Packers 2025 offseason position preview: Tight end

Paul Bretl | 2/5/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In the coming weeks we will be taking a position-by-position look at the Packers roster with our lens focused on what’s ahead and what’s needed at each position group.

Up next are the running backs. If you missed any of the previous previews, follow the link below.

Quarterback
Running back

Tight end overview

The offseason is a time for reflection and evaluation, but Packers’ head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t need much time after the 2024 season ended to recognize that Tucker Kraft needs to be involved more on offense.

“100%,” said LaFleur after the season when asked if Kraft can have a George Kittle or Travis Kelce-like impact in the Packers’ offense, “and I think that’s on us to make sure we find him and feature him because he is, I mean, when he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him. So, if there’s an area that we gotta do a better job on, I would say featuring the tight end.”

Kraft had 70 targets and 55 receptions this season, so it’s not as if he was forgotten about in the passing game. He also led this Packers team in touchdowns this season. With that said, there were also nine games where he had three or fewer targets, and that’s a small role for such an impactful presence.

There is certainly more out there for Kraft in the passing game. If LaFleur believes he can have that Kittle or Kelce-like impact, then he needs more opportunities, particularly in an offense that was dealing with injuries and up-and-down play at the receiver position during the season.

Despite ranking 17th among all tight ends in targets, Kraft was sixth in receiving yards this season with 733, in large part due to his ability to pick up yards after the catch (YAC) and generate chunk plays. Kraft’s 13.3 yards per catch was the third-highest mark among tight ends and he led the position group in average YAC per reception.

“I talked about playing with violence and finishing and just being an (expletive)-hole out there,” said Kraft on Monday. “I think you turn the film on, you’re gonna see ‘85’ all over the field, just doing that. I’m just gonna come back and bring it again in 2025. You guys are gonna see the same thing, same goals I want to set out. I want to be the best blocking tight end in the NFL while also being that guy. I want to be the guy in Year 3. I have goals and aspirations.”

The opportunity for Kraft that is out there doesn’t only come with more opportunities in the passing game, but in how he’s utilized–and this is two-fold. It’s, at times, making him one of the first reads in Jordan Love’s progression so he is more of a focal point in the passing game.

In addition to that, it’s moving Kraft around more and allowing him to attack different parts of the field. According to Pro Football Focus, of Kraft’s 70 targets, only 10 came 10 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage. However, particularly over the middle of the field–where tight ends can be a real mismatch–on those intermediate to deep routes, Kraft was 6-fo-6 when targeted on such throws, totaling 184 yards with two touchdowns.

“I’m going to do everything I can in my power to stay healthy,” said Tucker Kraft of the upcoming offseason. “I was shorted of an offseason last year. I’m going to do everything I can to get on the same page and build that relationship and that trust (with Jordan Love) and get everybody in here on that strain of camaraderie and brotherhood. That’s what it’s going to take.”

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Along with Kraft, the Packers have the potential to have a dynamic one-two punch at the tight end position, but an ankle injury, unfortunately, shortened Luke Musgrave’s season. He appeared in just eight games including the playoffs and of Musgrave’s 160 snaps in 2024, 108 of them came during Weeks 1-4 prior to his injury. Upon his return in Week 16, Musgrave would average just 13 snaps per contest over those final four games.

We know the field-tilting ability that Musgrave possesses with his speed. That presence in the offense can create matchup problems for him to exploit, but the attention he draws can generate mismatches for others and help spread the defense out as well, giving the offense more space to attack. There is also something to be said for the added unpredictability that an offense can have when two tight ends can impact both the run and passing games.

“It would be big time,” said Jordan Love of having both Kraft and Musgrave together. “I think the last time we had it was really during training camp, having both those guys out there. And it definitely changes the plays we call and some of the formations we have and personnel groupings. But to have both those guys out on the field, those are two really good tight ends.

“So I think it definitely changes the way we can call some plays and things like that. It’s been tough not having Luke out there so to get him back healthy and back out on the field would be big-time.”

However, because of injuries, Musgrave has played in just 18 regular season games in his first two years and when on the field, we haven’t seen that big play presence often nor him being paired with Kraft that often. In 2024, with only 160 total snaps, the opportunity wasn’t there, but in 2023, he averaged a modest 10.4 yards per catch, often getting the ball on short area throws.

Step one is for Musgrave to be healthy during the season, but even when on the field, the results haven’t necessarily been there. Hindsight is always 20/20, and again, we can’t truly evaluate Musgrave’s 2024 season because of all the time he missed, but looking back, it was a very quiet training camp for him and a slow start to the season before his injury.

In addition to that, while understanding that upon Musgrave’s return from IR he would have to be eased back in, over the Packers final four games, his playing time barely increased at the end of the year. With Kraft’s more well-rounded skill set and a potentially larger role in the passing game coming, carving out ample playing time as the second tight end on the depth chart may not come easy, especially when putting two tight ends on the field means taking one of the Packers’ receivers off of it.

