3 players on the initial Packers 53-man roster who won't last the whole season

Final 53-man rosters are never truly "final" in the NFL, are they? Tinkering is going to continue to happen with the roster all throughout the course of the season, which means that some of the players currently on the Green Bay Packers' roster won't be on it at the end of the year.

Whether it's due to poor performance, players coming off of injured reserve, or preferable options becoming available by other means, which Packers players might not last the entire 2024 season?

Let's take a look through a handful of names.

Packers who could struggle to retain a roster spot this season

1. Andre Dillard, T

The Green Bay Packers signed Andre Dillard in free agency and, for the time being, he appears to be the team's preferred "next man up" at the tackle position. The competition there wasn't exactly inspiring throughout the course of training camp and the preseason but the Packers did end up keeping all of Dillard, Kadeem Telfort, and Travis Glover on the final 53-man roster.

It might not be Dillard getting the axe among this group, either. You could probably put any of Dillard, Telfort, or Glover in the mix. Perhaps at some point in the season, the Packers will feel like they can sneak one of these guys onto the practice squad if they need a roster spot elsewhere.

Or perhaps Dillard will get an opportunity to play and do so poorly that the Packers finally make the move and bring David Bakhtiari back. Whatever the case, don't be surprised if one of these three tackles is not on the roster by season's end.

2. Malik Willis, QB

The Packers realized their backup quarterback situation was shot, likely early in the offseason when Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt were throwing interceptions left and right. The Packers cut both of those guys (bringing Clifford back to the practice squad) and traded for Malik Willis, who was getting dumped for next to nothing by the Titans.

The former third-round pick out of Liberty has talent and upside, there's no question about it, but if he's actually pressed into action, what's going to happen?

It still wouldn't surprise me if the Packers actually have to call on more veteran reinforcements at the backup quarterback position at some point this season.

3. Brenton Cox Jr., EDGE

The Packers kept a whopping six edge rushers on their roster heading into the 2024 season, meaning they obviously still really like Brenton Cox Jr. and his progression. Even though we didn't see a ton of that progression over the course of the offseason and preseason, the Packers still view Cox highly, but I would be at least a little surprised if he's not behind Arron Mosby on the official depth chart.

And at some point, the Packers may need an additional roster spot. This could be the first spot they pull from. Although Cox might get claimed off of waivers, there may come a point when the Packers are forced to part ways due to needs elsewhere on the team.

More Packers news and analysis