Packers 2026 Offseason

jay87shot · March 12

I really like the signings so far.

Hargrave 2/23. With Wyatt that should be a dynamic inside, especially with Karl Brooks and company giving them breathers.

Moore. 1/2.5. As a 5/6 WR and returner there is good upside. He also provides decent insurance if Reed gets injured as a slot guy. He was one of my favorite draft prospect the year he was drafted.

St. Juste 2/10 Is great value for a guy who ranked well last year by pff. Sounds like he is great in zone and iffy in man. I like him as much as when we signed Hobbs last year and at less than half the price.

Gary for a 4th. Awesome value here to save some money and get something useful.

Wooten for Franklin. I will admit I didn't know much about Franklin but he seems like a great tackler and makes a lot of big plays. With Hargrave I feel like the front 7 should be better even losing Gary, Wooden, and Walker.

If we can add a solid Oline vet I would be over the moon at this point

OldSchoolSnapper · March 12

He's been released twice because of money, not performance. He was really good for SF then got hurt and became an obvious release. Minnesota signed him to shore up what they thought was a contending team. He played well but it does not make sense for them to pay him.

33-year-old linemen are tough to get excited about on either side of the ball but that is what the Packers will be able to squeeze onto their books. Can't possibly be worse than our interior DL last season. I'm assuming he's a rotational pass rusher in GB. They really need Wyatt to stay healthy.

CheezWizHed · March 12

Seeing interest in trading for Josh Sweat. I was trying to figure out what the cap hit would look like to acquire him (most the tools focus on the sending team's cap hit). The cashflow looks like a flat $18.1M/year for 3 years.

I wouldn't want to trade any picks from this year though... I wonder if the Cowboy's 4th round pick we got for Gary would work?

Then focus depth at NT, CB, and OL in this year's draft.

Things are getting interesting...

JosephC · March 12

41 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Seeing interest in trading for Josh Sweat. I was trying to figure out what the cap hit would look like to acquire him (most the tools focus on the sending team's cap hit). The cashflow looks like a flat $18.1M/year for 3 years.

I wouldn't want to trade any picks from this year though... I wonder if the Cowboy's 4th round pick we got for Gary would work?

Then focus depth at NT, CB, and OL in this year's draft.

Things are getting interesting...

If traded, it looks like Sweat's first year cap number for the new team would be about 12.7 million.

I have the Packers roughly 29 million under the cap, and assuming that they likely want to have at least 15 million available entering the season...by my estimates they could make the deal money-wise, but it would likely be the last move they could make outside of a couple minimal, non-guaranteed deals later.

While there may not be a huge market out there for Sweat, he has posted 37.5 sacks over the last 4 years so there would be a market. I don't think a 2027 4th round pick would be nearly enough to get it done.

BrewerFan · March 13

On 3/5/2026 at 1:46 PM, CheezWizHed said:

I would be 50/50 on Hobbs being released. Cash flow + performance says cut him now. Knowing that we need viable NFL CB bodies (and regardless of what anyone things about him... he is one) makes me doubt it.

I think Banks will be back (98.37% certainty). He started terribly, but was passable later in the season. You still have the injury question mark... but they knew that going in....

I would have agreed with what they'd actually would do, but I disagree with them doing it.
Bringing Banks back... and even worse, they restructured. Restructure literally anyone else. You could have got out of that deal after this year at least. If you were willing to pay 20M for a 1 year of a below average OG.

Now you're paying him 26M next year in dead money if you move on.

Vera Tucker is worth twice Banks if healthy and since they both have health risks... I'd take that health risk. Alijah Vera-Tucker would have been the guy I'd have signed... if we were willing to take the injury risk. He's had two triceps and an Achilles that's... kinda flukey, but he has been injury prone. But he also got paid commensurate with that injury risk.

Hobbs was just a bad signing from the jump. A bad fit on this defense. I was never comfortable with playing a bunch of slot Corners outside... and their hope that Hobbs would reverse all his career trends... didn't exactly play out. Sure, he had bad luck with injuries, but he was not good when he was on the field...except when he was in the slot(when he was merely adequate).

