It would seem the Green Bay Packers and interior offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins are at an impasse. He will miss the start of the training camp after team placed him on the non-football injury list.
The 2019 second-round pick is effectively being forced into a new position in a season he will end at 30 years old, leaving several aspects of his Packers future up in the air.
Jenkins responded, based largely on the financial aspects of switching from guard to center, where he would earn less money on his next contract, by sitting out OTAs and minicamps. Jenkins still has this year and next season left on his current contract, so the expectation has been that he’ll eventually report.
The sooner Green Bay gives its new center financial confidence, the sooner the team can begin to work with its new offensive line structure at full strength, seemed to be his approach.
Now that the team is on the doorstep of training camp kicking off on Wednesday, Jenkins still won’t be available, though not because of his financial gripes. Instead, it’s because he’s on the NFI list with an undisclosed injury.
Mysterious injury clouds Elgton Jenkins’ status even further
On all accounts, the Packers and Jenkins have been civil. Jenkins didn’t outright sit out of minicamp. He showed up for mandatory sessions and helped the team in an off-the-field capacity by working with the younger players on the front line. But this NFI injury is intriguing because there are no details surrounding it.
No one knows what may have happened or when.
Even when Jenkins is healthy, the reality is that the situation has not been resolved in a timely manner. The Packers signed Aaron Banks to be the new left guard in March, and here we sit in July without Jenkins getting what he and many Packers fans feel he’s owed.
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If the injury is manufactured to keep Jenkins from losing any money as a result of a continued hold out, that could mean one of two things: either the two parties are closing in on a deal, but it will take some time to finalize, or the franchise may be considering trading him away to avoid giving more guaranteed dollars to a player soon to enter his thirties.
If the Packers do move on from Jenkins, as much of a surprise as that would be, they could feasibly shift a few pieces around to keep the offensive line stable. The most likely course of action in that scenario would be shifting Sean Rhyan to center and giving 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan a clearer shot at right guard. Naturally, the Packers would have to hope Rhyan doesn't have a similar reaction to such a change.
Of course, the best-case scenario is that Jenkins and the Packers come to terms on the financial aspects of his move to center. He’s a valuable asset, having played practically all over the offensive line in Green Bay over his five seasons with the franchise and being named to two Pro Bowls.
Most critically, however, is that just because he’s comfortable with the move to center doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need the training camp reps with Jordan Love and the rest of the offensive line. The center position may not get paid as well as the other positions on the offense, but it’s a vitally important one all the same.