Packers 2026 Offseason

[JosephC]

I like Desmond Ridder more than Richardson, and by a pretty good margin. 

[adambr2]

From the NFLPA team report cards:

 

[homer]

fwiw the Packers are redoing their training room  More concerning the offensive coordinator getting a C.

[JosephC]

Tyler Biadasz got waived.  I really like the center class in the upcoming draft, so I guess I wouldn't be so hot in picking him up.  However, he probably would fit into the Packer's price-range if they like him as a player.  He was playing on a 3-year, 30 million dollar deal, but with available centers in free agency and what looks like a solid draft class, I don't see him getting more money than that even when considering the recent increases in the cap.  That type of deal probably carries a first year cap number of about 6 million, and perhaps even less than that if void years get stuck on the end of the deal.  All reports on him say solid, not spectacular.  Again, I like the rookie class and wouldn't have a problem with sticking a rookie in there.  But with Banks (bad 2025) on one side, and likely Belton (a promising but "unestablished" player) on the other side, the case could certainly be made that a steady but unspectacular player like Biadasz is just what the doctor ordered.

One thing that does bother me is that Washington has a bunch of cap room, so this is a move that they were not forced into.  I'm under the impression that Biadasz was not a bad player in 2025, but there must be something that Washington did not like about him.

[adambr2]

12 hours ago, homer said:

fwiw the Packers are redoing their training room  More concerning the offensive coordinator getting a C.

I mean I think we all know Adam Stenavich is the textbook definition of “just a guy.”

MLF basically runs the offense, so as long as that’s the case there isn’t a big name OC that is going to want to come be his figurehead.

[adambr2]

It’s a bad look.

[adambr2]

The worst part about this is that the survey was conducted BEFORE the playoffs and 5 game losing streak to end the season.

Matt Lafleur has clearly lost the team and Ed Policy had the perfect excuse for a reset and he extended him.

[adambr2]

The Cowboys are placing a 2nd round RFA tag on Brandon Aubrey if they can’t reach a deal.

I can’t be the only one who thinks giving up the 2nd and giving him $9M a year isn’t a terrible idea.

[JosephC]

2 hours ago, adambr2 said:

The Cowboys are placing a 2nd round RFA tag on Brandon Aubrey if they can’t reach a deal.

I can’t be the only one who thinks giving up the 2nd and giving him $9M a year isn’t a terrible idea.

Considering they don't have a first round pick, are short on cap space and have all sorts of holes to fill, this seems like a terrible idea to me.  With other likely cuts, the dead money hit on McManus would entirely fall under the 2026 cap, which totals 3.33 million.  So when short of cap space, the Packers would be paying kickers 12.333 million when the #2 paid kicker in the league (Butker) has a contract that averages 6.4 million a year.  Using a second round pick on a kicker, when they have pretty significant holes at center, cornerback, nose tackle, linebacker and are extremely thin on the offensive line seems like a poor strategy to me.

[CheezWizHed]

3 hours ago, adambr2 said:

The Cowboys are placing a 2nd round RFA tag on Brandon Aubrey if they can’t reach a deal.

I can’t be the only one who thinks giving up the 2nd and giving him $9M a year isn’t a terrible idea.

No, you aren't, but it is just you and Brandon's mother.  Brandon's father was still on the fence. 

[SeaBass]

I decided to randomly pick Miami and see how they compared to Green Bay for the NFLPA Grades.

Miami rank listed first w/ GB rank in [brackets]:

Defensive Coordinator: T9 (A)  [GB: T13 (A-)]
Food/Dining: T3 (A)  [GB: T11 (B+)]
General Manager: T8 (A-)  [GB: T19 (B+)]
Head Coach: T23 (B)  [GB: T27 (B-)]
Home Game Field: T4 (A-)  [GB: T14 (C+)]
Locker Room: T5 (A-)  [GB: T1st (A)]
Nutritionist/Dietician: T7 (A-)  [GB: T24 (B)]
Offensive Coordinator: T5 (A-)  [GB: T26 (C)]
Position Coaches: T3 (A-)  [GB: T9 (B+)]
Special Teams Coordinator: T26 (B)  [GB: T15 (B+)]
Strength Coaches: T1st (A+)  [GB: T28 (B)]
Team Ownership: T5 (A)  [GB: T13 (A-)]
Team Travel: 1st (A)  [GB: T13 (B-)]
Training Room: T1st (A)  [GB: T24 (C)]
Training Staff: T1st (A)  [GB: T29 (C)]
Treatment of Families: T3 (B+)  [GB: T22 (C+)]
Weight Room: T1st (A+)  [GB: T13 (A-)]

I bolded 1st ranked finishes in categories and also bolded any grade of C or worse. The Packers didn't earn any grades lower than a C but there were several teams that earned D's and even F's in many categories. They were all letter grades so most of the time there were one or more teams tied at their grade level in a category, at least between Miami and Green Bay who I focused on for this.

