Going into free agency, I thought that Khyiris Tonga and Roy Lopez, two former Jonathan Gannon nose tackles, made the most sense for the Green Bay Packers, based on their price points. Both are now off the board, as Tonga has signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Lopez has signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal to return to the Arizona Cardinals.
Those aren’t the only nose tackles who were signed on Monday, though. David Onyemata (#57 on the consensus free agent board)
signed with the New York Jets, Sheldon Rankins (#105), who played the position part-time last year, re-signed with the Houston Texans and Tim Settle (#193), coming off a foot surgery, signed with the Washington Commanders.
Who is left?
As far as true nose tackles go, it’s DJ Reader (#64) and DaQuan Jones (#77), left among the top-200 free agents. Javon Hargrave (#136), who has yet to be released by the Minnesota Vikings but is expected to be before Wednesday, played nose tackle for Brian Flores’ stunt-heavy scheme in 2025, but that was the first year in his NFL career where he played the position full-time. Hargrave has previously played for new Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia as a three-technique.
Reader posted a 68.9 grade on PFF last year, good for 30th among 134 qualifying interior defensive linemen. Jones was at 75.5, good for 10th out of 134. Hargrave hit 68, 35th of 134.
There are still some quality options out there (Hargrave probably won’t be made available until Wednesday), but options are becoming more and more limited as time passes by. It looks like teams are hammering the nose tackle market on Day 1 of the legal tampering period. The position wasn’t deep to start with, but teams have been focusing on signing nose tackles at a higher rate than 3-technique tackles so far.
After trading nose tackle Colby Wooden for linebacker Zaire Franklin, nose tackle is probably Green Bay’s biggest need going into the new league year. On paper, the player with the most returning snaps at the position in 2026 is 2025 undrafted free agent rookie Nazir Stackhouse, who played just 88 snaps at the position (regular season and playoffs) and had a 42.2 grade on PFF while doing it.
