Training camp is right around the corner, and the Green Bay Packers haven't found a resolution with the contract of offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins. Before fully moving from left guard to center, the former second-round pick wants an adjusted version of his deal, but the Packers are not inclined to give him an extension with two years left on the current pact.
While there are contract tools to make the deal player-friendlier without extending it, and training camp fines would be tough for Jenkins to handle, the situation lingers—and the player will start camp on the non-football injury list due to an undisclosed injury.
If the Packers have to start practice without a deal in place with Jenkins, what would they do at center? There are few options on the roster.
The natural option
Throughout the offseason program, including OTAs and mandatory minicamp, Elgton Jenkins was out or held in. So the Packers went with Jacob Monk at center with the ones most of the time. A fifth-round draft pick last year, Monk is a natural center and played most of his snaps there at Duke—even though he also had plenty of experience at right guard.
Last season, it was mostly a redshirt year for Monk. He participated in 10 games, but only on special teams, and had zero offensive snaps. Down the stretch, even when the Packers had serious issues on the interior of the offensive line depth, tackles Kadeem Telfort and Travis Glover played inside over Monk.
However, it looks like things changed a little bit this year. He took first-team reps and seems to be the favorite early on if Jenkins can't be on the field.
"He's done a nice job. I can tell you he's a lot more comfortable and confident in terms of going out there and knowing what to do," head coach Matt LaFleur said. "For him, it's just going to come down to those live reps."
Moving pieces around
No, Zach Tom is not moving from right tackle to center—especially after getting $22 million a year, $4 million more on yearly average than the highest-paid center in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs' Creed Humphrey. If the Packers can't have their former left guard playing center, moving their starting right guard is a realistic option.
Sean Rhyan played four snaps at center in the regular season and five in the playoffs last year, and he had reps this offseason too—during OTAs, there was some sort of rotation between Rhyan and Monk from center to right guard.
Even though Rhyan had no college experience at center, because he was primarily a left tackle at UCLA, he has enough reps and knowledge of the system to move around as an interior offensive lineman.
By doing that, the Packers would probably have to adjust the entire offensive line battle. Instead of allowing former first-round pick Jordan Morgan to fight for the left tackle job, the team would likely have to move him to right guard—the position he played as a rookie. A starting five with Rasheed Walker, Aaron Banks, Sena Rhyan, Jordan Morgan, and Zach Tom is fairly good.
Experienced option
Beyond Elgton Jenkins, the player with most NFL snaps at center on the roster is Trey Hill. He spent his first four NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, playing 160 snaps at center and 57 at right guard. He was decent in pass protection, but underwhelming in run blocking. The problem is that most of his snaps came as a rookie back in 2021. Last year, he was on the practice squad.
Back in January, the Packers gave him a future deal, so he's now on the 90-man roster. It's probably not the ideal option based on what Green Bay tends to do, but an experienced alternative is valid at this point of the calendar.
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