Have to say I was really surprised how high Miami ended up being ranked in a lot of these categories, I didn't cherry pick them by looking ahead at all their grades. It turned out that they ended with the best overall grade of any NFL team (they received three B grades that prevented them from getting straight As across the board). They tied for 1st in 5 categories, once being the lone first ranked team (for Team Travel). So honestly it's kind of interesting to compare Miami against Green Bay.

I think four of the five C grades the Packers received for Offensive Coordinator, Training Room, Training Staff and Treatment of Families clearly stand out. They also received a C grade for Home Game Field which I assume is due to the turf? When you're talking about a winter based team in an outdoor stadium I'm not sure how much weight you can put into this one. Could it be better? Possibly but how much better?

A lot is being made of MLF being tied for 27th at Head Coach but he received a B- grade. Is that actually bad? A flat B would push him up to 23rd and a B+ to 21st. I'm not sure I'm buying this is that terrible of a thing. It's not nothing but with simple letter grades there's not a lot of context there. 20 teams received A grades for HC. Would fan's opinions of MLF have changed if he'd gotten a flat A which would push him to a tie for 3rd? I doubt it.

The other main thought I had as I was going down this list was that Miami is really highly ranked for a team that's been in the playoff 3 times in the last decade plus. Do the players just like it because it's Miami and warm and they have a country club atmosphere but aren't expected to win? Who can say.

[adambr2]

30 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

No, you aren't, but it is just you and Brandon's mother.  Brandon's father was still on the fence. 

You guys are going to be really disappointed when we use our 2nd this year for some H-back blocking TE or a backup RB for Josh Jacobs.

[CheezWizHed]

11 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

You guys are going to be really disappointed when we use our 2nd this year for some H-back blocking TE or a backup RB for Josh Jacobs.

That might be true.  But I'd also be upset "drafting" a kicker (even as good as Aubrey) in the second round.  Let alone spending another $9M on him. 

Aubrey is probably worth 2-3 more FG on average over McManus.  I'd much rather focus on DT, C, and CB for those limited resources. 

And technically, it is the third round where we seem to do some hair-brained drafting (H-back, back up RB).  We've done very well in the second round. 😉

[adambr2]

21 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

That might be true.  But I'd also be upset "drafting" a kicker (even as good as Aubrey) in the second round.  Let alone spending another $9M on him. 

Aubrey is probably worth 2-3 more FG on average over McManus.  I'd much rather focus on DT, C, and CB for those limited resources. 

And technically, it is the third round where we seem to do some hair-brained drafting (H-back, back up RB).  We've done very well in the second round. 😉

AJ Dillon?

[adambr2]

Anyway, I don’t look at Aubrey like I do most other kickers. I think he is pretty special. When you can literally be in field goal range at midfield it really changes the entire field position game for you. I don’t really know how to quantify that with average players from regular positions. Given how bad our ST units have been overall it would be nice to have one of the top kickers and punters in the league.

As others have pointed out and I mentioned earlier in this thread I know we do have a ton of needs, so I get that. We are in a very challenging position.

[CheezWizHed]

4 hours ago, adambr2 said:

AJ Dillon?

I wouldn't consider him a bust.  Not a huge success, but far more yards than Lloyd...

But with Belton, Cooper, Bullard, Musgrave, Reed, Watson, Myers, Dillion, and Jenkins, you have a pretty good record of quality players without any busts. 

Our run of Williams (still hope), Lloyd (??), Hopper (still hope),  Kraft (major hit), Rhyan, Amari Rodgers, Deguara, and Sternberger... isn't nearly as stellar (with Kraft being the saving grace of the group)

[JosephC]

You'll get no argument from me that Aubrey is the best field goal kicker in the league.

But he's a restricted free agent.  You don't give up a second round pick for one year of a kicker.  You make that trade, and you are going to give him what he wants to keep him out of unrestricted free agency.  That's likely something like 4 years, 40 million.

At that price, he is earning 56% more than any other kicker in the NFL.  Is he really worth that?

