8:10pm: The Packers acquired a 2023 seventh-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
11:46am: A year into his career, Cole Van Lanen is being traded. The Packers are sending the 2021 sixth-round pick to the Jaguars, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets.
Jacksonville will create a roster spot by cutting guard Wes Martin, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). Not yet a vested vet, Martin generated waiver interest earlier this year and will head back to the wire.
The Packers will receive an undisclosed draft pick for Van Lanen, a Green Bay native. A Wisconsin alum, Van Lanen played in one game with the Packers, despite a flood of injuries along their offensive line in 2021. The Jaguars will take a flier here.
Wisconsin’s primary left tackle from 2019-20, Van Lanen earned second-team All-Big Ten acclaim in ’19 and first-team honors in the truncated 2020 season. The Packers had been using Van Lanen at tackle and guard during his short stay with his hometown team, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The Packers drafted offensive linemen in the third, fourth and seventh rounds this year (Sean Rhyan, Zach Tom, Rasheed Walker).
Both the Chargers and Commanders put in claims for Martin in May, when the Giants cut him. Washington originally drafted Martin in the 2019 fourth round and used him as a starter at points during his first two seasons. Martin, 26, started 10 games for Washington from 2019-20 and played in seven Giants games last season.
Sad to hear but the depth at the position negates the background.
I’ve seen a fair amount of praise and talk of potential for the big fella out of Indiana, and the belief they wouldn’t be able to sneak him through waivers and stash on the P-squad. This might be a move to provide a spot for him on the 53.
He’s from the UW. Everybody knows the Packers have had a front office allergy for decades to former Badger players except for the rarity of someone like Tauscher. Look at all of the former Badgers spread out across the NFL over the past couple of decades. Very rarely does GB draft or sign any of them.
Badger linemen over the past 20-25 years with the exception of Thomas have been less than average. Very over-rated. Kudos to the packers for staying away for the most part.
Lot of current and former NFL players who are UW alumni and they’re not all linemen. I’m sure there are or were some former UW players who could have helped and played for the Packers at some point over the years. Using Joe Thomas as the benchmark is a high standard, foolish and straw man argument.