I think keeping Banks just compounded their mistake. I think from any number of veterans or... again, Vera Tucker, an AP talent who got a really affordable deal with so much of his deal tied to his playing time(plus, his injuries, two torn triceps and an Achilles are a bit fluky, but he is elite when healthy). You could have signed AVT and a Teller, Zietler, Bitonio and the two of them are likely less in cap hits the next two years than Banks. Zietler is still an elite pass blocker. You could have signed Linderbaum. That would have made more sense. You will pay more, sadly, not THAT much more, but you get a cornerstone OL. Tom and Linerbaum.

I would have said a BIG part of the reason they wanted to hold on to him and not go into the FA market is because they only had a couple cracks at FAs. You have 6 FAs who are signing elsewhere, you can get 4 comp picks, you re-signed Rhyan, now you signed a top of the market FA and you wipe out at least a 4th next year(maybe a 3 depdning on how Willis, Doubs or Walker play or how much).

With the NFL VERY possibly reworking their TV deal and going from ~10B to ~25B(That's expected if it's done soon) that cap is going to explode. It's already exploding. It'll be 330 next year without the new TV deal. WITH a new TV deal? It's going to completely change the league. And the Packers should be proactive and extend Watson(30M AAV), Kraft(~18-20M)... maybe Wyatt(likely a 17M AAV, he's making ~13 this year) and I'd consider Reed if you can get it done for an extension of 4/80.

I'd get the deals done as early as possible as they're just going to all get more expensive.

If the TV deal doesn't get done this year, it gets done after 2028 when the NFL opts out and then it's going to be... a much bigger number.
If the NBA is getting 7B a year, the NFL is worth... close to 400% more just from rating, ad revenue.

So the cap is set to truly sky rocket, probably exceeding 500M by the time Parsons deal is up and it could be much sooner than the actual opt out.

But hey, hope I'm wrong and Banks can play well. I also appreciate the calculus that goes into free agency as the Packers will had 5 extra 3rd-5th rd picks next year(Gary's trade was... a masterstroke by Gutey).

Love Harvgraves. He excelled when playing under Gannon. Woolen makes absolutely no sense to me, not with Leo Chenal on the market(though again, comp pick) or Lloyd who got a very reasonable deal.
St. Juste is a great deal.
I'm pretty sure they'd have signed Riq Woolen if he'd have taken 15M over 4 years. Don't think the Packers wanted to give him just 1 year at 15M. And he could not have picked a better fit. Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jordan Davis and... presumably Jalen Carter... assuming these wild rumors don't amount to anything.

They had to bring back Rhyan and they can get out of that cheap.
Skyy Moore finally gives them a return man. He and Savion on KR, but PR is... a big upgrade. We had our #2 WR as our leading PR last year.

Packers still have the money or mechanism to create the money for another big signing, but I wouldn't expect anything significant until after the draft when the comp pick formula doesn't matter or MAYBE we add another DL like Campbell. I know he's 40, but I've been pleading for him for about 6 years now. He would be our best DL if he plays like last year, he's cheap and just genuinely a good dude and leader. I don't care if he's 40. I wouldn't be a 4 yeaer deal.

I think LaFleur is a REALLY good coach, but we’re going to find out this year. This is a brutal off-season for the Packers just in terms of cohesion. They has lost a lot of important coaches and they have a lot of turnover, they don’t have a 1st and they had needs on the OL and DL coming into it.... not to mention our CB room is still very bad.... but a great DL, Parsons, Wyatt, Hargraves, maybe Campbell, LVN if he takes another step, that makes it passable.

Beyond that, I’d expect him to be active on the trade market after the draft and next season with the extra picks they'll have.

OldSchoolSnapper · March 13

I really don't agree that this is a brutal offseason. They are shedding a bunch of meh that hometown fans tend to overvalue as they do in every city. Mediocre guys get hyped up by the club's socials and every "he's a gamer" line gets amplified. There are scores of guys who I was constantly told were so important even though it seemed they never did anything, then they leave and you never hear from them again. Nobody they've lost was that big of a deal, hell I'd say Willis is huge as he won games every year he was here. I would have liked to see where Enagbare's future here went, but even he was already 26 and probably at the ceiling. Doubs was a solid WR but no way he was getting paid with the cheap options they have on the roster.

