Packers Rookie Lineman Trente Jones Retires

The Green Bay Packers have an empty roster spot after placing Trente Jones on the reserve/retired list on Monday.

Bill Huber | May 14, 2024

Trente Jones / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers on Monday placed undrafted rookie offensive lineman Trente Jones on the reserve/retired list.

The Packers also made official the signing of former North Dakota State All-American Spencer Waege.

Jones was one of the team’s eight undrafted free agent signings. According to OverTheCap.com, the Packers gave him a $10,000 signing bonus and guaranteed $100,000 of his base salary as part of a three-year contract. Presumably, Jones will not get to keep that money.

Jones did not respond to a text message from Packer Central.

Jones worked with the No. 1 offensive line as the right guard at last week’s rookie camp, though he obviously would have fallen into the background for the start of organized team activities next week.

In four seasons at Michigan, the former four-star recruit played in 41 games with 13 starts. He started five games at right tackle as a senior, including three of the most important games of the national champions’ season.

After standout guard Zak Zinter suffered a broken leg against Ohio State, Jones started in the Big Ten Championship Game against Iowa and the playoff victories over Alabama and Washington. According to Pro Football Focus, the Wolverines threw the ball 86 times in those three games and Jones allowed only three pressures. In 395 offensive snaps overall, including 148 passes, Jones allowed only those three pressures.

The transaction leaves the Packers with 89 players on the roster. Among them are 15 offensive linemen, including fifth-round center/guard Jacob Monk and Lecitus Smith, who was signed as a tryout player from the rookie camp.

“He’s an O-lineman in heart, mind, body and soul. Everything about him screams O-lineman.”

In the latest in our annual series, here's Adam Cushing on #Packers fifth-round pick Jacob Monk. ⬇️https://t.co/fBxImCguk2
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) May 14, 2024

The competition will begin with the start of organized team activities next week.

"Right now, in Phase 2, we have a lot of individual time," offensive line coach Luke Butkus said. "We’re not doing a lot of team work so you get out there and we get 40, 50 minutes of individual, so guys are playing multiple positions and seeing the best fit.

"Unfortunately right now, our young guys aren’t here yet. So, next week will be an eye-opening experience for some of them to see the speed of these guys coming off the ball – these vets that have been here for weeks or years. You just keep practicing. How do you get better? You just keep practicing.

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Published May 13, 2024|Modified May 14, 2024

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.