The offseason for all teams has many moving parts. Players who decide not to stick around or have become unaffordable to teams go on their way while they are replaced with free agents and draft picks. The level of excitement varies with each announcement.
Some teams have very exciting moments where they draft the top player or sign that key free agent that will vault them to the top. Sometimes it can come off as more pedestrian in signings when a team has limited resources, or when they have a strong core and don’t need to add much to make it better.
Those are usually the offseasons where fans aren’t too concerned with who gets brought in because the team is handcuffed or just adding depth at key spots. It’s actually kind of boring.
Several Unresolved Issues Could Rattle Green Bay’s Season
The Packers had one of those offseasons. However, it wasn’t due to either scenario. They have drafted well over the last few years and have hit on some key free agents. It looks like there may be a bit more to why their fans aren’t overly excited.
Free Agency
Green Bay has never been known to be overly aggressive in free agency in recent years. They usually get a few players who raise eyebrows across the league, and experts and novice onlookers understand the signing and see the fit they bring to the team.
Their drafting has always been very good, except when it comes to finding a 1st-round wide receiver for their quarterbacks. But the ability to find later-round receivers has worked out most years since Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers would make them look even better with their stellar ball placement.
The biggest stories may be about who they got rid of. Here are their transactions this offseason.
- Wide receiver Romeo Doubs signed with Patriots
- Offensive tackle Rasheed Walker signed with Panthers
- Defensive tackle Kingsley Enagbare signed with Jets
- Linebacker Quay Walker signed with Raiders
- Offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins released
- EDGE Rashan Gary traded to the Cowboys for 2027 4th
- Corner Nate Hobbs released
- Kicker Brandon McManus released
- Defensive lineman Colby Wooden traded to Colts for Linebacker Zaire Franklin
- Dontayvion Wicks traded to Eagles for 2026 5th and 2027 6th
- Corner Benjamin St. Juste signed
- Receiver Skyy Moore signed
- Defensive lineman Javon Hargrave signed
- Quarterback Tyrod Taylor signed
- Receiver Jayden Reed extended
- Center Sean Rhyan extended
Looking at that list, the guys they brought in aren’t as flashy as the guys they let go. Gary was being considered a bust by some, but I think he was put in a bad position as they moved to a 4-3 defense, and he wasn’t that type of end.
Rather, he is a stand-up edge rusher. Hobbs never really lived up to his past performances with the Raiders. Wooden saw increased playing time after the departure of Kenny Clark last year, when Clark was traded to Dallas, and he posted some decent numbers.
Enagbare was a force in the middle as well, but took his talents to Carolina. Jenkins is the biggest concern for most. He was a steady presence on the offensive line and could play almost anywhere. He felt he deserved to get paid better, even if it seemed they couldn’t lock him down to a permanent position. Rhyan has played all over the line too, and it will be on him to fill that gap after being extended.
Will he be good enough, and do they have a good enough line to hold up against a strong NFC North filled with star defensive players? Wicks was also a big deal, as he had developed into a reliable receiver, and the receiver corps had gotten a little thinner. I don’t think too many fans were sad to see McManus go, but it becomes a bigger question mark heading into next season with a rookie kicker.
Franklin is the best player they acquired, and Hargrave was mostly a bust with the Vikings last year. St. Juste is a solid corner that could be a key piece on defense.
This is what happens, though, when a team drafts well, and they don’t have to worry as much about the play of their quarterback. Jordan Love is not elite, but he’s in that next level of quarterbacks that, if the right pieces are around him, he can take a team to the Super Bowl.
Last year, the Packers also made a huge splash by trading for Micah Parsons while sending Clark and two 1st round picks to Dallas. They then signed him to a huge $188 million contract. It was looking like a trade that might help propel them all season until Parsons injured his knee and won’t be back until sometime this season.
Signing him really puts a hamper on their salary cap for the next few years, as several of their key players are coming up for new contracts. Aaron Banks has a big jump in pay after this season, as do Zach Tom, Reed, Love, and Franklin. Corner/return man Keisean Nixon is going to want a substantial raise, as well as Carrington Valentine, whose contract ends after 2026.
