The Green Bay Packers are on the board in free agency. It’s just not at the position that many were expecting.

While cornerbacks, defensive linemen and wide receivers came off the board at the start of the NFL’s negotiating period, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst sat idly by.

Or so it appeared.

As it turns out, Gutekunst was working on fortifying the interior of his offensive line by signing guard Aaron Banks away from the San Francisco 49ers.

The Packers’ season ended with three players standing in at left guard in one game.

In the playoff loss to the Eagles, Elgton Jenkins left with a stinger and was replaced by Travis Glover.

A rookie, Glover had one of the worst games imaginable, lasting less than 15 snaps and piling up penalties and negative plays until he was replaced by Kadeem Telfort.

That day stuck in Gutekunst’s mind as he entered the free agent pool and signed Banks to what NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported is a four-year deal worth $77 million.

Does that sound like a lot of money for a guard? Sure, unless you didn’t listen to what Gutekunst said at the end of the season.

“Those big guys are hard to find, so that’s never something we’re not going to address,” he said. “We’ve been pretty consistent (with) that in our time here. We very much believe that, with the exception of quarterback, winning in the trenches is how we need to get it done. And so, we’ve got some decisions to make as we move forward on the offensive line and as we go through that, there could be some shuffling around.”

Gutekunst told you how important the offensive line was to him and how he builds his team.

In theory, the Packers were set on the interior going into free agency.

Even with the decision to not re-sign three-year starting center Josh Myers, returning starting left guard Elgton Jenkins, returning starting right guard Sean Rhyan and 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan are back for 2025.

With the addition of Banks, there indeed will be some “shuffling around.”

With Banks being the 49ers’ starting left guard the past three seasons and Jenkins having ample experience at center, Jenkins could move into the pivot with Morgan or Rhyan competing at right guard.

There are other options. Rhyan finished the playoff game at center.

Right tackle Zach Tom was Wake Forest’s starting center as a sophomore in 2019.

That’s been something the Packers have toyed with during the offseason and in training camp, but Gutekunst’s comments from the Scouting Combine make that seem unlikely.

“He’s one of those guys that can play all five spots,” Gutekunst said, before giving the money line. “But he’s established himself pretty well in this league as a tackle.”

It’s true, Tom was the Packers’ best offensive lineman last year and has been a standout at right tackle since moving there during his rookie season in 2022.

Moreover, from a business perspective, why would Tom want to move to center?

Sure, the market for interior offensive linemen is rising, but not at that position.

Drew Dalman, considered to be the best center on the market, agreed to a three-year, $42 million contract with the Bears on Monday.

That’s $14 million per season; two right tackles make double that and 14 make more.

Tom is going to want to get paid, and the best path to doing that is staying right where he is.

If Tom isn’t moving, that means the Packers have four interior offensive linemen for three spots.

Unless, of course, Morgan is going to be a tackle, which Gutekunst has insisted he’s capable of doing since drafting him in the first round last year.

Yes, the Packers played Morgan exclusively at guard during the season.

That was stated to be a byproduct of where Morgan could contribute as a rookie instead of what they felt about his future at tackle.

“He played left tackle, he’s got left tackle feet, very athletic kid, very sturdy/strong lower body,” Gutekunst said of Morgan after drafting him last year.

If Gutekunst and the coaching staff think that Morgan is a tackle, could he be put in a competition with Rasheed Walker to be the team’s left tackle in 2025?

Or, in a world in which average offensive linemen are being paid like great ones, could the Packers look to see what Walker could get on the trade market?

That’s all speculation for now.

As the Packers learned just two months ago, there is no such thing as too many quality offensive linemen.

With the big-money addition of Banks into the fold, the Packers feel like they added another one to the team.

The only question now is who, as Matt LaFleur likes to say, is going to be the best five in front of Jordan Love?