“Whatever they want me to,” said Musgrave on what he can contribute. “Whatever they see fit. That’s the coaches’ job, so whatever they see me doing, I’m willing to do.”

Positional need this offseason

The need at the tight end position is relatively low for the Packers. Both Kraft and Musgrave still have two years left on their rookie deals. Ben Sims is still under contract for one more season and John FitzPatrick is a restricted free agent, who I would guess, returns and does so on a relatively inexpensive deal.

That group right there very well could make up the Packers 2025 tight end room on the 53-man roster. However, I wouldn’t say an addition this offseason in some capacity isn’t going to happen either. For one, from a pure numbers perspective, with Messiah Swinson as the only other tight end under contract this season, we could see the Packers sign an undrafted rookie to bolster the depth for training camp.

But in addition to that, while I wouldn’t expect an early-round draft pick on a tight end, Sims’ and FitzPatrick’s blocking-heavy roles are upgradeable. I don’t consider it a given that they are roster locks if there is someone who could push them for playing time.

While PFF’s grading system is far from the be-all-end-all in terms of evaluation, for what it’s worth, Sims ranked 59th out of 84 tight ends in run-blocking grade and FitzPatrick often played just a few snaps per game.

Salary cap outlook

On paper–and Gutekunst agrees–the Packers are in a good position with the salary cap this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $42.14 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 13th-most among the NFL.

“I feel really good,” said Gutekunst about the Packers’ salary cap situation. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. Again, we’ve got to keep making good decisions, and it’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things.

“We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

There are also ways to create more cap room if needed through a veteran roster cut or trade. In this instance, if a player’s cap hit–what’s on the salary cap books that season if the player is on the roster–is greater than their dead cap hit–which is money that’s already been paid to the player but hasn’t yet counted towards the salary cap and remains on the books even if that player is on a new team–then there will be cap space gained by the team if they moved on from that player.

Another avenue to create cap space is through a restructure–which we saw the Packers utilize heavily during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons. In short, this is kicking the salary cap can down the road by taking cap charges from the current year, such as a portion of a player’s base salary, and converting it to a signing bonus so the cap hit can be pro-rated over the remaining life of the contract.

The benefit in the moment is that it creates cap space now. However, the downside is that the player’s cap hit in future seasons is now inflated. If the Packers have to go down this path to improve the roster, Gutekunst is willing to do so, but he prefers to operate from the team’s current cap position now that they no longer have the salary cam impact of those past restructures on the books.

“I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year,” said Gutekunst. “We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

Free agents available

Although, as just described, I could see a path for the Packers to add to the tight end position, I don’t see that happening via free agency. But nonetheless, here are the top free agent options with help from Over the Cap:

Juwan Johnson
Tyler Conklin
Zach Ertz
Austin Hooper
Mike Gesicki
John Bates
Luke Farrell
Johnny Mundt
Jordan Akins
Nick Vannett

What about the NFL draft?

Including the compensatory pick that the Packers are projected to receive from Yosh Nijman signing elsewhere in free agency last offseason, Green Bay should have eight picks in total, including three in the final two rounds of the draft. If they were to take a swing at adding a more traditional in-line Y-tight end to compete with Sims and potentially FitzPatrick, that is where I would guess they do it.

According to PFF’s big board, here are the top tight end prospects in this year’s class:

Tyler Warren, Penn State
Colston Loveland, Michigan
Harold Fannin, Bowling Green
Gunnar Helm, Texas
Elijah Arroyo, Miami
Benjamin Yurosek, Georgia
Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame
Terrance Ferguson, Oregon
Mason Taylor, LSU
Caden Prieskorn Ole Miss
Jake Briningstool, Clemson
Jackson Hawes, Georgia Tech
Thomas Fidone, Nebraska
Jalin Conyers, Texas Tech
Luke Lachey, Iowa
Oronde Gadsden, Syracuse
Moliki Matavao, UCLA

Packers make in-house addition and find new linebackers coach

Paul Bretl | 2/4/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — With Anthony Campanile now the Jacksonville Jaguars’ new defensive coordinator, the Packers have reportedly found their next linebackers coach.

To fill this role, the Packers are staying in-house, and promoting assistant linebackers coach Sean Duggan to linebackers coach, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Before joining the Packers in 2024, Duggan was a top assistant at Boston College under Jaff Hafley. When Hafley took over as the head coach of Boston College in 2020, he hired Duggan to be the linebackers coach. The two had worked together at Ohio State the year prior when Hafley was the co-defensive coordinator and Duggan was a grad assistant.

From 2020 through 2022, Duggan was the linebackers coach at Boston College and became the co-defensive coordinator in 2023, along with still retaining his title as linebackers coach.

“After working with Sean at Ohio State, he was a guy who jumped out that if I ever landed a head job, I have to hire this guy,” said Hafley when he hired Duggan in 2020 via SI’s BC Bulletin. “He is smart, reliable, sees things on gameday and really understands the big picture. He is well advanced beyond his years and has a chance to be a superstar in our profession.”

