Devonte Wyatt got lost among all the Green Bay Packers’ devastating season-ending injuries last year. All of the chatter focused on the losses of Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft, but Wyatt was critical in his own right.
Entering a contract year and coming off brutal ankle and leg injuries, would it be wise for the Packers to handle Wyatt’s situation like they did Christian Watson‘s last year?
Watson was coming off a torn ACL entering last season when Green Bay tacked on a one-year extension laced with incentives. The problem the Packers faced was that they knew that Watson was dynamic. However, they also knew that injuries had derailed a lot of that momentum early in his career.
Green Bay granted Watson a one-year extension, giving the team more time to evaluate things while also providing Watson the comfort of not having to play out a contract year in 2025.
Since then, we all know Watson performed splendidly in 2025 and cashed in earlier this offseason on a very lucrative four-year extension. At the time, the one-year tack-on made sense for both sides.
It could make sense for Wyatt now.
Wyatt has shown flashes of excellence. He’s had stretches lasting nearly a month in which he’s looked like a dominant interior defensive lineman who can stack performances. The issue has been availability over the last two years, with Wyatt never logging more than 380 snaps in either season.
Last year, trouble came in the form of an ankle injury and a broken leg, both of which required surgery. Now, Wyatt will enter his fifth year and his age-28 season coming off those brutal injuries.
Will he be the same player he was before the injuries suffered last November? That’s certainly the hope, but there’s no guarantee. It’s why a one-year extension at a reasonable price could make sense for both sides.
In essence, the Packers played this method out last offseason when they picked up Wyatt’s fifth-year option. The idea was – or had to be – that Wyatt would stay healthy and display some stellar play that would’ve netted him a long-term deal this offseason with the Packers. The fifth-year option served as a safety net of sorts for the Packers, buying them a little more time.
Fast-forward one offseason, and there still isn’t much clarity.
Has Wyatt lived up to the hype of a former first-round pick? No, you’d have a hard time arguing that. However, has Wyatt been a clear-cut starting-caliber defensive tackle when healthy? You’d have a hard time arguing against that.
Green Bay could opt to delay their decision until next offseason, with a one-year extension this offseason, allowing next year to serve as a buffer. It’s exactly what it did with Watson, and that seemed to serve both sides well.
The concern for both sides of letting this season play out is evident.
What if the Packers let Wyatt play out his contract year, and he finally stays healthy and plays the way many believe he’s capable of? Good luck in a bidding war next offseason with teams who will have more cap space and may be willing to offer more than Green Bay.
From Wyatt’s perspective, playing out this season and risking injury yet again would kill any leverage he has entering free agency. Getting a one-year extension now gives him the safety net the Packers had when they exercised the fifth-year option last offseason.
The Packers knew they didn’t want to lose Watson. They were just waiting to see how he looked coming back from the ACL injury before investing in a long-term deal with their best receiver. They could do the same with Wyatt, a former first-round pick who has shown plenty of promise when he’s been on the field.
Teammates typically will want to hype one another up to build confidence, but Micah Parsons has gone out of his way multiple times to praise Wyatt and what he could become. He did so again last Thanksgiving after Wyatt suffered his season-ending injuries.
“You guys see the difference he makes when he got back out on the field. He’s a player you can’t replace,” Parsons said. “It’s going to be challenging but we’re going to have to really dial into our details, our fundamentals to try to replace someone that’s unreplaceable.”
That’s a hell of an endorsement from one of the best in the league.
The best-case scenario for both sides here is that Wyatt stays healthy in 2026 and plays to a level that warrants the Packers opening up the checkbook to keep him around. Doing so without Wyatt being a free agent is key.
Why not treat the Wyatt situation like the Watson situation was handled last year?
It makes a lot of sense.