They have shored up the DL a little, the CBs are bad but they were getting by on it until Parsons and Wyatt went down and they added another pass rusher. I think it's kinda clear the Packers plan on defense is to get to the QB and just don't get gutted by the run. Their success hinges on those guys being healthy, not the mediocre CBs shining.

Biggest concern to me is the OL. It's not good and it's thin. I wouldn't have any objections to them using 2 of their first 3 picks on OL.

Outside concern to me that I don't hear much about is RB. Loved Wilson but he is gone now, Brooks has to take a bigger role and Jacobs looked awfully washed at points last season but then toward the end looked like he might have just been hurt. Lloyd seems like a prayer at this point.

JosephC · March 13

I did some checking around (with people I trust) and Hargrave is not a traditional nose tackle. He played that spot last year for the Vikings, but Flores stunt-heavy defense constantly had him on the move. He's not a guy who will be able to take on two blockers and hold up. His 1 year with the 49ers, he played three-technique >90% of the time, and in the two years in Philly when Gannon was the defensive coordinator, he played the three-technique almost exclusively.

I think his signing was to add more pass-rush and be additional insurance to go with Wyatt, which is a smart move as Wyatt's yearly snap count percentage has gone from 21.68% to 49.68% to 33.24% to 33.84%. Wyatt was up to 60% of the snaps in the games he appeared in last year, but then got hurt.

I still think nose tackle is a significant need and will be addressed in the draft. As I see it, Wyatt, Hargrave, Brooks and very likely Brinson gets them to four defensive tackles. Average breakdown for NFL teams these days seem to be 10 defensive lineman/edge players, 5 off the ball linebackers and 10 defensive backs. So it definitely looks like there is still a spot to add a nose tackle, as Riley and Ford are more journeymen types at this point and Stackhouse was awful last year

JosephC · March 13

9 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

And the Packers should be proactive and extend Watson(30M AAV),

As incredibly unpopular as this would be, this is the one I would never consider unless it was a virtually improbable two year deal.

Snap count percentage by year - 2022 = 46.34%, 2023 = 40.69%, 2024 = 51.20%, 2025 = 39.77%. Two significant injuries. And what is more concerning, those injuries weren't a guy putting his helmet right on his knee or getting a shoulder blown out in a scrum when diving for a loose ball. Those injuries are non-contact injuries. An optimist would write off the first one as a fluke, but it's happened twice with Watson.

Watson will be good if he's healthy, but considering the history, a 4 year, 120 million dollar deal with something like 70 million guaranteed looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

igor67 · March 13

I'm inclined to agree that he just seems way too fragile to invest a big contract in. And while he is a difference maker on the field he hasn't really shown himself to be one of the best in the league. He certainly could put up an impressive season and it not be a surprise but I'm not saying to myself he could have been a HOFer except for the injuries at this point.

HarryDoyle · March 13

8 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I really don't agree that this is a brutal offseason. They are shedding a bunch of meh that hometown fans tend to overvalue as they do in every city. Mediocre guys get hyped up by the club's socials and every "he's a gamer" line gets amplified. There are scores of guys who I was constantly told were so important even though it seemed they never did anything, then they leave and you never hear from them again. Nobody they've lost was that big of a deal, hell I'd say Willis is huge as he won games every year he was here. I would have liked to see where Enagbare's future here went, but even he was already 26 and probably at the ceiling. Doubs was a solid WR but no way he was getting paid with the cheap options they have on the roster.

They have shored up the DL a little, the CBs are bad but they were getting by on it until Parsons and Wyatt went down and they added another pass rusher. I think it's kinda clear the Packers plan on defense is to get to the QB and just don't get gutted by the run. Their success hinges on those guys being healthy, not the mediocre CBs shining.

