As the Green Bay Packers prepare for the 2026 NFL Draft, which, barring a trade, won't begin for the Green & Gold until Friday's second round, as they sent their first-round selection to the Dallas Cowboys last August in the Micah Parsons trade, a little in-house business has been taken care of, as a pair of exclusive rights free agents, wideout Bo Melton and offensive lineman Donovan Jennings, have officially signed their respective tenders.
For those unfamiliar, an exclusive rights free agent is defined as a player who has fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If that player's team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum based on his credited seasons, he's unable to negotiate with other teams. To put it bluntly, if an ERFA is given a tender, he has no choice but to sign it. A player can attempt to negotiate a longer-term or higher-priced deal, but that doesn't happen very often.
As such, Jennings, who signed with Green Bay as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and appeared in two regular-season games for the Packers last season, is set to earn $1.005 million, while Melton, a seventh-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks back in 2022, is on the books for $1.145 million.
It'll be interesting to see what the Packers do with Bo Melton in 2026
There's obviously not much to talk about when it comes to Jennings, but Melton has certainly been an interesting player over the past few years.
First off, to clarify, the reason Melton only had ERFA status is that while he's technically been in the league for four years, he only has two accrued seasons. Per NFL Operations, "In order to accrue a season, a player must have been on (or should have been on) full-play status for at least six regular-season games in a given season."
As Melton failed to appear in a regular-season game for the Seahawks in 2022 and only appeared in five in his first year with the Packers in 2023, only the 2024 and 2025 campaigns count. That said, though, as he has three "credited seasons," where a player must be on (or should have been on) full-pay status for a total of three or more regular-season games, he gets the three-season minimum of $1.145 million.
Yes, it's weird, but it is what it is.
As far as on-the-field things go, Melton was brought in as a wide receiver and to help on special teams. But last offseason, Matt LaFleur switched him to cornerback.
However, once the season got going, he never took a single defensive snap, ultimately taking 186 on special teams and another 96 with the offense, tallying five receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown between the regular season and the playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, adding 35 yards on five rushing attempts.
What's wild is that he's still listed as a cornerback, so it'll certainly be interesting to see what the Packers have in store for Melton in 2026.
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