While Josh Myers has never been one of the premier centers in the NFL, he was at least one of the most reliable.
Sure, the Ohio State alum suffered a season-ending knee injury just six games into his rookie campaign in 2021. But over the last three years, he sat out just a single contest, missing the Green Bay Packers' Week 9 matchup with the Detroit Lions this past season with a wrist injury.
Despite Myers' reliability, as well as his close relationship with quarterback Jordan Love, the Packers opted not to re-sign the four-year veteran, instead letting him walk into free agency.
Myers ultimately signed a one-year contract with the New York Jets, the details of which we'll get to in just a moment.
Green Bay, of course, is set for a significant change on the offensive line, as Elgton Jenkins is expected to move to center after the Packers inked Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million deal to take over at left guard.
Now, while these moves could prove to be positives for the Packers, one could argue that Green Bay letting Myers go was a mistake.
The Packers may have made a mistake in letting Josh Myers walk
When Myers initially signed with the Jets, it was reported that his one-year deal was worth $3.5 million, which could have put the Packers in line to receive a seventh-round compensatory pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
But as it turns out, the deal was only worth $2 million, thus taking the compensatory pick out of play.
Green Bay may have been able to receive compensation for the losses of defensive tackle T.J. Slaton, who signed a two-year, $14.1 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, and cornerback Eric Stokes, who inked a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders worth $4 million.
However, those were effectively canceled out when the Packers signed cornerback Nate Hobbs and Banks to big-money deals.
But beyond not getting an extra draft pick with Myers signing such a cheap deal with Gang Green, that big-money deal the Packers gave Banks could easily be construed as far too costly.
Sure, the 2021 second-round pick has been solid enough over the past four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. But is he genuinely worthy of being the sixth-highest-paid guard in the entire NFL? Probably not.
While Banks earned the highest overall PFF grade of his career in 2024, his 65.4 mark ranked just 50th among 135 eligible guards.
To be fair, Myers' overall grade this past year was only 55.3, ranking 49th among 64 eligible centers.
Yes, we're talking about two different positions here, but one could easily argue that the Packers may have been better off re-signing Myers, not signing Banks, thus keeping Jenkins at left guard, and then selecting an interior offensive lineman (possibly even a center) in next month's draft.
Again, the moves that have been made could very well work out just fine for Green Bay. But for now, it doesn't look that way.