The downside to building a special roster is the eventual reality that every NFL team faces: You can't keep everybody. The Green Bay Packers have put together an impressive roster on both sides of the ball with so much home-grown talent, including an offensive line full of players the team has found at just about every juncture of the NFL Draft.
One of the key veterans on the offensive line is veteran Elgton Jenkins, a second-round pick by the Packers back in 2019. Jenkins has been the definition of versatility on that Green Bay offensive line, a rare player capable of playing -- and starting -- at all five positions if needed.
And the unfortunate reality facing the Packers and Jenkins in 2026 is that he could be in the low-hanging fruit category of players potentially on the chopping block. Jenkins has just one year left on his contract, and Bleacher Report suggested he could be one of the team's top trade candidates this offseason.
Packers saying goodbye to Elgton Jenkins would be brutal, but a huge salary cap relief
Here's what B/R had to say about Jenkins's situation with the team, in particular:
"Offensive line help is always in demand. Elgton Jenkins is set to carry a cap hit of $24.3 million, which doesn't match up with his move to center this season. Jenkins' versatility could make him appealing to many teams, and the Packers would save $19.5 million in cap space by trading him."
- Bleacher Report
What's really tough is that Jenkins has modeled pretty much exactly what the Packers ask from their offensive linemen in terms of being so versatile. And having him around has been huge, especially as young players like Jordan Morgan have struggled to find their footing.
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But this might be the offseason where the Packers have to take a leap of faith with recent high draft picks like Morgan as well as 2025 second-round pick Anthony Belton, because they could lose Rasheed Walker in free agency and be forced to move on from a player like Jenkins.
And the ideal scenario, if you have to say a brutal goodbye, is obviously to trade that player.
Jenkins has friends in high places around the league, to be sure, with the duo of Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley leaving Green Bay to go to the Miami Dolphins. But beyond just Miami, you don't think someone like Mike LaFleur and his new OC Nathaniel Hackett down in Arizona wouldn't love to add a lineman like Jenkins to the mix?
There are teams like the Raiders, even without obvious coaching connections, who just desperately need the offensive line help and are simultaneously flush with salary cap space.
It almost feels like cutting Jenkins would be a form of roster malpractice by general manager Brian Gutekunst, although that is one of the doors he has before him.
No matter if it's via trade or release, it feels like a very real possibility that Jenkins will be gone this offseason. And as the longest-tenured player for the Packers offensively right now, that would be a brutal goodbye.