Biggest concern to me is the OL. It's not good and it's thin. I wouldn't have any objections to them using 2 of their first 3 picks on OL.

Outside concern to me that I don't hear much about is RB. Loved Wilson but he is gone now, Brooks has to take a bigger role and Jacobs looked awfully washed at points last season but then toward the end looked like he might have just been hurt. Lloyd seems like a prayer at this point.

I tend to agree. Every year I hear "We need money to resign our own players".

Why?

OldSchoolSnapper · March 13

4 hours ago, igor67 said:

I'm inclined to agree that he just seems way too fragile to invest a big contract in. And while he is a difference maker on the field he hasn't really shown himself to be one of the best in the league. He certainly could put up an impressive season and it not be a surprise but I'm not saying to myself he could have been a HOFer except for the injuries at this point.

He's been injured so much that I'm not sure he'll get any kind of monster deal from anyone.

But if you don't, good luck getting somebody better for less. Nobody on this roster does what Watson does. I would definitely try and extend him during next season if he's playing well. Three years for $75m. With his injury history he'd have every reason to say yes.

adambr2 · March 14

Agreed, there’s nobody outside of Willis that we lost that I am very shook about losing. Even some of the guys we brought back I am not crazy about. I would have kept Wilson over Brooks. That’s not a huge endorsement of the talent level on the roster right now. I see Rasheed Walker got 1 year and 10 million from Carolina. Looks like the massive market for him was greatly exaggerated.

At least we extended Watson for a year. I just can’t bring myself to care about losing Doubs,

adambr2 · March 14

I can’t say he’s wrong, I fully expect Matt to have a successful 2026 regular season and then go deer in the headlights when something goes wrong in a playoff game.

JosephC · March 14

15 hours ago, adambr2 said:

I see Rasheed Walker got 1 year and 10 million from Carolina. Looks like the massive market for him was greatly exaggerated.

The people that were counting on two third round comp picks and two fourth round comp picks must be extremely disappointed now. Overthecap is projecting the compensatory pick for Walker as a sixth rounder. There is a chance that pick could be a fifth rounder, but a sixth round compensatory pick won't even be in the top 200.

To me, bringing back Rhyan for 33 million and then losing Walker at a 10 million price-tag is a major misstep by Gutekunst. It would have been much easier to replace a very mediocre Rhyan with a player from outside the organization, especially with how good rounds two and three look with center candidates in this year's draft.

LouisEly · March 14

Walker for some reason chose an agent who only has three other clients, the most of whom any are making is $4M/year.

I wonder if his agent blew it and if he had higher offers but the agent was trying to get him to hold out for a contract like Dan Moore.

JosephC · March 15

Since the first wave of free agency is over, yesterday I played through a mock draft simulation-

https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/mock-draft-simulator

Instead of using the team needs listed on that site, I primarily used Dan Parr's updated team needs at NFL.com, and then used Ourlads depth charts for confirmation

https://www.nfl.com/news/2026-nfl-draft-order-round-1-needs-for-all-32-teams

https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/

When making the Packer's picks, I picked players that I thought Gutekunst would pick. So it's not a scenario of what I would do, but a prediction of what I think the Packers would do.

Here were the results-

2-52 = Malachi Lawrence/EDGE/Central Florida

3-84 = Daylen Everette/CB/Georgia

4-120 = Jude Bowry/OT/Boston College

5-160 = Kaleb Elarms-Orr/LB/TCU

6-201 = Micah Morris/OG/Georgia

7-236 = David Gusta/DT/Kentucky

7-255= R.J. Maryland/TE/SMU

endaround · March 17

Well Gutekunst did get the award he is most interested in. Packers threepeat as youngest team by snap weighted age!

https://ftnfantasy.com/nfl/snap-weighted-age-2025-seahawks-bring-another-young-team-to-a-championship

Sixtolezcano · March 17

On 3/13/2026 at 2:02 AM, BrewerFan said:

I would have agreed with what they'd actually would do, but I disagree with them doing it.
Bringing Banks back... and even worse, they restructured. Restructure literally anyone else. You could have got out of that deal after this year at least. If you were willing to pay 20M for a 1 year of a below average OG.