Add in that many of their key receivers are free agents or up for contract extensions this season, including tight end Tucker Kraft, and they could see some big roster turnover in the next few years. Receiver Matthew Golden didn’t light it up in his rookie season, but he showed the flashes most expect to see, and he’s going to see more targets this year with Doubs gone, too.
Savion Williams will also have a chance to break out in his second year.
The Draft
Let’s be honest: the 2026 draft class was considered weak. Teams that drafted players early in the 1st round were pretty solid. Everything after that was questionable, whether they were drafted too high or about where most expected them to be. Here’s who they took this year.
- Round 2, Pick 52: Brandon Cisse, CB, South Carolina
- Round 3, Pick 77: Chris McClellan, DT, Missouri
- Round 4, Pick 120: Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE, Penn State
- Round 5, Pick 153: Jager Burton, C, Kentucky
- Round 6, Pick 201: Domani Jackson, CB, Alabama
- Round 6, Pick 216: Trey Smack, K, Florida
The Packers didn’t have a 1st due to the Parsons trade, and we didn’t hear from them until late on night two. They took Brandon Cisse, a cornerback who was slated to go in that round, to address that position. He might need some work to be a reliable corner, but he was possibly the best available at that spot.
The other players address the team’s holes, but none of them really jump off the page except for Smack. He’s a good kicker and fills a big need for the team. He’s only a question because he’s a rookie, and kickers can be a bit fragile coming into the league. He also has to learn to kick outside in the cold later in the season.
McManus was aggravating to the fans, so I think they’ll give Smack a pass and hold out hope through any struggles he might have as a rookie.
The Packers’ 2025 class was better for them overall. It’s not a shot at their draft this year; it is a compliment to last year’s talent and to getting the guys they needed.
Every team had a better 2025 draft, in my opinion. If a few of these guys become solid starters and backups – especially Cisse and Smack, then they hit exactly where they needed.
Overall
Green Bay has three glaring issues right now. The first is their offensive line, which is not good. They aren’t terrible, but they have been regressing over the last few years. They are weaker in the run game than in the passing game, but becoming one-dimensional can quickly affect the other.
Second, they just had their best running back, Josh Jacobs, get into legal trouble this past week with domestic assault style charges. He was released, but it could still come up or hang over the season like a dark cloud. He can make a poor line look better with his talent. Behind him, the depth is poor to say the least.
Even Dave Sinykin, who was filling in for Paul Allen on KFAN Wednesday, bemoaned the lack of talent his favorite team is facing. Packers fans are notorious for thinking the “next man up” is just as good, if not better, than the guy they lost, and if they’re worried, it’s for good reason.
They’re also not great at stopping the run on the defensive side. Clark is a stud run defender, and the team struggled with him there. Now, without him and the other players not of the same caliber, teams could exploit that late in games when they need to run the clock out.
The linebacking corps is solid in Green Bay and goes up a notch just by inserting Parsons in all aspects. He can cause absolute havoc. Edgerrin Cooper is also a stud player. Losing Walker to free agency to Las Vegas and Enagbare to the Jets puts even more of a dent in the defense. Depending on how new players develop, that might not be enough to keep this defense near the top of the league, as they face three division opponents with formidable offenses.
Parsons might not be able to start the season either, which could put them behind the 8-ball if they start slow or if he doesn’t progress in his rehabilitation quickly enough. Bringing in Tyrod Taylor to back up Love if injuries occur was a smart move after losing Malik Willis.
Matt LaFleur is a good coach, and he always finds a way to keep the Packers fighting for the top spot in the division. This year, they might be more vulnerable than in past years, and they had virtually the same record as the Vikings and Bears at 9-8, except they tied the Cowboys, putting them at 9-7-1. Ties are basically losses in my book.
We’ve all seen what a bad offensive line can do to the rest of the offense, especially if injuries occur. If they go backward this year, the Parsons trade will be greatly questioned, and LaFleur may actually end up on the hot seat by year’s end.
