GREEN BAY, Wis. — There isn’t an abundance of capable and reliable offensive linemen available on the open market in September, but the Green Bay Packers are hoping Cordell Volson can be the exception.
After a successful workout on Wednesday, the Packers are signing Volson, a former fourth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals where he’d play exclusively at left guard for three years. Volson is being signed to the Packers’ practice squad, where he’ll take the final open spot.
Ironically, Volson was drafted No. 136 overall in 2022—four spots after the Packers selected wideout Romeo Doubs, and four spots before they’d draft Zach Bako-Bewele, their current right tackle.
It’s almost certainly no surprise by any stretch of the imagination that the Packers are outsourcing for some form of aid to the interior of their offensive line. The unit was downright offensive in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, with Donovan Jennings and Jacob Monk starting at left guard and right guard, respectively. Both players combined for six pressures, with Monk being responsible for four of them.
Jennings had just six career snaps to his name coming into the game, and Monk was logging his first career start at right guard. His prior experience wasn’t much more extensive than that of Jennings—Monk had 57 regular-season snaps under his belt, 51 of which came in last year’s finale versus the Vikings when he started at center with the rest of the Packers’ backups.
The Packers’ plan failed miserably, as quarterback Jordan Love was hit a stunning 18 times in the 17-point loss. The Vikings scored 29 unanswered points, including a 22-point fourth quarter after the Packers spent much of the game in the driver’s seat.
“During the season, there’s going to be so much adversity that comes up, and losing in week one, that’s what it is,” Love said Wednesday. “Everybody knows what it is, and now it’s about moving on. We’re here in week two; it’s about dialing into our process, getting back here, putting a good week of prep together, getting our bodies right, and attacking it.”
Part of that preparation will be getting Volson up to speed with the offense and protection calls as soon as humanly possible. The 28-year-old will be hard-pressed to play Sunday against the Jets, but if the Packers’ offensive line strings together another ghastly performance, the urgency to get him ready sooner rather than later will be elevated.
Jets head coach and defensive playcaller Aaron Glenn blitzed the Tennessee Titans’ offense last week at the third-highest rate in the league. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who blitzed Love on 87 percent of his dropbacks, was the highest. Volson spent all three years in Cincinnati under head coach Zac Taylor, who was the Los Angeles Rams’ assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 when Matt LaFleur was their offensive coordinator. There could be some carryover and similarities in the offense’s structure, potentially expediting the time it takes Volson to familiarize himself.
Volson, a three-year starter for the Bengals, played 3,376 snaps exclusively at left guard from 2022 through the 2024 campaign. He was a member of an offensive line that routinely faced scrutiny for its inability to protect quarterback Joe Burrow. The former No. 1 overall pick was sacked more than 40 times in the 2022 and 2024 seasons, the same years that Volson allowed 43 pressures apiece. Volson was credited with giving up at least five sacks in each of his three seasons with the Bengals.
Toward the latter end of Volson’s final season with the Bengals, he was demoted in favor of Cody Ford.
During training camp last summer, Volson sustained a shoulder injury that would ultimately require season-ending surgery. He was waived with an injury designation, but would revert to the team’s injured reserve list where he’d remain for the duration of the regular season. The following spring, Volson signed with the Titans, but his stint was short-lived after he was released during final cut-downs in August.
The Titans’ fifth-round picks in back-to-back draft classes got the better of Volson in training camp. Fernando Carmona, a rookie, won the starting right guard job while Jackson Slater, a 2025 selection, has showcased enough improvement that the team was comfortable with him as the primary backup.
Volson could find himself competing with yet another fifth-round rookie for a spot on an offensive line in an entirely new city. Jager Burton was drafted 11 spots after Carmona this past spring, and he spent his first summer in the league taking snaps at all three interior positions, with the majority coming at left guard. It’s unclear just how the Packers will reconfigure their offensive line this week, but it’s something that LaFleur has already indicated that the team is taking a look at.
The makeup of the interior is going to be largely dependent on the health of Aaron Banks, whose unpredictable bout with knee tendinitis is keeping his availability in a state of flux. He was the Packers’ starter at left guard last season, and that’ll likely continue to be the case when he’s healthy—but the when is a concerning qualifier.
The Packers clearly know that the tandem of Jennings and Monk weren’t good enough, and while they desperately continue their search for some form of continuity amongst their starting five, it’s fair to assume that those two won’t be part of the solution. The competition at right guard remains as such, with Monk, Burton, and Anthony Belton, last year’s starter, firmly in the mix as candidates. Now Volson will throw his hat into the ring, too.
Zachary Jacobson is the author of The Packer Dispatch. He is entering his 12th season covering the Green Bay Packers after spending seven as the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter @zachjacobson or contact him via email at itszachariahj@gmail.com.