The Green Bay Packers were always going to need to retool their offensive line this offseason. They lost several potential starters and could lose even more going into next season due to injury. In an effort to boost competition and depth in the positional unit, the team has made a signing in free agency, bringing in Justin McCray at the guard position.
The newest guard
The terms of the contract weren't immediately made clear by either side. McCray is a relative unknown with extremely limited professional experience. Outside of a stint with the Tennessee Titans practice squad in 2014, the guard has not been part of an NFL roster.
Instead, he has been playing on the professional football fringes, including a tenure with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. Why the Packers went after him is unclear, although there is a connection to the team.
McCray has a twin brother named Jordan who spent some time on the Packers practice squad back in 2014. Whether or not that played a factor in the recruitment of Justin is unclear, but it certainly couldn't have hurt. Still the 6-foot-3, 317 pound guard has never played in a game in the NFL - his newest team may be short on opportunities to do so.
Offensive line in flux
Arguably the biggest loss for the Packers in the offseason was T.J. Lang, the star guard who went on to sign with the Detroit Lions.
He had become a leader on the unit responsible for protecting star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. There's no obvious replacement for him on the roster - including McCray - with the team also losing JC Tretter to the Cleveland Browns.
There's still time to figure out what to do at the guard position, with McCray getting a chance to earn some playing time for the first time in his career.
Don Barclay will likely start, with Lucas Patrick and Kyle Murphy also garnering looks at the position. Green Bay could also choose to address the issue in the NFL Draft if they aren't happy with the development of any of their guards for the rest of the offseason.
