Four undrafted players received salary guarantees from Green Bay this year. That's a strong indication of what the front office truly thinks of them.
The NFL established hard rules in terms of contracts for rookies. While drafted players sign four-year deals with a scaled salary, undrafteds
have standardized three-year contracts. But it's not necessarily the same for everyone - players and agents can negotiate guarantees, and some prefer to go undrafted than to be a late seventh-rounder, for instance.
As a consequence, checking the players who got guarantees is a great way to find what teams actually think about them. For the Green Bay Packers
, it's a way to find out who may be around the team beyond training camp.
Independent Packers salary cap analyst Ken Ingalls shared on social media which Packers undrafted players received guarantees on their base salaries.
Those numbers are not a coincidence. Rookie players on the practice squad make $13,750 per week. Throughout an 18-week regular season, that's $247,500 for the entire year. And this is what the Packers are doing here. They are essentially saying those players have an inside track to make the practice squad, even if they fail to make the initial 53-man roster.
The method makes sense for the Packers. If the player makes the active roster or the practice squad, it's money that would have been paid anyway. If he's claimed off waivers by another team, the acquiring team absorbs the guarantees since it's all base salary. The only material loss happens if the Packers don't bring the player back to the PS, but that's a marginal cost for an NFL team.
Curiously, if the player is released, the guarantee accelerates and immediately hits the salary cap - with the new practice squad salary on top of it. However, the amount gets credited back eventually by the league.
Among these players that Ingalls mentioned, tight end Eni Falayi is the exception. He didn't pass the physical and ended up not signing his contract with the Packers whatsoever. The other ones are favored to be around Green Bay after training camp is over.
Edge defender Nyjalik Kelly, for example, got the entire 2026 practice squad salary in guarantees. The Athletic's Dane Brugler graded him as a seventh-rounder/UDFA prospect, mentioning that "Kelly is a raw player in both phases, but his long arms and consistent effort are reasons to be encouraged that his best football is ahead of him."
That final sentence is music to Brian Gutekunst's ears, so it's not a surprise how much the Packers like him. Last year at UCF, the 21-year-old edge generated 26 pressures and three sacks.
TJ Quinn, LB, Louisville
Josh Gesky, G, Illinois
Jaden Nixon, RB, UCF
Murvin Kenion III, S, Nevada
Dylan Barrett, OL, Iowa State
Nyjalik Kelly, EDGE, UCF
RJ Maryland , TE, SMU
Dillon Wade, OL, Auburn
