The Packers hatched an interesting plan to replace departed center Josh Myers. Elgton Jenkins is changing positions again, as a guard-to-center shift is on tap ahead of his seventh season.
Two seasons remain on the extension Jenkins signed late in the 2022 season, and while a center switch would stand to hurt his long-term earning potential, the standout blocker may be angling for the team to reward him for the sacrifice he is making this offseason. Jenkins is seeking a contract adjustment, according to WISC-TV’s Jason Wilde.
Jenkins has not yet showed for early Packers offseason workouts, though OC Adam Stenavich said the absence is not related to the new center’s contract. Stenavich had described Jenkins as “open” and “excited” about the switch. Jenkins, who has played all five positions along Green Bay’s front during his career, played 72 snaps at center last season. His other NFL center work came back in 2020, when he made 297 snaps. Otherwise, the former second-round pick has settled at guard and tackle.
After the Packers used Jenkins as their 2021 David Bakhtiari LT replacement, they shifted him back to left guard in 2022. Jenkins’ play at that post prompted the team to extend him — on a four-year, $68MM deal — as a runway for Jordan Love formed. Love’s first starter season featured only a one-game Bakhtiari cameo, leaving Jenkins as the team’s veteran presence up front. After Jon Runyan Jr. left in 2024, the Pack continued to field a young O-line around Jenkins, who has now seen the guaranteed money on his contract run out.
The Packers regularly refrain from post-Year 1 salary guarantees on non-QB contracts; they have Jenkins tied to a nonguaranteed $11.7MM base salary this season. He will count $17.6MM against Green Bay’s cap. This will be a situation to monitor, especially as the Packers continue to navigate the Jaire Alexander issue, and Jenkins’ contract will likely need to be adjusted before 2026. He is due to count $24.8MM on Green Bay’s cap sheet next year.
While four guards are tied to $20MM-per-year contracts, the center market only features one player (Creed Humphrey) earning more than $14MM per year. The All-Pro Chiefs snapper is at $18MM AAV. Jenkins, 29, would likely not be amenable to a discount based on agreeing to help the team regarding a position switch. An organizational hesitancy to pay players post-30 also may factor into a true Jenkins standoff, per Wilde, who adds the Mississippi State alum could become a 2026 release candidate if the center move does not go smoothly.
Another factor that could conceivably be affecting this Jenkins push would be the Packers giving more money to a less proven outside addition (free agent Aaron Banks); the ex-49ers starter is now on a four-year, $77MM agreement. Banks could operate opposite 2024 first-rounder Jordan Morgan, though the latter is first expected to compete with Rasheed Walker at left tackle. A “best five” scenario, though, could see a Walker-Banks-Jenkins-Morgan-Zach Tom configuration.
It will first be interesting to see if Jenkins will threaten a holdout or if he changes course to avoid a center move, especially as the center market pales in comparison to where the guard salary landscape sits. Alexander may be Green Bay’s front-burner contract matter, but Jenkins’ is now one to monitor.