After a stunning playoff exit in Chicago earlier this year, the Green Bay Packers didn’t make any seismic moves this offseason to address some apparent shortcomings. Instead, the Packers added a couple of veteran pieces and will rely on improvement from within.
Still, are they really doing enough to improve?
An optimist might categorize players like Micah Parsons, Tucker Kraft, Devonte Wyatt, and others as additions of a sort for 2026 because of the significant time they missed last year to injury, including the postseason. Put differently, actually having access to their full roster of players is an upgrade, at least by this logic. But those pieces were already in place on a team that looked the part of a potential juggernaut before all hell broke loose in a Week 15 loss to the Denver Broncos.
If you really want to consider the stability of last year’s roster as a quasi-addition in 2026, fine. But in the subtraction column, the Packers lost wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, linebacker Quay Walker, and offensive linemen Elgton Jenkins and Rasheed Walker. Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, and cornerback Nate Hobbs also headed elsewhere. Of the group, Doubs was the most impactful lately, while Jenkins was a stud at guard for years before being moved to center a year ago.
According to CBS Sports, the Packers are one of the biggest offseason losers in the NFL.
Green Bay has established itself as a middle-of-the-road team, and the problem is, I think it got worse this offseason. Green Bay lost its most reliable wide receiver in Romeo Doubs, linebacker Quay Walker and left tackle Rasheed Walker in free agency. The Packers also parted ways with cornerback Nate Hobbs and offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, and traded pass rusher Rashan Gary to the Dallas Cowboys and wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks to the Eagles.
On the one hand, a lot of starting-caliber players have left Green Bay. On the other hand, nobody in that group was untouchable. Gary was constantly stalling out, while Hobbs never worked out after being signed last offseason.
Green Bay came up short of the division title. That dry spell has run so long that every other team in the NFC North has now won the division since the Packers last claimed it.
So Green Bay absolutely needed to improve this offseason, not just make minor tweaks. The Chicago Bears aren’t going to fall off a cliff. Instead, they feel like a team that’s just getting going. The Minnesota Vikings should be even better with Kyler Murray at quarterback after their ups and downs last year. The Detroit Lions will be serious playoff contenders again.
The ugly truth is, the Packers didn’t make the kind of significant offseason moves that made them favorites in the NFC North — and any such drastic deals just probably weren’t in the cards. Green Bay didn’t have a first-round pick due to the Parsons trade last year, and now they may have to wait half the season to get Parsons back in 2026.
The Packers addressed areas of need like cornerback, drafting two and signing veteran Benjamin St-Juste, and the interior of the defensive line, drafting Chris McClellan and signing veteran Javon Hargrave. They also locked in a big part of the future at wide receiver with extensions to Christian Watson and Jayden Reed. However, none of the true additions, via free agency and the draft, are significantly moving the needle.
There might be some exaggeration from national outlets about all the departing pieces, but you’d be hard-pressed to convince anyone the Packers improved in an eye-opening way. Instead, the powers that be at 1265 Lombardi Ave. are banking on internal development and improvements from players already on the roster.
How great can Matthew Golden be with a more prominent role? Will this be the year things click for Lukas Van Ness? Will Jordan Morgan shine at his natural position at left tackle? Can MarShawn Lloyd finally stay healthy and contribute as the RB2?
If those things happen, absolutely, the Packers will be a better team. The problem is, none of that is guaranteed, or even highly probable.
And those are just the uncertainties we are aware of right now. As a famous politician once pointed out, there are also “unknown unknowns.” Green Bay’s front office is gambling on finding answers to problems they couldn’t solve last season and persevering through new challenges, largely with the same personnel.
That’s a big bet. Maybe it will pay off, but it’s tough to argue the Packers got meaningfully better in the time since their losing streak culminated in that dispiriting Wild Card loss in Chicago.