Last year Aubrey was perfect within 50, missed 1 extra point and was 11/17 outside of 50.  His three longs were 64, 63 and 61.  No doubt the percentage of makes outside 50 is going to be depressed because of the number of "extra long" attempts he makes.  You will get no arguement from me on that.

Vikings kicker Will Reichard was perfect within 50, made every extra point attempt and was 11/13 outside of 50.  His three longs were 62, 59, 59.  It's very likely that his percentage outside 50 was better because he didn't get the number of "extra long" attempts that Aubrey got.  All that said, is Aubrey so far and away the best field goal kicker in the NFL that he should get a 10 million per year contract?  I think it's questionable, and when throwing a second round pick in the equation I think it becomes very, very questionable.

[homer]

Aubrey has only made 78% of his kicks when outdoors (36/46)

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AubrBr00/splits/

[homer]

Malik is gonna make a lot of money.

[JosephC]

Mason Reiger looks like he might be an appealing target to Gutekunst with one of the later picks.  Running a 4.78 40 at 251 pounds is nothing special, but his 10-yard time of 1.61 was one of the better times by an edge player and he posted a 40 inch vertical.  There are enough athletic traits there where I think Gutekunst would be interested.

Vinny Anthony measured in at 5-11 7/8 and 183 pounds, and the 40-time was 4.54.  Normally there is nothng wrong with a 4.54 40, but in this year's class that is a near bottom 5 number at the wide receiver position.  He already was handicapped by having mediocre college production, largely due to a pathetic quarterback situation, and it doesn't look like he did enough at the combine to get himself drafted.

[LouisEly]

On 2/28/2026 at 9:08 AM, homer said:

Aubrey has only made 78% of his kicks when outdoors (36/46)

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AubrBr00/splits/

This.  It's a lot easier kicking FGs off of turf in Dallas (or in Detroit, or in Minneapolis) than outdoors in Green Bay.

[Fear The Chorizo]

On 2/27/2026 at 6:11 AM, adambr2 said:

It’s a bad look.

Maybe MLF needs to take his shirt off next year so he's cooler with the players

 

I'd be more concerned about the dings on facilities/training room amenities from this survey over "player respect" for coaches.   The Packers need to have state if the art facilities in GB for it to remain a destination most players want to live and train here year round.  The Dolphins were ranked very high, and they had a trainwreck of a season - solely because they play in Miami.

[CheezWizHed]

1 hour ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Maybe MLF needs to take his shirt off next year so he's cooler with the players

 

I'd be more concerned about the dings on facilities/training room amenities from this survey over "player respect" for coaches.   The Packers need to have state if the art facilities in GB for it to remain a destination most players want to live and train here year round.  The Dolphins were ranked very high, and they had a trainwreck of a season - solely because they play in Miami.

Agreed about the facilities, but also a bit surprising.  We just did renovations not long ago and we are already getting dinged?  Food, training, and those things should be automatic for getting high marks.

Leadership is a tricky thing.  I've worked as a manager at three different companies and all three took surveys like this.  Those numbers can swing drastically if they take the survey at the "wrong time"; right after a layoff, having a poor year results in poor merit increases, etc... Quite often I get my results with comments like "I like my direct manager, but the company leadership stinks". 

Hopefully, this is more about the 5-game losing streak at the time than MLF losing the locker room.  Hard to know that from the outside though... 

[SeaBass]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Agreed about the facilities, but also a bit surprising.  We just did renovations not long ago and we are already getting dinged?  Food, training, and those things should be automatic for getting high marks.

Leadership is a tricky thing.  I've worked as a manager at three different companies and all three took surveys like this.  Those numbers can swing drastically if they take the survey at the "wrong time"; right after a layoff, having a poor year results in poor merit increases, etc... Quite often I get my results with comments like "I like my direct manager, but the company leadership stinks". 

Hopefully, this is more about the 5-game losing streak at the time than MLF losing the locker room.  Hard to know that from the outside though... 

The big caveat about these grades is the survey occurred before the 5 game losing streak. Even so, not really looking that deep into it. I really think a grade system isn't a great barometer unless you're getting Ds and Fs. A C grade can be a concerning blip but it's not completely awful either.

[homer]

On 2/26/2026 at 12:18 PM, JosephC said:

I like Desmond Ridder more than Richardson, and by a pretty good margin. 

Id prefer Richardson's upside. But you have to trade for him so not sure Id want to give up much to get him.