With the first official practice of training camp looming, the Green Bay Packers took care of some important in-house business on Monday, signing superstar right guard Zach Tom to a four-year, $88 million extension.
And make no mistake about it; Tom is a superstar. Taken by the Packers in the fourth round of the 2022 draft with the 140th overall pick, the Wake Forest alum showed off his versatility as a rookie, taking snaps at every position on the offensive line except center.
He did add four snaps at center in 2023 but settled in at right tackle. And coming off a 2024 campaign that saw him finish third in the All-Pro voting behind only the Detroit Lions' Penei Sewell and the Philadelphia Eagles' Lane Johnson, Tom is now one of the highest-paid players at his position and received a $30.2 million signing bonus, the largest for an offensive lineman in NFL history.
Now, this is obviously a lot of money. But this deal is far more team-friendly than most might think and looks to be an absolute bargain for Green Bay.
Zach Tom seems to have given the Packers a big discount
Beyond just the financial aspect of things, which we'll get to momentarily, there's the matter of just getting this deal done before the start of training camp. Now, Tom won't have to play the 2025 season on the final year of his rookie contract, and the Packers can rest easy knowing they've got a strong right tackle locked up through the 2029 season.
As far as money goes, many pundits opined that signing Tom to a long-term extension would cost Green Bay at least $25 million per season, which is what the Eagles are paying Lane Johnson. So, the $22 million AAV doesn't look nearly as bad as it could have.
As to where the 26-year-old ranks among all tackles in terms of AAV, he now sits in a tie for ninth alongside Philly's Jordan Mailata, the eight ahead of this duo being as follows:
- Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $28.12 million
- Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions, $28 million
- Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers, $27.53 million
- Christian Darrisaw, Minnesota Vikings, $26 million
- Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles, $25 million
- Laremy Tunsil, Houston Texans, $25 million
- Andrew Thomas, New York Giants, $23.5 million
- Jake Matthews, Atlanta Falcons, $22.5 million
Now, to be fair, the majority of the players on this list are left tackles, who have historically been paid much more than right tackles. But again, the Packers are paying Tom $3 million less per season than the Eagles are paying Johnson and a whopping $6 million less than the Lions are giving Sewell. That's a considerable amount, especially when you multiply that figure over multiple years.
It seems crystal clear that Tom gave Green Bay a hometown discount, and it will undoubtedly help the Packers in the long run.
Now, the franchise needs to figure out what to do with soon-to-be center Elgton Jenkins. But that's a whole different kind of thing, isn't it?