GREEN BAY, Wis. — At this point, outsourcing for a cure that’ll alleviate the woes of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line is the equivalent of using Scotch tape to patch a hole in the dam.
The Packers must feel that it’s worth a shot, though, because they’re signing 34-year-old guard Laken Tomlinson off the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad on Saturday. No corresponding cut will be needed. The Packers will be placing right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele on injured reserve in the near future after he sustained a complete tear of his right patellar tendon in the Sept. 20 win over the New York Jets, which will open up a roster spot.
Just two days after the Packers were embarrassed in front of a primetime audience by the Atlanta Falcons at Lambeau Field, they’re already exploring alternative avenues to shoring up the ghastly state of their offensive line. Both guards—Jager Burton and Jacob Monk—combined for 16 pressures allowed on Jordan Love, who was hit a whopping 12 times, bringing the total to 34 hits through three games. The Packers appear content moving forward with their tackle tandem of Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton, but their guards have been a topic of discussion since the start of training camp.
The health of Aaron Banks, the preferred starter at left guard, has been too erratic to trust. The Packers spent all summer managing his knee tendinitis with a day-on, day-off schedule, but he’s now dealing with a toe injury that kept him sidelined for the Thursday night game against the Falcons. The Packers can’t count on him being available every week throughout the season.
In Banks’ place, the Packers started Donovan Jennings for the Sept. 13 opener versus the Minnesota Vikings, and, naturally, that was a disaster. Monk, meanwhile, has had three consecutive starts at right guard to show that the former sixth-round pick belongs as one of their best five linemen, but to say he has underperformed would be an understatement.
As if matters weren’t cataclysmic enough already, the Packers could also be preparing to be without Sean Rhyan, their center, for a period of time. He underwent X-ray imaging on his hand after Thursday night’s game, but it’s unclear whether it was his left hand or his snapping hand, ditto for how much time he could potentially miss. This could prompt the Packers to get especially creative with the makeup of their line. Burton, who logged his first career start at left guard against the Falcons, is currently listed as the No. 2 center.
Tomlinson, a former first-round pick of the Detroit Lions, isn’t going to save the day and rectify what appears to be a clear systemic issue in Green Bay, but acquiring a veteran who has seen just about everything there is to see in the league is a step in a positive direction.
The Jamaican-born Tomlinson has played in some capacity for seven different teams throughout his career, but everywhere he’s gone, he’s been able to stabilize the offensive line. He’s played almost exclusively at left guard across 12 seasons, but most notably, Tomlinson has displayed the ability to consistently remain available. The offensive line is a grueling, demanding place to make your money—Tomlinson, though, has epitomized durability.
Across the first 10 seasons of his career, Tomlinson missed just one game. In that same span, he started 155 of a possible 164 games. That included a seven-year stretch from 2018 through 2024 where the ironman Tomlinson started 116 consecutive games, earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 with the San Francisco 49ers for his stellar performance.
The impressive streak of consecutive starts came to an end last season—Tomlinson’s first with the Houston Texans—when he was benched midway through the season due to an ankle injury that compounded with declining play on the field. He was limited to just 10 appearances and seven starts before being released in December. He latched onto the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad to end the season, but he was never elevated for either of the remaining games.
With a 10-day gap between games, the Packers don’t return to the field until Oct. 4 when they visit Raymond James Stadium for a bout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tomlinson has a legitimate chance to join the Packers’ starting lineup considering, well, there probably isn’t going to be much of a competition between him and the current guards.
Aside from that, Tomlinson spent five seasons with the 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan, whose scheme has essentially been replicated by Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. The Packers deploy a lot of the same concepts and utilize similar terminology, so Tomlinson should be able to take advantage of the mini-bye week and get up to speed. Not only will the Packers need Tomlinson to help keep the quarterback upright, but the hope is that the 6’3”, 323-pound guard will be able to create lanes in the running game that have been nonexistent through three games.
The Packers currently rank No. 32—dead last—in the league in average rushing yards per game, almost 17 yards behind the next-closest team. A backfield of MarShawn Lloyd, Kaleb Johnson, and Chris Brooks has been uninspiring, even when they do have the luxury of finding rare daylight, but the offensive line hasn’t done them any favors, either.
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.
At least they’re doing something!