GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst must pick his 53-man roster by 3 pm Tuesday. Calling it the final 53 would be inaccurate. Calling it the initial 53 would be inaccurate, too. In Gutekunst’s mind, it’s a fluid 69-man roster.
“Between the 53 and the 69 and then the 48 guys that dress on gameday, I think you’ve got to look at it a lot of different ways,” Gutekunst said recently. “And, obviously, the 48 guys that walk out there on the field every Sunday, that’s the most important. But, as you know, it’s a long season with injuries and trying to manage that. This year, with the 16 practice squad players, the ability for those guys to come up three times, there’s much more flexibility than there’s been in the past.”
There are some moving parts. First and foremost, on the offensive line, will left tackle David Bakhtiari and right tackle Elgton Jenkins be cleared for Week 1? And if one or both is out, who will start on the offensive line? And the waiver wire is the elephant in the room.
“I would say you can never exhale in this league, as a starter or not. Otherwise, you’re not going to be at your best,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Saturday. “So, I think the mindset is always, we’re trying to find the best 11 to put out there. And I think you could argue that some positions more so than others, there still are jobs on the line. Plus, you never know who’s going to be available from another team. I know our personnel people are going to work really, really hard. If they see an opportunity to upgrade our roster, I would think that they would jump at that.”
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With that as a backdrop, here is our final 53-man roster projection.
Quarterbacks (2)
Running Backs (2)
Receiver (7)
Tight Ends (4)
Offensive Line (9)
Defensive Line (6)
Outside Linebackers (6)
Inside Linebackers (4)
Cornerbacks (6)
Safeties (4)
Special Teams (3)
.