Packers 2026 Offseason

[adambr2]

4 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I think that stops working at a point though. You keep running it back thinking you're the same mid team, but eventually you're just pretty bad. It's a tough team to peg right now. There's definitely some real talent bubbling to the surface, Golden looks like a really good player and Watson has really found the next gear. I just don't see much depth and very little in the way of contingency plans. Too much money tied up in a couple players that aren't the difference makers they're paid to be. I like Parsons and Love, too, but one is going to miss more than half the season and the other really hasn't ascended to the level we'd hoped. I think Love is definitely good enough to be QB on a championship team, but not sure this team is good enough. RB is pretty frightening. CB is contingent on a pass rush that we don't have until November. Every team has uncertainty, but we seem to have it in spades.

 

I would guess they’re still probably a 9-10 win team if Parsons is healthy this year, but we’ll see. 

If January comes around and all of the sudden you’re a 6-11 win team then it becomes pretty scary. Then you have no real direction, a HC you just extended, no 1st, and a franchise QB that is fine but not really an elevating one. 

At that point I think you’d have to have all options on the table, including a total tear down and seeing what you could get for Parsons and Love, but I don’t think they’d have the stones for it. More likely they’d spin some narrative of what went wrong in ‘26 and tell us why the same will produce better results in 2027, 

I dunno. The division will be very tough. Maybe they can tread water until Parsons is healthy, and maybe LVN will come into his own and once Parsons returns they look a lot like the first couple weeks last season. Maybe the offense runs well through Golden/Watson/Reed and Kraft is healthy and Jacobs has enough for one more season. 

But there are a whole lot of maybes between 6 wins and 12 wins.

[adambr2]

One thing I hope we can throw in the trash can this year is the “youngest team in the NFL” narrative that we like to spin every year to insinuate that “young” equates to “ascending” when it often in fact, does not. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Maybes dictating 6-12 wins is probably the very typical existence of NFL teams whose QB isn't Mahomes, Rodgers etc. Probably something we should just get used to. I am not sure the division is that tough either. I think the Lions are finished as far as title window goes. The Bears are the competition. I guess tough in that I don't think any of the teams are top contenders.

[adambr2]

I think the Vikings will be better. They won 9 games last year I believe with a QB situation that could literally not have been worse.

The Lions I don’t see as a SB contender but  I don’t know who even really fits the definition in the NFC. I could easily see the Seahawks drifting back to 9 wins and none of the North teams winning 10 would be a huge shock to me. If I had to pick a NFC favorite I’d go with the Rams but I’m not extremely confident in it.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I thought Kyler Murray was so incredibly "meh" even when he was being hyped up a couple years ago. I just don't see it with him, but they got him for nothing and McCarthy is a bust, so they can't be worse there. I think they'll be in last place.

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Maybes dictating 6-12 wins is probably the very typical existence of NFL teams whose QB isn't Mahomes

And even if their QB is Mahomes they can still win only 6 games.  (Yes, he was injured, but he still started and finished 13 games and they went 6-7 in those games.)

It's the NFL - nobody has depth, and if you don't have a few players tying up a lot of cap space then you don't have good players.

[homer]

Packers have as good a chance as anyone if their key guys stay healthy. Hell, they might have won it all last year had their key guys stayed healthy.

[CheezWizHed]

3 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I thought Kyler Murray was so incredibly "meh" even when he was being hyped up a couple years ago. I just don't see it with him, but they got him for nothing and McCarthy is a bust, so they can't be worse there. I think they'll be in last place.

Listening to the news broadcasters in MN, they are trying to make the best of the situation... but no one escapes the reality that you have 3 QBs going into TC in an open competition.  And none of them have been really that good at their peak.  And two are clearly past their peak...one is questionable at having a peak.  They lost a lot of players in the offseason also due to cap reasons.  I'm pretty sure they will be last. 

[CheezWizHed]

Generally, I do see the team improving over last year, but they certainly aren't without their issues - injuries being one of the bigger ones. 

Offense: I honestly see the potential for a #1 offense this year.  To do that, MLF has to increase the pass/rush ratio, WRs and Love need to stay healthy.  OL just needs to solidify. 