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Replacing Campanile won’t be an easy task, but apart of the success that the Packers linebacker unit and run defense had in 2024 was Duggan.

Now, of course, having a talent like Edgerrin Cooper in the middle–whose speed and athleticism allows him to impact the game in a variety of ways–certainly helps a lot. But there’s a lot that goes into the progression we saw from Cooper as the year went on. It’s the work he puts in, it’s the gained experience through reps, it’s time in the film room, and it’s coaching. If a rep is off in practice, players get back in line and do it again until it’s done correctly.

Along with Cooper’s emergence, Quay Walker put together his best season as a pro. Again, as the season went on and he got more comfortable with the new scheme and his new role as the Mike linebacker, confidence was gained and strides were made. From Weeks 12-14, prior to Walker’s ankle injury, you name it, whether it be run defense, pressuring the quarterback, or plays in coverage, and Walker ranked among the best at his position group during that span.

We also saw steady play from Isaiah McDuffie, and whenever Eric Wilson was called upon to fill a larger role, he was ready and often came up with some impact plays.

“I think Coach Camp and Sean Duggan have done a really good job with the linebackers and the knowledge they’ve poured into him (Walker) and how much he can retain and get out,” said Hafley during the season.

Campanile also held the title of run game coordinator–an area where the Green Bay defense made major strides in 2024, operating as one of the best in football in that regard. As of now, we do not know if Duggan will hold that same title and those job responsibilities.

Against the run, Green Bay finished the season ranked third in yards per carry allowed and seventh in rushing yards per game, which included holding opponents to under 100 yards for the first time since 2009.

The linebackers also played a crucial role in the team’s ability to drum up pressures. With the four-man front struggling to get home, Hafley had to manufacture pressure on the quarterback through either blitzes or simulated pressures to throw some eye candy and confusion at the offensive line. Despite the inconsistencies up front, the Packers’ defense as a whole would rank in the middle of the pack in pressure rate, with the linebackers being a big part of that.

“I think Haf’s done a great job with them and Campanile and Sean Duggan’s in that room, as well,” said Matt LaFleur prior to the Jacksonville game. “So, really confident with that room.”

As the defensive coordinator, Hafley establishes the vision for what he wants the defense to be and what the game-plans need to look like on a weekly basis. It’s then up to the position coaches to relay that messaging to their players and make sure that throughout the week when it comes to prep, fundamentals, technique, and the understanding of the why behind each player’s role, those standards are upheld.

“What a great job he’s (Campanile) done with the linebackers, him and Sean Duggan, with those young guys and obviously it’s shown,” Hafley said late in the season.

Packers 2025 offseason position preview: Running back

Paul Bretl | 2/4/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In the coming weeks we will be taking a position-by-position look at the Packers roster with our lens focused on what’s ahead and what’s needed at each position group.

Up next are the running backs. If you missed any of the previous previews, follow the link below.

Quarterback

Running back overview

On and off the field, the addition of Josh Jacobs came with a massive impact to this Packers team. Off the field, Jacobs quickly emerged as a leader on this young team. On the field, he was among the most productive backs and football.

We saw a shift in the Packers’ offense this season with Jacobs as the lead back. This became a much more run-centric unit with that success on the ground often being the catalyst for the overall success on offense that the Packers experienced. Jacobs provided the, at times, up-and-down Packers offense with stability–an element they could rely on and do so heavily with the workload that was put on Jacobs’ shoulders.

Jacobs finished the regular season rushing for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns. Among his position group, Jacobs ranked sixth in yards, fourth in touchdowns, fourth in missed tackles forced, and sixth in rushes of 10-plus yards. When needed, Emanuel Wilson averaged 4.9 yards per rush on 103 carries, and Chris Brooks filled a do-it-all role at the running back position, lining up all over the formation and really standing out as a blocker.

“He’s a stud, isn’t he,” Matt LaFleur said of Jacobs after the team’s win in Jacksonville. “He is a pro’s pro. I can’t say enough great things about him. We’re lucky to have a guy like that. the way he comes in and communicates and works and demands it of himself but demands it of others as well.”

When an offense has a steady run game to lean on, that has a positive trickle-down effect to the rest of that unit. Moving the ball on the ground often keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. In short down-and-distance situations, the entire playbook is open for the offense, which can create opportunities for the passing game, and the defense is on its heels, having to defend the entire field while being prepared for both the run and the pass.

“That opens up just a lot of things that we can get to,” said Tucker Kraft of Jacobs and the run game. “We can get to play pass, and we got shots off the runs that we have. So just opens the playbook up even more. And we don’t even have to get to those plays. We just still rely on our backs.”

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However, if there was something that was missing from the Packers’ run game–even with Jacobs’ impressive production–it was the homerun plays on the ground.