Now you're paying him 26M next year in dead money if you move on.

Vera Tucker is worth twice Banks if healthy and since they both have health risks... I'd take that health risk. Alijah Vera-Tucker would have been the guy I'd have signed... if we were willing to take the injury risk. He's had two triceps and an Achilles that's... kinda flukey, but he has been injury prone. But he also got paid commensurate with that injury risk.

Hobbs was just a bad signing from the jump. A bad fit on this defense. I was never comfortable with playing a bunch of slot Corners outside... and their hope that Hobbs would reverse all his career trends... didn't exactly play out. Sure, he had bad luck with injuries, but he was not good when he was on the field...except when he was in the slot(when he was merely adequate).

I think keeping Banks just compounded their mistake. I think from any number of veterans or... again, Vera Tucker, an AP talent who got a really affordable deal with so much of his deal tied to his playing time(plus, his injuries, two torn triceps and an Achilles are a bit fluky, but he is elite when healthy). You could have signed AVT and a Teller, Zietler, Bitonio and the two of them are likely less in cap hits the next two years than Banks. Zietler is still an elite pass blocker. You could have signed Linderbaum. That would have made more sense. You will pay more, sadly, not THAT much more, but you get a cornerstone OL. Tom and Linerbaum.

I would have said a BIG part of the reason they wanted to hold on to him and not go into the FA market is because they only had a couple cracks at FAs. You have 6 FAs who are signing elsewhere, you can get 4 comp picks, you re-signed Rhyan, now you signed a top of the market FA and you wipe out at least a 4th next year(maybe a 3 depdning on how Willis, Doubs or Walker play or how much).

With the NFL VERY possibly reworking their TV deal and going from ~10B to ~25B(That's expected if it's done soon) that cap is going to explode. It's already exploding. It'll be 330 next year without the new TV deal. WITH a new TV deal? It's going to completely change the league. And the Packers should be proactive and extend Watson(30M AAV), Kraft(~18-20M)... maybe Wyatt(likely a 17M AAV, he's making ~13 this year) and I'd consider Reed if you can get it done for an extension of 4/80.

I'd get the deals done as early as possible as they're just going to all get more expensive.

If the TV deal doesn't get done this year, it gets done after 2028 when the NFL opts out and then it's going to be... a much bigger number.
If the NBA is getting 7B a year, the NFL is worth... close to 400% more just from rating, ad revenue.

So the cap is set to truly sky rocket, probably exceeding 500M by the time Parsons deal is up and it could be much sooner than the actual opt out.

But hey, hope I'm wrong and Banks can play well. I also appreciate the calculus that goes into free agency as the Packers will had 5 extra 3rd-5th rd picks next year(Gary's trade was... a masterstroke by Gutey).

Love Harvgraves. He excelled when playing under Gannon. Woolen makes absolutely no sense to me, not with Leo Chenal on the market(though again, comp pick) or Lloyd who got a very reasonable deal.
St. Juste is a great deal.
I'm pretty sure they'd have signed Riq Woolen if he'd have taken 15M over 4 years. Don't think the Packers wanted to give him just 1 year at 15M. And he could not have picked a better fit. Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jordan Davis and... presumably Jalen Carter... assuming these wild rumors don't amount to anything.

They had to bring back Rhyan and they can get out of that cheap.
Skyy Moore finally gives them a return man. He and Savion on KR, but PR is... a big upgrade. We had our #2 WR as our leading PR last year.

Packers still have the money or mechanism to create the money for another big signing, but I wouldn't expect anything significant until after the draft when the comp pick formula doesn't matter or MAYBE we add another DL like Campbell. I know he's 40, but I've been pleading for him for about 6 years now. He would be our best DL if he plays like last year, he's cheap and just genuinely a good dude and leader. I don't care if he's 40. I wouldn't be a 4 yeaer deal.

