After touching on Elgton Jenkins, Rashan Gary, Josh Jacobs, Keisean Nixon, and Nate Hobbs, my tour through potential cap casualties in Green Bay concludes with a look at Aaron Banks.
Banks was a bit of
a surprising signing for the Packers last spring, but the vision made sense. The Packers were clearly looking to get bigger on the offensive line, and the 6-foot-5, 325-pound Banks certainly fit the bill.
Unfortunately, Banks got off to a rough start in Green Bay. Injuries dogged most of his early tenure with the team, and he was plagued by additional uncertainty to his right as Elgton Jenkins worked into the lineup at center, a position he had played sparingly with the Packers. Then, Jenkins himself was lost for the season, throwing the Packers’ offensive line into further disarray.
Though Banks and the offensive line did improve down the stretch, he now heads into the offseason at a crossroads. His cap number is set to climb, and his performance his first year in Green Bay was disappointing. Will that add up to an exit this spring?
The case for Aaron Banks
Banks has two things going for him: he’s exactly what the Packers are looking for on the offensive line, at least from a physical perspective, and he’s almost too expensive to justify cutting.
The Packers’ offensive line has been trending bigger lately, coinciding with Matt LaFleur’s increasing usage of inside, power-based run schemes. Banks’ physical attributes, for all his struggles last year, fit that approach to perfection.
And from a cap perspective, releasing Banks wouldn’t net that much in terms of savings. His capt hit jumps to $24.79 million this offseason, but cutting him would create only about $4.5 million in space, though the Packers obviously would be free of his cap obligations the next two seasons.
The case against Aaron Banks
However, the argument in favor of keeping Banks must reckon with one serious problem: he wasn’t very good.
Pro Football Focus grades aren’t the be-all, end-all of analysis, but they’re a helpful starting point. And for a player paid as richly as Banks was in 2025, his grades didn’t match his paycheck.
Among players who played at least 500 snaps in 2025, Banks ranked 49th out of 67 guards, and his overall grade of 55.6 slots nicely among his other season-long grades to date. He’s never been a high-caliber player, based on these grades, and 2025 didn’t look like it was a step toward stardom
Worse, Banks ranked 47th out of 67 guards as a run blocker, which was supposed to be his forte when he joined the Packers. For context, Banks ranked well behind Jordan Morgan (37th out of 67), which is problematic for two reasons. First, Morgan isn’t a guard by trade, meaning Banks got outplayed by a tackle moonlighting at guard. And second, Morgan generally isn’t counted upon to be a good run blocker. That’s a troubling profile for the Packers’ high-priced free agent signing.
And the price is high. Though his cap hit will be lower in 2027 and 2028 (assuming he’s with the team), Banks is still set to cost nearly $25 million against the cap in 2026. As of this writing, only four other guards in the NFL will have a higher cap hit this season, according to Spotrac, and one of them is Houston’s Tytus Howard, who played more tackle than guard for the Texans this season.
Bottom line: Aaron Banks is probably safe, but needs to be better in 2026
The rest of the roster may be what saves Banks. The Packers already look likely to need new faces at both left tackle and center with Rasheed Walker and Elgton Jenkins looking iffy, at best, for next season. With right guard (and substitute center) Sean Rhyan also hitting free agency, do the Packers really want to add left guard to their list of offseason needs? I think not.
Banks probably survives as a gesture toward stability if nothing else. Turning over four of your five starting offensive line spots in the midst of what you believe is a Super Bowl window is not ideal, and with Zach Tom needing major surgery, Banks looks like something of a beacon of stability at this point — for whatever that’s worth.
But Banks has to be better. He’s paid like one of the best guards in the league, but he played like a bottom half starter. That’s not good enough. I’m sure Banks is aware that he needs to step it up in 2026, or else he’ll be looking for another team with offensive line needs in 2027.
