Building The 53 - The Locks*

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson already made some hard decisions getting rid of eight players on the final 53-man roster from last season.  As training camp opens for the 2013 Green Bay Packers, Thompson still has to make a number of tough decisions to finalize The 53.  The easy decisions to make are the locks* currently on the roster.

The reason all of the guys I am about to list are are locks* stems from one of three reasons.  One, they recently signed a huge contract extension (i.e. Aaron Rodgers).  Two, they were recently drafted in an early round of the NFL Draft (i.e. Datone Jones).  Three, they are solid starters (i.e. Jordy Nelson) at an important position.

You may have noticed the asterisk following locks* because if any of the following guys suffer a season ending injury during training camp (knocking on wood as I type), the Packers will place them on injured reserve so they would not make The 53 but still would be in the team's long-term plans. 

Absent a season ending injury, here are the 27 locks* to make The 53:

Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers

Running Back: Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin

Fullback: None

Wide Receiver: James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Randall Cobb
Tight End: Jermichael Finley

Offensive Tackle: Bryan Bulaga, Marshall Newhouse, and David Bakhtiari
Offensive Guard: Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang
Center: Evan Dietrich-Smith

Defensive End: C.J. Wilson and Datone Jones

Defensive Tackle: B.J. Raji and Ryan Pickett
Middle Linebacker: A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones
Outside Linebacker: Clay Matthews and Nick Perry
Cornerback: Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, and Casey Hayward

Safety: Morgan Burnett

Specialists: Tim Masthay (P) and Brett Goode (LS)

That leaves 26 roster spots up for grabs.  Check back tomorrow for my list of guys "most likely" to make The 53.