Acme Packing Company
Starting a series on the Packers unrestricted free agents
It’s easy to say the Packers should move on from their unrestricted free agents. It’s rare for any player that a team actually wants to keep to get to free agency, though it does happen from time to time. But by and large, if you assume that a player hitting free agency isn’t worth keeping around, you’re probably going to be right most of the time.
But I’d like to take a quick look at each of the Packers unrestricted free agents and make a case for keeping them to the best extent that I can. Does it mean I think it’s a good idea to keep them around? No, but maybe it lets us evaluate whatever decision the Packers make with clear eyes, at least aware of what they could bring to the Packers.
Today, let’s take a look at Josh Myers.
Myers has been something of a whipping boy for Packers fans since Brian Gutekunst took him one spot ahead of fellow center prospect Creed Humphries in the 2021 NFL Draft. While Humphries has established himself as one of the best at the position, Myers has had a less-glamorous career. He missed most of his rookie season with a variety of injuries, and has generally been the fourth- or fifth-best linemen among the Packers’ starters when he’s been on the field.
That’s been obvious to almost anybody who follows the team closely, and it’s been a problem compounded by the Packers themselves. Prior to the 2023 season, the Packers all but opened competition for Myers’ job by saying he’d have to earn it again, then installed him as the starter from day one of training camp. Then, last offseason, sourced reporting (though later disputed) from inside the Packers organization indicated they thought tackle Zach Tom could be a potential option at center, a Hall of Fame caliber one at that.
If Tom is indeed that good, it’s something of a wonder he hasn’t replaced Myers already. Pro Football Focus grading is hardly the be-all, end-all, but compared to his peers, Myers comes out very poorly by PFF’s estimation. Among 32 centers who played at least 500 snaps in 2024, Myers was graded as the 20th best pass blocker, the 31st best run blocker, and the 31st best center overall. That performance isn’t earning him even a hypothetical bust in Canton.
So why, then, would the Packers keep Josh Myers? I think it comes down to consistency.
Matt LaFleur’s “best five” rhetoric is one of his most reliable coachspeak tropes, but I don’t know if I always believe. I think he values continuity and consistency up front, and I think Myers is one of the best pieces of evidence for that.
The Packers have at least four other guys on the roster...
