The Green Bay Packers have officially confirmed that two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins will change positions for the 2025 NFL season.

During NFL free agency, the Packers signed former San Francisco 49ers left guard Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million contract, raising immediate questions about how the team would approach re-organizing its offensive line for the upcoming year.

After all, the Packers had Jenkins in place as their starting left guard with two others — Sean Rhyan and 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan — returning to compete for the other starting job on the right side of the line.

For Banks’ signing to add up, something would need to change with the team’s offensive trenches for the forthcoming season.

Now, thanks to general manager Brian Gutekunst, we know that change will involve the Packers moving Jenkins from left guard to center, where they believe he will thrive.

“Yeah, we’ve had plenty of conversations with Elgton leading up to [Banks’ signing] and obviously he played center in college,” Gutekunst said on March 31 at the NFL Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida. “We feel he has a chance to be an All-Pro center.”

No ‘Pushback’ From Elgton Jenkins on Move to Center

Jenkins is the Packers’ most versatile offensive lineman, having primarily played at left guard over his first six seasons but also starting games at left tackle (eight), right tackle (six) and center (four) when needed. Based on Gutekunst’s comments, he has also gone with the flow on the team’s desire to move him to a new position for the 2025 season.

Jenkins signed a four-year, $68 million extension with the Packers in 2022 that still puts him among the five highest-paid left guards in the NFL in average annual value, but some wondered how he might feel about the Packers handing out more money to Banks ($19.25 million annually) in free agency and if he’d seek a raise from the team.

Asked specifically if there has been “pushback” from Jenkins and his representation on the move to center or a dialogue about contract adjustments, Gutekunst declined to say anything about contract discussions but added that Jenkins had previously considered a move to center during his career, indicating they didn’t have to sell him on the idea.

“He’s one of the higher-paid guys in the league because he’s a really good player and I think moving to center for him is something he always kind of thought about in his career at some point, so we’re excited to see what he can do for us,” Gutekunst said.

Will Packers Continue to Fortify OL in 2025 NFL Draft?

The Packers should look sturdier in their offensive trenches after the re-alignment, but that does not mean they will avoid the position in the 2025 NFL draft in two weeks.

While Green Bay has greater roster needs (cornerback, wide receiver, defensive tackle) that could steal their attention in the first round, they have every reason to continue to add offensive line talent in the draft. Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom are their starting tackles, but they have no suitable backup (besides Jenkins) on their roster right now.

The Packers could also potentially explore a backup center in the draft; though, it is less likely after they used a fifth-round pick on Jacob Monk in the 2024 draft. He did not log a single offensive snap in the 10 games he played as a rookie, but the Packers have never shied away from the “redshirt” process of letting a player sit for a year before throwing them into the fire.

Just look at how the Packers approached Walker’s development. The 2022 seventh-round pick played just four special teams snaps as a rookie. Less than a year later, he had become the successor to five-time All-Pro David Bakhtiari at left tackle — a job that he still holds and could maintain in 2025 if he bests the competition in training camp.

Either way, Gutekunst likes taking chances on offensive linemen in the draft even if he must wait until the later rounds to do so. He has selected at least one offensive lineman in six of his seven drafts as general manager, taking multiple in four different classes.