This is the one you’ve all been waiting for. The Minnesota Vikings are set to release Javon Hargrave on the first day of the new league year, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Green Bay Packers, desperate for defensive line help, can sign Hargrave, a former Jonathan Gannon defensive lineman, without offsetting a compensatory draft pick in 2027, so long as he’s a street free agent (cut from a team) and not a compensatory free agent (had his contract expire).
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Hargrave had a 68 grade on PFF last season, which is good for 35th among 134 qualifying interior defensive linemen. PFF generally grades nose tackles lower than the other interior defensive line positions, and Hargrave played the nose for the Vikings in 2025, for perspective.
If the Packers target him, he should be able to play nose in their nickel sets, but will probably be a 3-4 defensive end (really just a three-technique) in base looks. Yes, Hargrave played the nose full-time with the Vikings, but Brian Flores runs a very stunt-heavy system that doesn’t ask nose tackles to play as “true nose tackles,” if that makes sense. Every other year in his career, Hargrave has been a three-technique, including in his time in Philadelphia under Gannon.
If Hargrave is signed, you can assume that both Hargrave and Devonte Wyatt will be the team’s starting “ends” (again, they’re really just two three-techniques) in base looks in 2026. He would fill one of the two holes on the Packers’ starting lineup, leaving them to search for a nose tackle.