Jacobs would steadily pick up positive gains, averaging 4.4 yards per rush on the season, and oftentimes, turning a carry that could have been a loss or no gain into one where he picked up a few yards. But in terms of ripping off a huge gain, while Jacobs would rank 11th in rushes of 15-plus yards, that in part, is a product of how often he carried the ball. From an efficiency standpoint in that regard, Jacobs was 32nd among eligible running backs in breakaway rate.

In order to have more opportunities for those explosive runs, Jacobs needs more opportunities to hit the second level cleanly where we all know he has the ability to make defenders miss. However, of Jacobs’ 1,329 rushing yards, 1,039 of them came after contact. That’s nearly 80% of Jacobs total yards were manufactured after a defender contacted him.

For some context, the only backs with more yards after contact were Saquon Barkley (1,093) and Derrick Henry (1,137), but a stark difference is that both of those backs were around the 2,000 yard mark–or roughly 50-55% of their yards came after contact. Naturally, it’s a lot easier to rip off big runs when not dealing with defenders right away.

With Jacobs as the back, we saw a much more heavy dose of the gap running scheme this season rather than the traditional outside zone runs often associated with Matt LaFleur’s offense. The gap scheme suits Jacobs skill set well, but it was a change for the offensive line.

“I think coaching is, yeah, you have a philosophy of what you want to do and a foundation of what you want to do, but you’d better not be so stubborn that you just – this is what we’re going to do – if you’re pieces don’t necessarily match. I think that’s good coaching – putting your players in the best position possible,” Matt LaFleur said.

Heading into the new season, there is also the opportunity for Matt LaFleur to get the running backs more involved in the passing game. Out of 57 eligible running backs this past season, Jacobs would rank 27th in targets and no other Packers’ running back qualified because of a lack of opportunities.

Beyond the back being a checkdown option, if defenses have to be mindful of the running back in the passing game, it’s another element that they have to prepare for and it can help spread them out as they now have to defend more of the field.

Perhaps the return of MarShawn Lloyd can provide the Packers with a boost in these two areas. With the burst and juice he possesses, that homerun ability very much exists in his game. LaFleur has also spoken glowingly about what he can bring as a pass-catching option out of the backfield.

Before the end of the season, like Christian Watson and Eric Stokes did, Lloyd spent time at UW-Madison to get to the root of the soft tissue injuries he continued to run into during his rookie season.

“Josh had a really good year,” said Lloyd, “and I do think and I do know that I can help him a lot. He had a lot of hits on his body, I’m there to help and he knows that. It’s going to be fun when I get out there on the field to play with him.”

Heading into the 2025 season, an important factor is going to be LaFleur determining what type of running team the Packers want to be. Are they going to be a more shotgun-heavy, gap-scheme-reliant running team because that suits Jacobs well? Or will we see the pendulum swing back to more outside zone and more under-center play-action opportunities in an effort to get more out of that element?

After the offense faltered down the stretch, everything needs to be examined. As described above, a good running game should be a passing game’s best friend. So then why did the Packers struggle through the air late in the season and in game’s against the NFC’s best?

Positional need this offseason

The need here for the Packers is extremely low. Jacobs is entering Year 2 of a four-year deal. Lloyd is only entering his second NFL season as well. Wilson is an exclusive rights free agent, which means he cannot negotiate with other teams and will be brought back on a league minimum deal. Brooks, meanwhile, is still under contract for the 2025 season, according to Over the Cap.

Perhaps we see the Packers bring in an undrafted rookie to bolster the back-end competition at this position, but don’t expect the team to invest any meaningful salary cap space or draft capital into a running back.

Salary cap outlook

On paper–and Gutekunst agrees–the Packers are in a good position with the salary cap this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $42.14 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 13th-most among the NFL.

“I feel really good,” said Gutekunst about the Packers’ salary cap situation. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. Again, we’ve got to keep making good decisions, and it’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things.

“We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

There are also ways to create more cap room if needed through a veteran roster cut or trade. In this instance, if a player’s cap hit–what’s on the salary cap books that season if the player is on the roster–is greater than their dead cap hit–which is money that’s already been paid to the player but hasn’t yet counted towards the salary cap and remains on the books even if that player is on a new team–then there will be cap space gained by the team if they moved on from that player.

Another avenue to create cap space is through a restructure–which we saw the Packers utilize heavily during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons. In short, this is kicking the salary cap can down the road by taking cap charges from the current year, such as a portion of a player’s base salary, and converting it to a signing bonus so the cap hit can be pro-rated over the remaining life of the contract.

The benefit in the moment is that it creates cap space now. However, the downside is that the player’s cap hit in future seasons is now inflated. If the Packers have to go down this path to improve the roster, Gutekunst is willing to do so, but he prefers to operate from the team’s current cap position now that they no longer have the salary cam impact of those past restructures on the books.

