Packers find room on roster for OT Luke Tenuta and his upside

Offensive tackle Luke Tenuta’s preseason and training camp was cut short after he suffered an ankle injury against Cincinnati in the opener. However, the Packers still made sure to do some maneuvering in order to find a roster spot for him.

Rostering Tenuta on the 53-man meant keeping 11 offensive linemen and called for some creativity on Brian Gutekunst’s part. In order for the math to work out, the Packers released long-snapper Matt Orzech, which meant they had no long-snapper on their initial roster.

This was a procedural move with the Packers fully intending to re-sign Orzech once a roster spot opened up after Tenuta was placed on IR, which means he will have to miss at least the first four games but is eligible to return this season. Had he been placed on IR before rosters were finalized, Tenuta’s season would have been over. This also goes to show what the Packers think of Tenuta.

"“He’s big, first of all,” said Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday. “He’s really smart. He’s tough. We think he’s got pretty good upside.”"

The 6’8″ – 314 pound Tenuta was a sixth-round pick in 2022 by Buffalo, and after being released early on in the regular season by Indianapolis, the Packers claimed him off waivers and rostered him for the rest of the entire season, where he played seven total snaps in mop-up duty against Minnesota in Week 17. At Virginia Tech, Tenuta played 737 snaps at left tackle and 1,121 at right tackle and was one of PFF’s highest-graded pass-blockers during his final season.

Tenuta spent training camp primarily with the third-team offense at right tackle, which came with a few impressive pass-blocking reps against Brenton Cox, but he was behind Caleb Jones and Rasheed Walker, who, at that time, were playing with the second unit.

Even when he’s activated off IR, it’s not expected that Tenuta is going to compete for playing time. Rather, as is the case with rostering Jones, the Packers are likely looking ahead to 2024, when there will be some unknowns at the offensive tackle position. At that time, Yosh Nijman is a free agent, and with David Bakhtiari having a cap hit of $40.5 million, he could currently be in his final season with the Packers.

However, the Packers are clearly planning ahead for this, with Jones and Tenuta having another year to develop, while Walker, who could be called upon this season if an injury occurs, will factor into that equation next offseason as well.

From the outside looking in, outside of some practice reps, when viewing is open to the media, we haven’t seen much of Tenuta. But the Packers have, and they like the potential that he brings to one of the game’s most important positions.

"“You guys know,” added Gutekunst, “I’ve talked about this with you before, but especially once you get into the season, it’s hard to find big guys who can play, and we think he’s a big guy who can play, so we would like to continue to develop him.”"