The Green Bay Packers finally made the move many analysts and fans had wanted them to make for months, as experienced guard Kevin Zeitler is reportedly signing a one-year deal with Green Bay worth up to $5m.
Unlike the other veteran signings the Packers have made on the offensive line in the last week-plus, Zeitler is not coming in to compete to maybe get some playing time. He is as close to a sure thing as they could find at this stage of the calendar.
A native of Waukesha, Wisconsin and former Badger, the 36-year-old has over 14,400 NFL snaps to his name, all but four of which came at right guard.
He looks set to quickly displace Jacob Monk in the starting lineup, although it remains to be seen whether he will be ready to play this Sunday after
missing the entire preseason and the first three games of the regular season.
Zeitler’s percentile ranks among guards last season show the level of player the Packers have acquired.
His 3.8% pressure rate in 2025 was 14th-best among guards and is an improvement on the 5.6% Monk has posted so far this season. Zeitler allowed fewer hurries per pass block snap than any guard in the league last year.
Protecting Jordan Love has been a huge problem for the Packers early in the season, and Zeitler should help significantly to reduce the interior pressure teams have been able to easily generate in the first few games. Love could also help Zeitler’s numbers look even better.
The veteran spent last season with the Titans blocking for Cam Ward, who was somewhat responsible for 30.4% of his own pressures. That was the fourth-highest rate in the league among quarterbacks.
Love on the other hand was responsible for only 5.7% of his own pressures, which was the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL. He is far less likely to turn quality reps by Zeitler into pressures or sacks due to holding the ball too long.
Zeitler should also help in the run game, with his PFF grades in 2025 showing his ability to execute either zone or gap schemes effectively. For a Packers run game that has been DOA, he could make a big difference.
Another area Green Bay’s O-line has struggled has been penalties. Zeitler only had one false start and two holds across the entirety of last season.
It is worth wondering what this means for Mekhi Becton, who was signed to the practice squad recently, presumably with the idea of him eventually joining the active roster and playing. He will not be starting over Zeitler. Could he challenge Anthony Belton to start at right tackle?
Becton has rarely played there since 2018 with Louisville, and has played only one snap between college and the NFL at left guard, where he could in theory compete with Aaron Banks and Laken Tomlinson.
Regardless, Zeitler gives the Packers a known quantity at right guard, and whether it is Banks (when healthy) or Tomlinson on the left side, their interior should be a lot more secure moving forward than it has been to start the season.
Is there a chance Zeitler does not look like the same player at age 36 and having missed the entirety of training camp? Absolutely, but barring a steep dropoff from the tape he has put out for 14 years, this will still be a boost for Green Bay even if he has declined.
General manager Brian Gutekunst should not get too much credit for making the types of moves he arguably should have a long time ago, but at least he is exhausting all options to get the O-line back on track now, and it is no exaggeration to say the signing of Zeitler could save the season.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Kevin Zeitler gives Packers crucial O-line boost after disaster start
