The Green Bay Packers added to the interior of the offensive line in their first move of free agency on Monday. Green Bay agreed to a four-year, $77 million deal with former San Francisco 49ers guard Aaron Banks.
ESPN’s Seth Walder was not a fan of the deal.
Whew, that’s a lot of money for Banks.
Listen, I’m the first to tell you that offensive line is important. But this is high-end money for a player who hasn’t proved to be that yet. Banks is coming off his best season by our numbers, but even with that context, his pass-block win rate (92%) ranked 38th out of 64 guards and his run-block win rate (69%) ranked 46th.
Walder noted that bringing in Banks allowed the Packers to kick in either Elgton Jenkins or Sean Rhyan to center with Josh Myers not expected to return. ESPN gave Green Bay a C- and noted guard Jonah Jackson as a comp while mentioning his deal last offseason looks like an overpay. Banks was widely regarded as the best guard on the market this offseason among a pretty thin group of options.
Jordan Love didn’t use his legs much in 2024, which may have been partly due to knee and groin injuries that plagued him. Still, after two years as a starter, Love seems to prefer staying within the pocket and letting it rip instead of extending too much outside of the pocket with his legs.
Therefore, it makes sense that Brian Gutekunst wanted to beef up the interior offensive line and add another option. Remember that when Jenkins went down early in the playoff loss in Philadelphia, Green Bay tried multiple options at left guard, and it was all a disaster.
At a minimum, Banks will provide stability and a good but maybe not a superb option.
At worst, the Packers overpaid for a depth piece on the offensive line. However, at best, Gutekunst has his left guard for the next four years, and Banks is ready and able to prove his worth after getting a sizable contract.