• QB: Compared to last year, it is probably "flat".  Losing Willis hurts if Love doesn't stay healthy.  But another year with the same WRs should help Love be better too.  Love needs to get over 4000 yards. 
• WR: Losing Doubs means we lost a very sure-handed WR that was Love's go-to.  Watson and Reid had injury issues last year and must stay healthy... but all three starting WRs (including Golden) have higher upside than Doubs.  This group could be electric... or on the sidelines. 
• TE: Kraft might've been the best TE in all of football when he got hurt. Depth is thin behind him, but if the WRs hit this year, there won't be many balls behind Kraft. 
• OL: Last year was a massive shuffle where the only players that didn't get injured were either "meh" (Walker) or at new positions (Rhyan/Belton).  I think Morgan at LT is an upgrade.  Banks improved at the end of the year as he got healthy.  Rhyan will have an offseason to improve at C or be replaced by Burton (either should be better than 2025 Rhyan).  Same with Belton - he improved all year and with an offseason to practice the technique, I think he will be excellent with a lot of big runs behind him.  Tom back healthy is clearly better than our RT all last year.  Big arrow up on this group with a big injury caveat.
• RB: Losing Wilson hurts unless Lynch can stay healthy (big if).  Obviously, Jacobs' legal situation is a big concern, but I don't think finding an RB at the end of TC is terribly hard.  And this might even push us to pass more, which is a good thing.  But Jacobs also has a ON-OFF-ON cycle for his career and this year would be "ON" in that cycle. 

Defense:  Last year, we were comfortably in the top 10 when Parson was injured.  I see improvements and concerns for 2026 but could be top 10 again. If we had one top 15 CB, I'd feel much better about the defense's upside. The coaching change will be one to watch also.  

• DL: Wooden did surprisingly well for us last year, but fits the 3-4 less and wasn't a needle mover anyway.  Adding McClellan and Hargrave next to Wyatt, Brooks, Brinson, and Stackhouse is a net gain.  
• OLB: Assuming Parsons comes back at 100%, this group is probably about the same.  Gary seemed to be regressing last year to just "solid".  I think Sorrell can provide that this year.  LVN needs to stay healthy to get long term impact.  I like Oliver a lot and he should be picking Parson's brain to be a poor-man version.  DDS might surprise people too.  
• MLB: Franklin for Walker is the key here.  I doubt Franklin will be overall better, but can he be more consistent and let Cooper be the splash player?  I'd say this group is about the same. 
• Safety: Quite literally the same unless you want to include ST players.  Should be slightly better from the point of view of young players reaching their peak and no one really "over the peak". 
• CB: Here is my main concern for the team. Added two interesting players, but they probably protect our floor more than raise the ceiling.  Cisse might be excellent in a couple of years and might start this year... but overall I don't see this group being a strength.  

Special Teams:  It all surrounds what the word "Smack" means in January:

1. I'd love the Smack that kicker!!!
2. He really Smacked that ball!!!

 

Keeping healthy is a key, key area in so many positions with players that have struggled to stay healthy in the past.... though several of them have gotten better there too. 

[homer]

Vita Vea has requested a trade. Yes  please.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

13 hours ago, homer said:

Vita Vea has requested a trade. Yes  please.

Eh. They have big assets tied up in Wyatt, Parsons, Hargrave, picked up LVN's option. He asked for a trade because they can't get a long-term deal done. Turns 32 around the Super Bowl. Plays about 50% of the defensive snaps. Wants to play in California. They can't afford him.

[JosephC]

The Packers are already in a situation where they will likely have to cut Jacobs, Banks (post June 1 designation), Hargrave and Franklin in order to make the 2027 cap work...and that is prior to a potential Kraft extension.  I think they are done looking for any high priced players from outside of the organization this off-season.

Just for kicks, I went to OvertheCap and plugged in guess numbers for the Wyatt contract (they don't have the details yet), and then put in a new 3 year, 72 million dollar deal for Vea (25 million dollar signing bonus).  Note that Vea has a 17 million dollar base salary for 2026 which would not work for Green Bay, so this would be a new contract that would run from 2026-2028.  After doing that, the Packers would be 8.8 million under the cap for 2026, and approximately 18.8 million over the cap for 2027.  Cutting Jacobs (post June 1), Banks, Hargrave and Franklin after this year would take them from 18.8 million over to 29.2 under...and generally I would like to think they would prefer to roll into an off-season with at least 40 million to work with.

Kraft is probably the last "larger" deal we are looking at over the next few months.  What will really complicate matters more is if they decide they need to do a Love extension this next off-season.  His 2027 cap number does not demand it, but they might feel the need to do it anyway.  And unlike most extensions, where the first year of the deal has a lower base salary and give the team some short term cap relief, I would not expect that with a Love extension, just because I think the numbers of the deal will be staggering. 

[JosephC]

Packers just signed some no-name kicker.  He's a German guy that played in the European League of Football.  Very interesting.

[CheezWizHed]

2 hours ago, JosephC said:

Packers just signed some no-name kicker.  He's a German guy that played in the European League of Football.  Very interesting.

I'm pretty sure he has a name... 😂

Just another option for the International exception.  A little odd if they go into TC with 3 kickers, but I'd put $ down that he is on track to be the last PS spot.