“I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year,” said Gutekunst. “We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

Free agents available

As I said, I wouldn’t expect any additions from the Packers, but to be thorough in our position preview, let’s take a look at who is out there with help from Over the Cap:

Aaron Jones
Rico Dowdle
Javonte Williams
Najee Harris
JK Dobbins
Kareem Hunt
Jaylen Warren
Alexander Mattison
Ameer Abdullah
Ty Johnson
Dare Ogunbowale
Kenneth Gainwell

What about the NFL draft?

Again, this is not a position I’d expect the Packers to add to, although this would be a good year to do so. The general consensus among draft analysts is that this year’s running back class is absolutely loaded, with their being not only a ton of talent, but a variety of wide-ranging skill sets available as well.

With help from PFF’s big board, here is a look at who makes up this year’s running back class:

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
Omarion Hampton, UNC
Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Devin Neal, Kansas
Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State
RJ Harvey, UCF
DJ Giddens, Kansas State
Jarquez Hunter, Auburn
Kalel Mullings, Michigan
Damien Martinez, Miami
Trevor Etienne, Georgia
Kyle  Monangai, Rutgers
Marcus Yarns, Delaware

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst on big trades: ‘You better be right’

Paul Bretl | 2/3/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — “I think it’s time we started competing for championships,” said Packers’ general manager Brian Gutekunst during his season-ending press conference a few weeks ago.

This statement came after Gutekunst mentioned that there are a bunch of “good guys” in the Packers locker room and that there are a bunch of “talented guys” as well. However, what Gutekunst wants to see from his young team in 2025 is that the “sense of urgency” is ramped up to help capitalize on the opportunity that is out there for the Packers.

Ultimately, that element–the urgency–is on the players and coaches to maximize. But for Gutekunst, with the time to compete for titles here, would he go off-script and make a big trade for a player that could put this Packers team over the edge?

We saw just last offseason that Gutekunst will take big swings in free agency for the right players when he signed Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney to either top of market or near top of market deals. That wasn’t the first time Gutekunst did that either, with Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith being other examples.

“I think I view every offseason that we have to attack it aggressively,” said Gutekunst in his season-ending press conference in January. “The opportunities that present themselves, whether that be free agency or trade, are different every year. Every year there’s not going to be a Josh Jacobs or an Xavier McKinney out there to go get.

“So we’ll see kinda what transpires through the free agency class – who gets re-signed, who doesn’t, if there’s salary cap casualties, if there’s trade opportunities, all those. But I think we always operate under the aggressive mindset, but we have a process that we go through and we’ll see what’s available. If it’s right for us, then we’re going to attack it. If they’re not there, it’s not there.”

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Gutekunst mentioned trade opportunities, but that isn’t a path he’s really explored during his time as general manager. He’s been more cautious when it comes to adding players through that avenue While the outside world focuses on what could be gained from an addition acquired via trade, the other part of the equation is what is being given up as well.

As Gutekunst described, this can include parting with not only draft picks, but young, ascending players who come with relatively inexpensive rookie deals, which when it comes to building a sustainable roster in today’s salary cap league, it’s a must nowadays to have high impact players on their first contracts and then the salary cap means to be able to extend them when the time comes.

“You’d better be right,” said Gutekunst when asked about trading a high draft pick for a player. “When you trade a high pick for a veteran player, you’re trading a young, really good contract for a player who’s proven but is probably expensive.

“So you’re giving up a pick and salary-cap space. So I think you’ve got to weigh that. And if it’s the right player, if you feel like he can be a dynamic player who can change your football team, I think you’ve got to consider that, because there’s not many of those guys out there. But I think you have to also understand what you’re giving up.”

One would assume that the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett would fall into that “right player” category for Gutekunst and the Packers. Garrett is a four-time All-Pro, the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year, and on Monday, he requested a trade. Garrett is also still just 29 years old and was top-three in quarterback pressures this past season.

If it gets to the point where the Browns are willing to trade Garrett–which reportedly at this time, isn’t the case–Adam Schefter brought up the Khalil Mack trade when he was moved from the Raiders to the Bears. In that trade, the Raiders received two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick. The Bears, in addition to landing Mack, also received a second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick.

The Athletic’s Dianna Russini had one NFL general manager tell her that landing Garret could require a “one-plus,” referencing a first-round pick and then some. However, that same general manager also said that three first-round picks is “not happening.”

In addition to giving up a first-rounder and more to potentially land Garrett, the team that acquires Garrett will also need available cap space, and likely have to be willing to sign him to a new deal. For some context around that, San Francisco’s Nick Bosa is earning $34 million per year, which is the top of market at the edge rusher position heading into the 2025 offseason.

Garrett is currently signed through the 2026 season and comes with a cap hit of $19.77 million in 2025 and a cap hit of $20.37 million in 2026, according to Over the Cap.

On paper–and Gutekunst agrees–the Packers are in a good position with the salary cap this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $42.14 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 13th-most among the NFL.

Like any team, the Packers also have the ability to create more room through contract restructures, which pushes salary cap charges from the current year into future years. We saw Green Bay do this often during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons to keep that veteran-heavy roster together.

