him.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton, Malik Heath
The Packers have retained seven before, but they failed to do so this time, meaning it will likely come down to Melton, Grant DuBose and Heath for the final two spots.
TIGHT ENDS (4): Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Ben Sims, Tyler Davis
Sims has had a strong training camp to earn a spot while Kraft (torn pectoralis muscle) and Davis (torn ACL) are recovering from major surgeries, so keeping four of them here to start the season is a good idea.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (9): Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Jordan Morgan, Zach Tom, Sean Rhyan, Jacob Monk, Travis Glover, Andre Dillard
This is a position that GM Brian Gutekunst could make significant changes to the day after the initial cuts. The feeling internally is that the No. 3 tackle (who could fill in on either side) is not currently on the roster. Dillard, the former first-round pick, signed for the veteran minimum, and the Packers would have to pay his $1.125 million base salary if he makes it to Week 1. So maybe they release him and bring him back later so they can keep going week-to-week. Caleb Jones and Kadeem Telfort could also be in the mix as backup tackles.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (10): Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, TJ Slaton, Karl Brooks, Colby Wooden, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, Brenton Cox Jr.
The same 10 that were projected before camp are also likely the ones that will make up this position group.
LINEBACKERS (5): Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, Edgerrin Cooper, Ty’Ron Hopper
The Packers would like to keep Kristian Welch for special teams. The risk is that someone gets him off the waivers list, but he went unclaimed last year after the Ravens released him and he originally came to Green Bay with the practice squad.
CORNERBACKS (6): Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine, Kalen King
They may only keep five here. If so, King, a seventh-round pick, could be the odd man out. They gave Ballentine a $500,000 signing bonus in the offseason, which is a good sign he’ll stick around.
SECURITY (5): Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard, Anthony Johnson Jr., Evan Williams, Kitan Oladapo
Zayne Anderson is a tough prospect because of his experience on special teams, but since he was selected in the fifth round, Oladapo is unlikely to fall.
SPECIALISTS (3): K Anders Carlson, P Daniel Whelan, LS Matt Orzech
Entering training camp, it looked like veteran Greg Joseph would pose a serious threat to Carlson. While the Packers don’t want to give up on Carlson after just one year, kicker is another position where they could be looking for a solution.
