The Green Bay Packers‘ offensive line has not been good enough through the first three weeks. So, the team is doing whatever it can to add to the room. One name that has been brought up often in recent weeks is Kevin Zeitler. On Tuesday, the Packers made fans and media happy by bringing in the 14-year veteran with 213 starts.
Green Bay had Zeitler work out for the team, per the league’s transaction wire. A signing has not occurred yet.
Green Bay Packers Workout Guard Kevin Zeitler
Zeitler is a former first-round pick from the 2012 NFL Draft. He started in all 16 games as a rookie and has hardly missed much time since then. He has started in 213 of the 229 possible games in his NFL career.
While he has only made one Pro Bowl, he has over 1,409 snaps, with almost all of them coming at right guard.
Zeitler has made $101M in his career. Last year, he signed with the Tennessee Titans on a one-year, $9M deal and started in 16 of the Titans’ games. He is 35 years old, so he was not quite at the top of his level of play.
Still, compared to what the Packers have, this type of presence would be valuable. Zeitler noted earlier in the regular season that he is still in shape and plans to play this season. However, he would only play for certain teams.
Considering Zeitler is from Wisconsin and played college football at Wisconsin, the Packers were always likely to be one of the teams that he would play for.
Packers Add Another Potential Starter
The Packers’ offensive line has been a mess. At left guard, Aaron Banks was supposed to start. However, a knee issue held him out of Week 1, and he suffered a toe injury in Week 2 that held him out of Week 3.
Donovan Jennings started in Week 1, and Jager Burton started in Week 3. Now, the team has Laken Tomlinson, who might start in Week 4.
At right tackle, the team wanted to start Zach Bako-Bewele, but he got hurt early in Week 2. They slid Anthony Belton in, but he was supposed to be getting work at right guard.
At right, Jacob Monk has struggled. So, the team added Mekhi Becton to their practice squad. Becton could start at right tackle, and they can shift Becton into guard. Becton can start at right guard.
Now that Zeitler is in the mix, things could change as well. Zeitler is the most experienced and could be more plug-and-play due to his experience and recent play in the NFL.
It will be interesting to see if Zeitler signs and how quickly he can get up to speed. It is clear that Green Bay wants to address the line, the question is whether they can pull it off on the fly.
Packers Workout 14-Year Starter to Fix Struggling Offensive Line