Between what’s left in free agency and the draft, there’s plenty of time to add to the roster, but here’s a look at the Packers almost one week into free agency.
On Sunday, an epic blizzard began blowing through Green Bay. Similarly, a storm has blown through the Green Bay Packers’ roster. Last season, 23 players played at least 468 snaps from scrimmage. During an eventful first week of free agency, seven of them are no longer with the team.
Where are the Packers better? Worse? Here’s a position-by-position look at the roster, with the important acknowledgement that there are role players available in free agency and the draft is on the horizon.The Packers lost Malik Willis in free agency. After two excellent seasons of backup duty, there was absolutely no chance the Packers would re-sign him. Willis got his opportunity to start , and the Packers at this point will be rolling with either Desmond Ridder or Kyle McCord, two late-season additions. At least Ridder has significant experience with 18 starts.The Packers opted to stick with Josh Jacobs atop the backfield, and then they went with the proven pass-protection ability of Chris Brooks over the proven running ability of Emanuel Wilson. That means the Packers are a man down in the backfield and looking for a No. 2/co-No. 2 to pair with Brooks. If only the Packers had used a valuable draft pick a couple years ago to have that player in place. Wait, they did, but will MarShawn Lloyd ever be a factor? Damien Martinez, a seventh-round pick by the Seahawks last year who was a late addition to Green Bay’s practice squad, The Packers obviously will add a player to the mix. But, for now, they must replace the 998 rushing yards Wilson provided the last two seasons.With Christian Watson and Rome Doubs scheduled to be free agents, the Packers drafted Matthew Golden and Savion Williams last year. So, on paper, anyway, they are covered after letting Doubs sign a four-year, $67 million contract with the Patriots. We’ll see if they are up to the task. Green Bay Packers receiver Matthew Golden makes a reception while being covered by Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Golden will be a more explosive threat than Doubs ever was in four seasons. He had more receptions of longer than 30 yards last season than did Doubs. That will be good for the offense. Doubs, however, is the established red-zone and third-down player. The Packers will have to make up for that somehow.. Tight end John FitzPatrick suffered a torn Achilles in Week 16 at Chicago. He was the team’s best blocker among the tight ends, and his physicality was missed in the playoffs. With Tucker Kraft coming off a torn ACL and with Luke Musgrave being a nonfactor as a blocker, the Packers will either have to replace him or hope he’s healthy to re-sign for the start of the season.It’s been an eventful offseason for a unit that failed to meet expectations last season. The Packers, as expected, let left tackle Rasheed Walker leave in free agency and gave the heave-ho to guard-turned-center Elgton Jenkins. In a huge move, they re-signed Sean Rhyan. He started seven games at center after Jenkins’ season-ending injury and now ranks seventh at the position in average salary. He was decent while learning on the fly and, in theory, should be better with an offseason to prepare. There’s a lot of projection going forward. The Packers drafted Jordan Morgan in the first round to play left tackle. Now, he’ll finally get the opportunity. He’s played the position once in a game – Week 18 against the Vikings.Probably better. And potentially significantly better, though that requires a lot of projection with Morgan at left tackle, Aaron Banks staying healthy at left guard, Year 2 jumps for Rhyan and right guard Anthony Belton, and right tackle Zach Tom staying healthy.Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt will be a big addition after he missed the end of last season. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Packers weren’t good enough on the defensive line last season. Instead of adding, general manager Brian Gutekunst subtracted by trading 25-year-old Colby Wooden. Wooden was practically a zero as a pass rusher but he was the unit’s best run-stopping defensive tackle. The response was signing one of Jonathan Gannon’s former standouts, Javon Hargrave. The pass rush will be better. The run defense?Rashan Gary’s disappearing act was one of the greatest since Houdini made an elephant disappear more than a century ago. Imagine having 7.5 sacks in the first seven games and zero sacks or tackles for losses in the final 10 games. Even Collin Oliver and Shemar Barthlomew had a tackle for loss. General manager Brian Gutekunst should either be Executive of the Year or in prison for getting out of the contract and getting a fourth-round pick in a trade with Dallas.Combined, they played 1,121 snaps. Addition by subtraction is a great premise, but where is the evidence that Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox and Oliver can provide the addition? Not even Micah Parsons could make Gary a great player.The Packers traded Colby Wooden to acquire Zaire Franklin from the Colts. After three seasons of elite production, Franklin’s production took a dip in 2025. He’ll turn 30 in July. The Packers are betting Franklin will have a bounce-back season and deliver the type of big-production that evaded Walker over the last three seasons. Walker has his flaws but he was aWorse. For the money , the Packers are big-picture better. On the field, though? Linebackers can be productive past their 30th birthday, so this could go either way.Benjamin St-Juste breaks up a pass intended for Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The four-year, $48 million contract given to Nate Hobbs last year was horrendous, even in the moment. Did the Packers actually expect a cornerback who had played mostly in the slot and had an injury history to be able to play starter-level football on the perimeter and stay healthy? The Packers released Hobbs and signed Benjamin St-Juste for less than half the price on a per-season basis. He’s shown enough flashes, especially in a reserve role last year with the Chargers, to at least get a chance to challenge for a starting job.The only change was special-teams standout Zayne Anderson signing with the Dolphins. Safety once again will be arguably the team’s best position.Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.
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