I think LaFleur is a REALLY good coach, but we’re going to find out this year. This is a brutal off-season for the Packers just in terms of cohesion. They has lost a lot of important coaches and they have a lot of turnover, they don’t have a 1st and they had needs on the OL and DL coming into it.... not to mention our CB room is still very bad.... but a great DL, Parsons, Wyatt, Hargraves, maybe Campbell, LVN if he takes another step, that makes it passable.

Beyond that, I’d expect him to be active on the trade market after the draft and next season with the extra picks they'll have.

Couple of comments:

I agree that both Hobbs and Banks were terrible deals. Neither should have been signed to the contracts for the amount of money they were given. No way should they have even entertained the idea that Hobbs could have played a boundary corner when he failed there multiple times with the Raiders. Then including his injury history, just a huge mistaking signing him. Banks was a poor signing as well, however with the Jenkins’ injury situation and just getting older, that signing wasn’t as bad.

i was really hoping they would sign Chenal, as that would have mitigated losing Quay Walker and missing Parsons the for the early part of next season. Also, Harvgrave was a good signing, as he should be an above average DT in 2026 and hopefully 2027. No way will/should GB SIGN AN ALMOST a 40 yo DL player for the same reasons with increase risk signings for such a player.

Even the accounting for cap increases in 2026 or 2027 almost all of it will be given to Wyatt ($13M-17M AAV) Watson ($13M - 30M AAV)Kraft ($4-20M AAV) and even Reed ($2.5M-20M AAV) not including other players that will need extensions.

I don’t agree that MLF is “a REALLY GOOD HC” (maybe an average or at best a slightly above average HC) . I also don’t think you can count on LVN to be an average an Edge rusher.

HarryDoyle · March 17

7 hours ago, endaround said:

Well Gutekunst did get the award he is most interested in. Packers threepeat as youngest team by snap weighted age!

https://ftnfantasy.com/nfl/snap-weighted-age-2025-seahawks-bring-another-young-team-to-a-championship

Gee, why can't this team ever make it past the wild card round?

Underachiever · March 18

21 hours ago, endaround said:

Well Gutekunst did get the award he is most interested in. Packers threepeat as youngest team by snap weighted age!

https://ftnfantasy.com/nfl/snap-weighted-age-2025-seahawks-bring-another-young-team-to-a-championship

What I like about this is that I can criticize Gute from all angles. One, tying as the youngest team with the Jets is not good company. Two, Seahawks prove you can win with a young team, so youth isn't an excuse.

LouisEly · March 18

1 hour ago, Underachiever said:

Two, Seahawks prove you can win with a young team, so youth isn't an excuse.

Now, compare where they rank on the salary $ on IR and games missed by starters lists.

Underachiever · March 18

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Now, compare where they rank on the salary $ on IR and games missed by starters lists.

That sounds like a lot of work. can you do it for me?

LouisEly · March 18

45 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

That sounds like a lot of work. can you do it for me?

I'm exhausted from all that Googling. Might have carpel tunnel from typing those 15 words.

https://overthecap.com/apy-on-injured-reserve

https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2025/12/03/which-nfl-teams-have-been-most-and-least-affected-by-injuries-in-2025/

https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/most-injured-nfl-teams-of-2025-102815

endaround · March 18

1 hour ago, Underachiever said:

What I like about this is that I can criticize Gute from all angles. One, tying as the youngest team with the Jets is not good company. Two, Seahawks prove you can win with a young team, so youth isn't an excuse.

Yes they are young, but they are still .6 years older than the Packers. The difference be then the Jets/Packers and SEA/PHI at 29/30 is the same as between SEA/PHI and Arizona at 16. The Packers are not just young but like a standard deviation younger.

Underachiever · March 18

39 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

I'm exhausted from all that Googling. Might have carpel tunnel from typing those 15 words.

https://overthecap.com/apy-on-injured-reserve

https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2025/12/03/which-nfl-teams-have-been-most-and-least-affected-by-injuries-in-2025/

https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/most-injured-nfl-teams-of-2025-102815

That was a point you were trying to make. Why should I do it for you? I assumed you were too exhausted to make it, or you wouldn't have asked me to do it for you in the first place.

Now I have the knowledge, and I see your point.

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