As a former seventh-round pick, Walker is a great success story for the Packers. He spent his rookie year in a developmental role, appearing in just one game. Then in 2023, he took over at left tackle for David Bakhtiari and never looked back. He’s started 48 games over the past three seasons on the blind side for Green Bay. 

Walker’s specialty is pass blocking. Since taking over as the starter, he’s ranked second, 14th and 11th in ESPN’s pass block win rate. His PFF grades in pass blocking generally trend along those lines, but the service has consistently dinged him for his run blocking. Walker has finished as the 44th, 41st and 53rd overall tackle in PFF’s grades the last three seasons. 

Considering there are 64 starting tackles and around 80 that play enough snaps to qualify for PFF grades each year, that puts Walker right around average. He held off first-round OL Jordan Morgan for a couple of seasons but there’s a reason the Packers are willing to let him walk in free agency. Still, average isn’t a bad place to be at tackle. Teams will pay a lot of money for average because the bad can get really bad at that position. The Titans gave OT Dan Moore Jr. $20 million a year last offseason and Walker should end up in that same range. 

Walker, 25, earned an honorable mention for All-Big Ten honors in 2020 and was selected by the Packers in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Penn State.

He just finished out a four-year rookie deal worth $3,740,873 that included a signing bonus of $80,873.

Walker is set to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career this offseason.

In 2025, Walker appeared in 17 games for the Packers and made 16 starts at tackle. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 53 tackle out of 84 qualifying players. 

We have him included in our Top 100 2026 NFL Free Agents list. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh invested first-round picks in the tackle position in both 2023 and 204 with the idea of locking up that position for the foreseeable future. That’s not quite how it’s played out. On the left side, Broderick Jones has battled a lot of inconsistency, which was expected to some degree. He was viewed as a traits-over-polish player as a prospect, but was still trying to find his footing last year in his third year in the league. 

Then he went down with a neck injury. It didn’t look serious at first but it’s been revealed this offseason that Jones ended up needing surgery to correct an issue, and that his outlook for training camp is in doubt. Neck injuries are not something to mess around with for football players, and all of a sudden, the Steelers have a big question mark at left tackle. 

That could push them into free agency to find a stabilizing force like Walker. The Penn State graduate would likely welcome a return to the state and would be a much more consistent pass blocker than Jones, even if the Steelers would sacrifice some power in the run game. Pittsburgh has over $40 million in cap space right now and can create more with various cuts and restructures. They can make a hard run at Walker if it’s a need they decide to prioritize. 

New England Patriots

There has been some buzz connecting the Patriots to Walker as a potential free agent target, and it would make a lot of sense on a few different levels. Patriots de facto GM Eliot Wolf is the son of longtime Packers GM Ron Wolf and the two organizations evaluate talent very similarly. The Patriots have nearly $40 million to spend right now and still need to find upgrades across the roster. Left tackle was a liability at times last season, including in the Super Bowl. 

Obviously signing Walker would mean the Patriots are giving up on 2025 first-rounder Will Campbell on the blind side. After the Super Bowl, the team has been careful to project confidence in Campbell as a long-term solution at tackle, including specifically trying to refute one of the reports linking them to Walker. Perhaps they’re telling the truth. 

But it’s important to understand that teams lie all the time to protect their interests. It doesn’t serve the Patriots to acknowledge they’re thinking about replacing Campbell, only to miss out on Walker and be left to do damage control. It’s better to move in silence. There was a lot of love for Campbell’s potential as a guard during the draft cycle last year. It’s possible the best starting five for New England in 2026 includes kicking Campbell inside and adding a starting-caliber left tackle. 

Cleveland Browns

The Browns are still dealing with the money from the disastrous trade for QB Deshaun Watson and some other deals that have aged out on their books. But they have enough wiggle room to make one big move after restructuring Watson’s deal and CB Denzel Ward. They could keep the focus on the offensive line. Cleveland’s trade for OT Tytus Howard should shore up the right tackle position. Signing Walker would lock down the left. The Browns are also one of the teams that’s been linked to Walker ahead of free agency this week. 

San Francisco 49ers

49ers LT Trent Williams has been rock solid for the 49ers since the 2020 season when he was acquired in a draft-day trade from the Commanders at the age of 32. There’s been little to no sign of him slowing down, and he’s arguably the most important piece to HC Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Yet the two sides are embroiled in contract talks right now that could result in Williams being released and heading elsewhere. 

Should the 49ers fail to bridge the gap, they’ll be in the market for a new left tackle. It’s not a great place to be, especially considering their first-round pick isn’t until late in the round. That could prompt them to be aggressive to add a replacement like Walker. He’s not anywhere near the player Williams is, especially in the run game. But he’d bring a level of baseline competency to the offense that would prevent the 49ers from having to do something desperate to replace Williams.