Nose tackle is one of the biggest areas of concern on the Green Bay Packers’ roster heading into the 2026 season, but on Wednesday — shortly before the start of the NFL’s league year — the team brought a player back at that spot to give them competition and options in training camp.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Packers will re-sign Jonathan Ford for the upcoming season, bringing him back after he had returned to Green Bay late last year. The financial terms of Ford’s deal are not yet disclosed,
but can be inferred by his experience and free agency status.
Ford was a 7th-round draft pick by the Packers in 2023 out of the University of Miami, but he spent his entire rookie season on Green Bay’s practice squad. He then spent the first half of the 2024 season on injured reserve before being waived, at which time the Chicago Bears picked him up. He bounced back and forth between Chicago’s practice squad and the 53-man roster for the remainder of 2024 and most of 2025 before the Packers claimed him on waivers late in December.
Although Ford was listed in some places as a restricted free agent, that gives him just two official years of accrued experience for free agency. As a result, Ford was an exclusive rights restricted free agent this offseason and his return will all but assuredly be for the ERFA tender, which is a one-year non-guaranteed contract for the league minimum salary.
This deal by no means closes the door on any additions to the defensive line. Ford, Nazir Stackhouse, and Jordon Riley are all on one-year, non-guaranteed deals and will surely be competing for a roster spot in training camp. Meanwhile, the Packers could be in on free agent-to-be Javon Hargrave as well as a potential nose tackle prospect at some point in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Still, the move gives the team another body to compete there, likely without any guaranteed money. As with the other ERFA players, it’s as close to a no-brainer as one can get.