The benefit in the moment is that restructures create cap space now. However, the downside is that the player’s cap hit in future seasons is now inflated. If the Packers have to go down this path to improve the roster, Gutekunst is willing to do so, but he prefers to operate from the team’s current cap position now that they no longer have the salary cam impact of those past restructures on the books.

“Certainly we’d love to be in that situation every year where you have a lot of flexibility to do what you need to do,” Gutekunst said. “I think depending on the opportunities that are out there and your football team or where you’re at can dictate some of that. Again, I think whenever there are players like X or Josh that are out there (in free agency), which isn’t very often, I think even if you don’t have great flexibility, you have to really consider adding those kind of players because there’s just not that many of ’em.

“So again, I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year. We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

While, overall, the Packers’ defense took a step forward in Jeff Hafley’s first season as the defensive coordinator, the pass rush struggled to find any consistency. By ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric in 2024, the Packers ranked 26th and ended up parting ways with defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich. They’ve since hired DeMarcus Covington to fill that role on the coaching staff.

In order for the Packers defense to continue progressing and to ultimately reach its ceiling, the pass rush has to improve in 2025.

“It doesn’t happen a lot at all,” said Gutekunst of the Packers trading high picks for players, “but we’ve gotten some first-round picks for players. Certainly if that player can impact our football team in a significant way, you have to consider that.”

Packers 2025 offseason position preview: Quarterback

Paul Bretl | 2/3/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In the coming weeks we will be taking a position-by-position look at the Packers roster with our lens focused on what’s ahead and what’s needed at each position group.

Up first, let’s start with the Green Bay Packers’ quarterbacks.

Quarterback overview

Jordan Love’s second year as the starting quarterback for the Packers was a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

Injuries during the first half of the season forced him to miss time and hampered his play to a degree. Out of the bye, we saw an impressive stretch from Weeks 11-15 where Love and the offense were heating up with five straight 30-plus point performances, only for both to cool off drastically during the team’s final three games of the season.

Love finished the season completing 63% of his passes at 7.9 yards per attempt with 25 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Compared to the rest of the NFL, Love ranked 33rd in completion rate, fourth in yards per pass attempt, 10th in touchdowns–even with the missed time–and had the 12th-most interceptions, most of which came during the first half of the year.

“I think he is an ascending player that is going to get better and better and better,” said Matt LaFleur after the season. “And I think he takes, he approaches the game the right way.

“I love working with the guy every day,” LaFleur added. “That whole quarterback room, great synergy in there, and those guys are just, they’re about the team. They care for one another. They come to work with the right mentality every day.”

So, now heading into what will be Love’s third season as the starter, where does he need to improve to help this Packers team take that next step? As is often the case, there isn’t any one answer to this question, but head coach Matt LaFleur did tell us during his season-ending press conference that more consistent footwork was going to be a priority for Love this offseason.

Footwork is the foundation for a quarterback’s success on any given play. As quarterbacks coach Tom Clements has said previously, he usually has a good idea of how the pass turned out by watching the quarterback’s footwork.

Footwork, the cornerstone of a quarterback’s performance, is more than just steps. It’s about executing the right drop to ensure timely throws, maintaining balance, and keeping the feet in constant motion. This synchronized movement with the quarterback’s eyes is crucial for a successful play. Any deviation from this can disrupt the quarterback’s mechanics, leading to inaccurate passes or mistimed plays.

In the Philadelphia game, specifically, LaFleur mentioned that on certain drops, Love’s footwork got a little loose, which can disrupt the timing and rhythm of the passing play, especially when the ball is supposed to be out quickly. This also wasn’t the first time throughout the season that this happened either. As Love navigated a knee and groin injury during the first half of the year, the lack of practice time hurt some of those fundamental components of playing the position.

“I think just the one thing I did talk to him about was just the consistency of his footwork on some of these plays,” LaFleur said on Tuesday. “I think he would be the first to tell you the same thing because there were some instances throughout the course of the season and specifically in this last game where the rhythm and timing, especially when you have a rhythm play, like quick game for example, just that left-right footwork that we take just hitting your back foot and letting it rip.

“Or if you do take a hitch, you gotta take your checkdown, typically, or progress on. So I would say that, because I think that’s the foundation of great quarterback play is the fundamentals, the techniques, the footwork.”

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What the Packers couldn’t overcome against the NFC’s top opponents this season were the slow starts. A lack of execution and self-inflicted mistakes were often the root cause behind those woes, but as far as what contributed to those issues over and over again, that’s still an answer the Packers are searching for.

As LaFleur will often point out, the quarterback gets all the credit when the team wins and all the blame when the team loses, but in both instances, it’s a group effort to get to either of those points.

Throughout LaFleur’s conversation with the media following the season, he referenced things that went wrong around Love against the Eagles that contributed to the offensive struggles. On the interception by Darius Slay, LaFleur noted that the receiver needed to do a better job of stacking the defender to help create a more open throwing window.

