Jenkins is already slated to be compensated like the second-highest-paid interior offensive lineman on a multi-year contract next year.
The Green Bay Packers’ guard-turned-center Elgton Jenkins wanted a new contract this offseason, which is why he never took a snap with the team this summer until Monday, when he was activated off the non-football injury list. That is truth.
What I will push back on, though, is this narrative that Jenkins’ contract issue stemmed from what type of money he’ll make at the center position compared to guard.
Below is a tweet from Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber, who I believe is one of the two best reporters on the Packers’ beat, stating that a core issue in Jenkins’ situation is the guard versus center disparity.
New #Packers starting center Elgton Jenkins wants a new contract but, A, he’ll turn 30 in December and, B, centers make less than guards.
Here’s what he had to say on those topics and more today. ⬇️https://t.co/z9DRxy4iiv
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 28, 2025
Here’s an excerpt from that article:
Two, when it comes to a potential contract extension: offensive tackles make more money than guards and guards make more money than centers. According to Spotrac, five guards are making at least $20 million per season. Including Aaron Banks, who the Packers signed to a four-year, $77 million contract in free agency, 13 are making at least $15 million annually.
Meanwhile, no center is making more than $18 million per season and Jenkins is one of only three making at least $15 million.
Huber isn’t alone in this lane. All offseason long, we’ve been hearing from reporters that Jenkins wants more money for playing a less valuable position. On the surface, though, this makes little sense.
If you just look at the numbers, you’ll realize that Jenkins is already being compensated very well going into next year, even on the relative scale of NFL offensive linemen.
Right now, there are 29 offensive linemen who are set to have a cap hit of $20 million or more next year. Among them, only 12 will bring home the $20 million cash flow that Jenkins is going to receive next season. Jenkins is in a five-way tie for the eighth-highest cash flow among NFL offensive linemen in 2026 with Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell, Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor, Tennessee Titans left tackle Dan Moore and Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith.
So, who are the seven linemen who are going to make more money in 2026 than Jenkins?
- Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson ($41.7 million)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs ($26 million)
- Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown ($22 million)
- San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams ($21.95 million)
- Chicago Bears guard Jonah Jackson ($21.5 million)
- Washington Commanders left tackle Laremy Tunsil ($21.35 million)
- Dallas Cowboys guard Tyler Smith ($21.27 million)
Obviously, Johnson’s contract stands out at the top because of the Eagles’ creative structure of his deal. Another caveat here is that Smith’s number is the cost of his fifth-year option, so he’s not on a multi-year contract. At this point, we should probably just start thinking of fifth-year options as an extra franchise tag that teams have the choice to use instead of comparing their cash flows to players’ salaries in multi-year deals.
Even then, though, only four left tackles in all of football will make more in cash than Jenkins is set to make next year. There’s only one interior offensive lineman, Jackson, on a multi-year deal who will make more cash than Jenkins, too.
Money, at least in the short term, should be an absolute non-issue for Jenkins. He’s within $2 million of all 2026 offensive linemen other than Johnson and Wirfs. He might not be the point of the spear, but he’s way up there, especially for interior linemen.
Instead, Jenkins’ problem is guarantees. His money is non-guaranteed in 2026, meaning that it’s essentially optional for the Packers — who do not need to make a decision on Jenkins until his salary would fully guarantee in Week 1 of next year because of his status as a vested veteran. That means at any point between the end of Green Bay’s 2025 campaign and September of 2026, the Packers could tell Jenkins they would like to save that $20 million in cap space that his salary is slated to command, and that he needed to find a new place of work — even if it’s after most of the league’s free agent money has been spent. That last scenario, as you can imagine, is probably something the center would like to avoid.
Cash never made sense as a core reason for Jenkins’ contract dispute, which led to him missing organized team activities, even though he said it was a family matter that was the main reason for his absence, and his hold-in during minicamp. From a cash perspective, he’d be the top center in the NFL in 2026, second among guards on multi-year contracts, the second right tackle in the league and fifth among left tackles.
The narrative simply doesn’t have teeth. Jenkins’ contract issues stem from the Packers’ lack of commitment to him beyond this year, not his 2026 salary.