When the Green Bay Packers won their last Super Bowl in 2010, the biggest in-season addition that the team made was the waiver claim of defensive lineman Howard Green, who helped the Packers get over the injury hump at the position. Green wound up starting in three of the Packers’ playoff games that year, even hitting Ben Roethlisberger’s arm on Nick Collins’ pick six in the Super Bowl.
Green Bay’s defensive tackle room is in a similar need of a jolt this season. First, the team traded away starting nose tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for pass-rusher Micah Parsons, which everyone rational person would have done.
With that being said, the Packers’ defensive tackle depth hasn’t been great this year. Starting under tackle Devonte Wyatt has dealt with a knee injury, which caused him to drop out of several games before eventually missing games entirely. He returned to the lineup last week.
Behind Wyatt, Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden, who would have been full-time backups if Clark were still on the roster, have basically had to play a starter’s share of snaps this year. Even further behind them are rookies Warren Brinson, who has been inactive for most games, and Nazir Stackhouse, who has been limited to five-ish snaps per game on average in a situational role as a run-stopper.
In short, there’s room to grow. The problem is that defensive tackles haven’t really been made available for most of the 2025 season, dating back to the offseason. The defensive tackle class in free agency wasn’t deep, leading to one-year starters like Tershawn Wharton inking deals worth $15 million per year. In the draft, the scarcity at the position led to defensive tackles being drafted much higher than expected, too.
But now…there’s a decent defensive tackle available for the Packers.
On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Bengals released old friend Mike Pennel, who previously played for Green Bay from 2014 to 2016. The 34-year-old has been underrated for most of his career, bouncing around as a journeyman on seven teams, playing 146 games and starting 25 at the NFL level.
According to Pro Football Focus, Pennel ranks as the 60th defensive tackle in the league out of 120 qualifiers. No one is expecting Pennel to be prime B.J. Raji or Kenny Clark, just Howard Green — a player who can help spell the starters and play consistent football.
Because Pennel is a vested veteran, he’s not subject to waivers. Anyone has the opportunity to sign him, giving the Packers a fair shake at adding him. The big hurdle that Green Bay will have to overcome, if they actually try to sign him, will be pitching him to come to the Packers instead of the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played from 2019 to 2020 and also 2023 to 2024.
Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst talked all offseason about wanting to ramp up urgency and how it’s time to compete for championships. The addition of Pennel allows the team to do just that, to infuse their roster with veteran talent in-season instead of sitting back with a draft and develop approach. Hopefully, the team actually pursues Pennel.
Bring him home.