On the interception over the middle, the receiver was supposed to break in at 20 yards from the line of scrimmage but instead did so at 15 yards, throwing off the entire play design. LaFleur also noted the litany of dropped passes throughout the season, and that Love also dealt with steady pressure from the Eagles’ four-man front as well.

Now, none of that is to absolve Love of his up-and-down play this season. When asked if Love needed to perform better, without hesitating, LaFleur said, “absolutely.” But those examples provided by LaFleur adde context around the issues that the Packers’ offense ran into and showcase that it wasn’t any one player behind it all, but it was on everyone.

“You’ve got to maximize all your opportunities,” LaFleur said of the offense’s struggles. “You’ve got to execute. I can tell you specifically since it’s so fresh this last game, we didn’t do a great job, like there was pressure all day in the pocket in the passing game. There were some runs, there were some bad looks that we ran into, and there were other times when we had some running lanes and we don’t win our one-on-one, we don’t win our block. And that’s football. We’ve just got to collectively as a group – all of us, myself as much as anybody – we’ve got to be better.”

The onus of getting the most out of Love and, therefore, the offense as a whole also falls on LaFleur’s shoulders as well. Are there more opportunities to get Love on the move to add another dimension to the offense and to help open up opportunities in the passing game? Did the Packers’ heavy usage of the gap running scheme and running out of shotgun with Josh Jacobs impact the team’s performance off of play-action and in the passing game?

And while versatility is great and allows the offense to adjust weekly based on the opponent, what can the Packers hang their hat on? If it’s 3rd-and-4 and they need a first down, what’s their go-to play?

All of that and a lot more will have to be examined by LaFleur and the coaching staff this offseason as they do a deep self-scout to figure out why this Packers team, especailly the offense, continued to come up short against the NFC’s best.

“There’s a lot of lessons along the way,” LaFleur said. “Sometimes those lessons can be tough, but you’d better be mindful of those and work on the areas that you have to improve upon in order to get over the hump or get past that point.”

Positional need

The need here for Green Bay is low. Along with Love being under contract for the foreseeable future, Malik Willis still has one year remaining on his rookie deal. Sean Clifford is also under contract for the 2025 seasons as well.

Now, having said that, while I wouldn’t expect any free agency dollars or a draft pick to go towards the quarterback position, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Packers sign an undrafted rookie after the draft to compete with Clifford for that practice squad role.

This is something that we’ve seen the Packers do throughout the years under Gutekunst as they constantly churn and look for upgrades on the back-end of the quarterback depth chart. During the 2021 season it was Kurt Benkert. In 2022, it was Danny Etling. In 2023, it was Alex McGough, and last year it was Clifford after the team added Willis.

“I just think having young, talented quarterbacks on your roster that the coaches can develop, I just think is really healthy and important for a franchise,” said Brian Gutekunst last offseason.

Salary cap outlook

On paper–and Gutekunst agrees–the Packers are in a good position with the salary cap this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $42.14 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 13th-most among the NFL.

“I feel really good,” said Gutekunst about the Packers’ salary cap situation. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. Again, we’ve got to keep making good decisions, and it’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things.

“We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

There are also ways to create more cap room if needed through a veteran roster cut or trade. In this instance, if a player’s cap hit–what’s on the salary cap books that season if the player is on the roster–is greater than their dead cap hit–which is money that’s already been paid to the player but hasn’t yet counted towards the salary cap and remains on the books even if that player is on a new team–then there will be cap space gained by the team if they moved on from that player.

Another avenue to create cap space is through a restructure–which we saw the Packers utilize heavily during the 2021 and 2022 offseasons. In short, this is kicking the salary cap can down the road by taking cap charges from the current year, such as a portion of a player’s base salary, and converting it to a signing bonus so the cap hit can be pro-rated over the remaining life of the contract.

The benefit in the moment is that it creates cap space now. However, the downside is that the player’s cap hit in future seasons is now inflated. If the Packers have to go down this path to improve the roster, Gutekunst is willing to do so, but he prefers to operate from the team’s current cap position now that they no longer have the salary cam impact of those past restructures on the books.

“I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year,” said Gutekunst. “We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

Free agents available

As I just said, don’t expect the Packers to invest in the quarterback position during free agency. But part of this preview series is taking a look at who is available in free agency as well as in the draft.

Sam Darnold
Marcus Mariota
Jacoby Brissett
Jimmy Garoppolo
Andy Dalton
Mason Rudolph
Jameis Winston
Justin Fields
Mac Jones
Drew Lock
Zach Wilson
Daniel Jones

What about the NFL draft?

As this pre-draft process continues to unfold, pay close attention to the quarterbacks projected to go late Day 3 or undrafted. If the Packers are going to add someone to the mix, I believe it’s going to be an undrafted player who has a trait or two that regularly shows up on tape that the Packers wants to take a swing on developing.

