GREEN BAY \u2014 There is no question about whether Zach Tom is one of the Green Bay Packers\u2019 most important players.<\/p>\n
The question is whether he will be on the practice field when the first practice of training camp kicks off a Ray Nitschke Field on July 23.<\/p>\n
The 2022 fourth-round pick is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, a four-year deal that was worth $4.164 million (including $504,340 signing bonus) when he signed it.<\/p>\n
Although he\u2019s set to earn a $3.406 million base salary this season thanks to the NFL\u2019s proven performance escalator, that\u2019s still significantly less than he could get in guaranteed money from a long-term extension.<\/p>\n
And he clearly has earned one.<\/p>\n
Tom finished third in the Associated Press\u2019 official NFL All-Pro balloting at right tackle last season, behind Detroit\u2019s Penei Sewell and Philadelphia\u2019s Lane Johnson. Sewell is heading into the second year of his four-year, $112 million contract, while the 35-year-old Johnson is playing it year-by-year and is playing this season one a one-year, $25 million deal \u2014 but has earned $141 million over his career.<\/p>\n
If Tom, the only other right tackle in the league to receive an All-Pro vote beyond Sewell and Johnson, is viewed then the third-best at his position in the entire NFL, it\u2019d be reasonable for him to expect a long-term deal that gives him greater security.<\/p>\n
And having played last season at less than 100% following a torn pectoral muscle he suffered during the offseason and required surgery, protecting himself against injury makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n
But when asked during organized team activity practices, which he participated in fully, if he\u2019d consider sitting out training-camp practices until he got a new deal, Tom replied, \u201cI don\u2019t really think it\u2019ll do me any good to sit out. I\u2019m trying not to worry about the contract situation. I\u2019m just trying to do what\u2019s best for the team. And being here with the guys, I think that\u2019s worth a lot more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe contract situation will take care of itself. So, I\u2019m just here working and grinding with the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he was happy that Tom had decided to attend the offseason program despite his contract situation, head coach Matt LaFleur replied, \u201cI think that tells you how much it means to him. You always want, you want everybody here this time of the year and understanding that it is voluntary and, but, yeah, that means a lot. I know for me, it means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the pectoral surgery, the 6-foot-4, 304-pound Tom started all 18 of the Packers\u2019 games last season (including playoffs) and played 1,070 of their offensive snaps in the regular season (98.7%).<\/p>\n
Pro Football Focus had him as their sixth-highest graded offensive tackle league-wide (including left tackles), as the third-year starter finished with an overall grade of 85.8, a run-blocking grade of 87.8 and a pass-blocking grade of 81.0 \u2014 all personal bests.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old Tom became eligible for an extension after the season, but he gave no indication during OTAs that there had even been meaningful talks between his agent and Packers contract negotiator Russ Ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s still football. So, whether you get a new contract or not, you\u2019re still playing football,\u201d said Tom, who has started 39 games \u2014 34 at right tackle, four at left tackle and one a left guard \u2014 in his first three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to hone in on my technique, being consistent in that, because I think when I’m at my best, I’m the best in the league. But I\u2019ve just got to be able to do that more consistently than I think I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
About our \u201cMost Important Packers of 2025\u201d Series:\u00a0\u00a0When the Packers kick off their seventh training camp under head coach Matt LaFleur on July 23, they\u2019ll do so with a host of players facing pivotal seasons. LaFleur clearly believes he has ample talent to be a Super Bowl contender \u2014 even if he didn\u2019t want to say so as the offseason program came to a close \u2014 but turning that belief into reality will require many of those players to produce at higher levels than they have in the past. This series, which began in 2010 on ESPNWisconsin.com<\/a>, examines each of those players and how the team\u2019s success hinges on their contributions. The list is compiled with input from team observers, former players and NFL sources.<\/p>\n \u200bCOPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREEN BAY \u2014 There is no question about whether Zach Tom is one of the Green Bay Packers\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2514,2513,3031,122,6,428,645,9161],"class_list":{"0":"post-201202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-greenbay","12":"tag-greenbaypackers","13":"tag-matt-lafleur","14":"tag-national-football-league","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-packers","17":"tag-penei-sewell","18":"tag-zach-tom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114839889275291800","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}