Acme Packing Company
The idea for this article started in the Acme Packing Company Slack, so shoutout to @sammwichh for the inspiration on this one. The premise is pretty simple: Why haven’t the Green Bay Packers added two players since defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. was placed on the injured reserve and receiver Jayden Reed had a pair of surgeries that will clearly cost him several weeks to recover from?
It’s time to talk roster math.
The way the NFL’s gameday rosters work is that clubs are allowed to have 48 players on gamedays, so long as they roster eight offensive linemen. If they only carry seven, they’re only allowed 47 players. This includes practice squad call-ups.
That’s why the Packers called up Brant Banks from the practice squad last week when Aaron Banks and Zach Tom were unable to suit up against the Washington Commanders. Those injuries left them with just seven offensive linemen. Bringing up Brant Banks just gave the team an extra body on gameday that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Alright, now that that’s established, the math works out to teams needing to scratch 5 players on their 53-man roster each gameday, not including practice squad call-ups. If a player is called up to play, then another member of the 53 doesn’t suit up.
So far, the Packers’ healthy scratches this year have been tight end Ben Sims, defensive tackle Warren Brinson and offensive lineman Donovan Jennings, when the offensive linemen have been healthy. If the line isn’t healthy, then swap Jennings with the injured lineman, who in this week’s case could be right tackle Zach Tom. That gets you to three of five…not including the losses of Reed and Cox. 3 + 2 = 5. We did it!
Basically, Green Bay hasn’t needed to use these 53-man roster spots quite yet, because it doesn’t change their gameday roster construction much. Cox was replaced by Barryn Sorrell, who was inactive due to a knee injury in Week 1. The Packers already have so many receivers active on gamedays that third-round rookie receiver Savion Williams is hardly seeing the field on offense outside of gadget plays.
Truthfully, the best order of business for Green Bay is to probably keep these roster spots open until after their Week 5 bye week, which lines up with when they’ll be able to call up running back MarShawn Lloyd, receiver Christian Watson, offensive lineman John Williams, offensive lineman Jacob Monk and/or defensive end Collin Oliver from injury lists, as they’ll all become eligible to return to the 53-man roster for the first time in Week 6.
Meanwhile, if the Packers poached a player off of an opposing team’s practice squad, they would need to guarantee that player three weeks of time on their 53-man roster, per NFL rules. That would push a potential roster opening for an injury list player down the line by at least a week.
If Green Bay wants to call up one of their own practice squad players, they can...
