Green Bay signed guard Kevin Zeitler to a one-year deal worth a $4.05 million base salary, with incentives that can push it to $5 million.
Zeitler is 36 years old, entering his 15th NFL season, and joining his seventh career team. He started 16 games for the Titans in 2025 and made a Pro Bowl with the Ravens in 2023.
This Is Good Value
Let me give the Packers credit where it belongs. Four million dollars for a guard who started all 16 games last season is a bargain in the current market.
Interior offensive linemen who can be trusted with a full starting workload cost considerably more than this. Zeitler is being paid like a rotational veteran and has recent evidence he can play like a starter.
The incentive structure is also well designed. Green Bay pays $4.05 million if he is merely available and up to $5 million if he performs. That is how you sign a 36-year-old.
Age 36 At Guard Is Different
Here is why this works better than it would at other positions. Guards do not rely on the athletic traits that decline first.
A 36-year-old cornerback is finished because speed goes. A 36-year-old guard can still anchor against a bull rush, still recognize a blitz before the snap, and still move a defensive tackle two yards off the ball. Interior linemen age better than almost anyone in football.
Zeitler also brings 14 years of pre-snap recognition, which for a line that has been shuffling is worth something beyond his physical play.
But It Says Something About Green Bay
Teams do not sign 36-year-old guards in Week 5 because everything is going well. This is a patch.
The Packers also just lost receiver Jayden Reed for the season to neck surgery, and they play Atlanta on Thursday night. Green Bay is solving problems in real time with whoever is available, which is not where a contender wants to be five weeks into a season.
Seventh Team, Fifteenth Season
There is something worth respecting in Zeitler’s career. Seven teams in 15 seasons means he has been continuously employable at a position where teams are ruthless about replacing aging players.
Guys do not last that long by accident. He has stayed available, stayed competent, and kept finding teams that needed exactly what he offers.
My Take
I like the signing and dislike what it implies. Zeitler will probably start within three weeks and hold up fine.
The concern is that Green Bay entered this season expecting stability up front and is now paying a 36-year-old to provide it. That is a team managing a problem rather than a team that solved one in the offseason.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.