Green Bay Packers’ Elgton Jenkins is making contract noise, but he’s not the player the franchise should be focusing on

It’s about time the Green Bay Packers pay Zach Tom what he deserves

Elgton Jenkins has been with the Packers since he was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft. He signed a four-year, $68 million extension in 2022, and is still under contract for another two seasons.

After making the switch to center for the upcoming season, he wants his contract reworked. While he was in attendance at camp over the summer, he didn’t participate.

Jenkins is on an average salary of $17 million, and set to make nearly $40 million over the next two years. Zach Tom on the other hand, only has one year left on his deal, and he is long overdue for a payday.

Tom came into the league as a fourth-round draft pick in the 2022 class, and broke into the lineup as the team’s starting right tackle in 2023.

He took over the role from Yosh Nijman and started 19 games at the position that year, including the two playoff games against the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers.

In the entire season, he gave up just two sacks and was flagged for three penalties, earning a top 20 ranking from Pro Football Focus among all eligible tackles for the season.

The Packers ranked third in the league in sacks allowed, and Tom was a major reason for their success.

He continued his fine form in 2024, again starting every game for the franchise at right tackle. He had missed a large portion of training camp with a torn pec, but still showed out as one of the most reliable tackles in football.

While Elgton Jenkins has been earning well on his contract extension, Tom has been earning close to the league minimum for his last two seasons of work. Considering he’s a starting offensive lineman and has locked down one of the toughest positions in the game, he’s been heavily underpaid.

The Green Bay Packers won’t want to lose him to free agency at the end of the year, and have apparently had good conversations with Tom and his camp about an extension.

Earlier in the summer GM Brian Gutekunst appeared on CheeseheadTV, and said:

“We’ve had really healthy conversations with Zach about locking him up. Certainly that’s something we’d like to do. These things take time, they never happen quickly. Confident, obviously, he’s been a really good player for us since the time he got here and done everything right by us, and we’d certainly like to make that happen.”

Zach Tom’s projected contract extension as the Green Bay Packers head for training camp

Zach Tom is currently set to earn $3.4 million in base salary for the 2025 season, with a $126,000 pro-rated bonus. He is among the lowest paid starting tackles in the NFL, and his payday is expected to be a big one.

According to Spotrac, Tom’s contract is projected to be a four-year, $86.7 million deal, averaging out at $21.7 million per year.

LA Rams tackle Alaric Jackson signed a three-year, $56.3 million deal this offseason, which works out to be $18.75 million per season.

The highest-paid tackle in football right now is Tristan Wirfs, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while blocking for Tom Brady. Wirfs signed a five-year extension in 2024, valued at a total of $140.6 million. He was guaranteed $52.2 million, with an average yearly salary of $28.12 million.