Green Bay Packers: Reunion Made Sense but Lane Taylor Signs w/ Texans

All but one of the Green Bay Packers’ “signings” this offseason have been players who were on the 2020 team. It’s quite clear that GM Brian Gutekunst is looking to run things back for another hopeful Super Bowl push in 2021.

However, one member of last year’s team who won’t be back is offensive guard Lane Taylor, who, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, has signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans.

Re-signing Taylor is a move that I thought made a lot of sense given the lack of experienced depth along the offensive line currently. As of now, Elgton Jenkins is likely one of the starting tackles — along with Billy Turner as we wait for David Bakhtiari to return — leaving Lucas Patrick as the center and Jon Runyan as one of the guards. But who will fill in at the other guard position?

Well, the two most likely options at this time are either 2020 sixth-round pick Simon Stepaniak, who was injured for much of the year, or Ben Braden, who spent most of last year on the practice squad. From our vantage point, it’s difficult to know where these two players are at developmentally, but obviously, there is some risk relying on either to be a full-time starter.

This is the value that Taylor could have provided. Taylor was a starting guard here in Green Bay from 2016 to 2018, and for the most part, he held up well.

At best, he could have been one of your starters this season, something that he still proved he could do last year, starting Week 1 against Minnesota. Or, at a minimum, he would have provided experienced depth, something that this Packers team relied on heavily last season.

Unfortunately, Taylor’s recent injury history was likely what kept the Green Bay Packers away, as there is no guarantee that he’d regain that old form at this point in his career. We also don’t know how much Houston is paying him at this time, either. As much as I would have loved to have had Taylor back, it would have had to have been on a team-friendly veteran minimum deal—or close to that.

With the draft quickly approaching, the offensive line still remains one of the bigger question marks on this team, with a lack of experienced depth at both the interior and tackle positions. Landing a potential Day 1 starter at the tackle position, however, could help alleviate both of those concerns.