“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is a common piece of advice, which is not being heeded by the Packers’ offensive line staff. After another week of rushing failure in the Aaron Banks experience, it’s time for the Green Bay Packers to look somewhere else for the left guard position.

Classwide Failure

Aaron Banks was one of 7 free agents signed by the Green Bay Packers in 2025, but was one of the two players who signed a multi-year contract. The other player was Nate Hobbs.

Hobbs’ performance was poor enough for the Packers to be willing to take on $12 million in dead cap space. While Banks did perform better, his absence due to injury made many think he would leave along with Hobbs.

Instead, Brian Gutekunst restructured his contract, making him the only player from his free agent class to stay with the Packers into the 2026 season. This restructure means that cutting Banks will force the Packers to pay dead cap on his contract beyond this year.

Despite having a whole offseason to get healthy, Banks was on the PUP list to begin training camp. He even had a knee surgery that surprised and irked Matt LaFleur.

His injury absence was one of many contributing factors that led to Jordan Love being one of the most hit quarterbacks in the first few weeks. Even when in the lineup, he did not appear to be totally healthy and was little better than the second string linemen he replaced.

Banking on Health

The question of the Aaron Banks experience going forward is can he stay healthy, and is he worth it if he is healthy?

Banks has stated that his injury is knee tendonitis. This is a troubling revelation, as it can be a limiting injury for his position, and doesn’t have a clear cause or cure.

Banks missed several drives in Sunday’s game with a groin injury. He also missed a few games this season with a toe injury. At this point, Banks’ injuries aren’t a question of “if?” but of “where?”

Continuity on the offensive line is key for quarterbacks to survive. Banks’ availability makes him a liability as a protector of Love and the Packers’ season.

A new path opens

Kevin Zeitler, one of the offensive linemen signed by Gutekunst, played his first snaps as a Packer this past week. Banks went to the medical tent, Tomlinson replaced him at left guard, and Packers fans got to see what Zeitler could do.

With Zeitler on the field, the Packers eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the first time this season.

To be fair, the Packers were not running behind Zeitler on all of these carries, nor was he even on the field for many. However, he was one of the key blockers on Kaleb Johnson’s 34 yard carry, which was the longest of the Packers’ season so far.

For a team that has a historically bad rushing offense, any difference maker, even a 36 year old guard who wasn’t on an NFL team in August, needs to stay on the field.

Matt LaFleur signaled that may be the case going forward, as it was a coaches decision to put Kevin Zeitler back on the field even though Banks was healthy enough to return. Good, I say, along with every other fan who is tired of the Aaron Banks experience.

What’s the future of Aaron Banks? Hopefully a backup role followed by a letter of termination at the end of the season. The sunk cost of his contract cannot be allowed to sink the Packers’ season.