With help from PFF’s big board, here is a look at who makes up this year’s quarterback class:

Cam Ward, Miami
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Jalen Milroe, Alabama
Will Howard, Ohio State
Riley Leonard, Notre Dame
Quinn Ewers, Texas
Kyle McCord, Syracuse
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
Max Brosmer, Minnesota
Tyler Shough, Louisville
Graham Mertz, Florida
Seth Henigan, Memphis
Brady Cook, Missouri

Sean Mannion promoted to Packers QB coach and has first item on his to-do list in new role

Paul Bretl | 1/31/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers will be promoting assistant quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion to the team’s new quarterbacks coach, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

This move comes a little over two weeks after Matt LaFleur announced that Tom Clements would be retiring.

“Man, it’s been a cool ride with him for the last three years,” Matt LaFleur said of Clements during his season-ending news conference. “He’s incredibly consistent. What a great man, a great mind. Obviously, he’s had the opportunity to coach some of the best – talk about (Brett) Favre, Rodgers and then the development of Jordan Love. I mean, that’s pretty cool.

Clements initially retired after the 2020 season following two years as the Arizona quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. However, he would return to Green Bay in 2022 to coach Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, and the other Packers’ quarterback.

Always a stickler for the fundamentals and drill work during practice, often specifically focusing on footwork, the cornerstone of playing the quarterback position, Clements played an important role in Love’s development the last two seasons as he transitioned to the starting role.

This return to Green Bay in 2022 was Clements’ second stint with the team. He took over as the quarterbacks coach in 2006 when Brett Favre was the quarterback and held that title until 2011, helping Rodgers transition into the starting role at that time. Clements was also the Packers’ offensive coordinator under Mike McCarthy from 2012-2014 and the assistant head coach from 2015-2016.

“I know he’s meant a lot to this organization (with) his contributions and he will definitely be missed,” added LaFleur. “I can’t say enough great things about him. I really appreciate him. But he did tell me you guys have got to leave him alone. He don’t want to talk to nobody (smiling).”

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Mannion joined the Packers’ coaching staff in 2024 as an offensive assistant and often worked with the quarterbacks. Following his own playing career, which began in 2015 as a third-round pick by the Rams, Mannion jumped right into coaching after retiring as a player in 2023.

LaFleur even previously coached Mannion during the 2018 season when both were with the LA Rams.

“I always figured he was going to go down this route,” said LaFleur last offseason about Mannion. “Matter of fact, when we played ‘em earlier in the year (2023), he told me he was going to get into coaching. So I was like, ‘All right, well, let me know when you’re going to be come a coach.’ He’s just a guy that I’ve always respected how he went about his process, how he prepared for games, how he helped Jared (Goff) in that situation (with the Rams) being a backup for us.”

One of the items on Jordan Love’s offseason to-do list that Mannion will now play a critical role with is the aforementioned footwork. LaFleur described this as needing to be an emphasis for Love heading into 2025, mentioning that the consistency of it on certain plays, along with being a more vocal leader.

Footwork is the foundation for a quarterback’s success on any given play. As Clements has said previously, he usually has a good idea of how the pass turned out by watching the quarterback’s footwork.

Footwork, the cornerstone of a quarterback’s performance, is more than just steps. It’s about executing the right drop to ensure timely throws, maintaining balance, and keeping the feet in constant motion. This synchronized movement with the quarterback’s eyes is crucial for a successful play. Any deviation from this can disrupt the quarterback’s mechanics, leading to inaccurate passes or mistimed plays.

In the Philadelphia game, specifically, LaFleur mentioned that on certain drops, Love’s footwork got a little loose, which can disrupt the timing and rhythm of the passing play, especially when the ball is supposed to be out quickly. This also wasn’t the first time throughout the season that this happened either. As Love navigated a knee and groin injury during the first half of the year, the lack of practice time hurt some of those fundamental components of playing the position.

“I think just the one thing I did talk to him about was just the consistency of his footwork on some of these plays,” LaFleur said. “I think he would be the first to tell you the same thing because there were some instances throughout the course of the season and specifically in this last game where the rhythm and timing, especially when you have a rhythm play, like quick game for example, just that left-right footwork that we take just hitting your back foot and letting it rip.

“Or if you do take a hitch, you gotta take your checkdown, typically, or progress on. So I would say that, because I think that’s the foundation of great quarterback play is the fundamentals, the techniques, the footwork.”

Jordan Love’s second year as the starting quarterback for the Packers was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Injuries during the first half of the season forced him to miss time and hampered his play, to a degree. Out of the bye week, we saw an impressive stretch from Weeks 11-15 where Love and the offense were heating up with five straight 30-plus point performances, only for both to cool off drastically during the team’s final three games of the season.

As LaFleur will often point out, the quarterback gets all the credit when the team wins and all the blame when the team loses, but in both instances, it’s a group effort to get to either of those results. With that said, Love taking a big stride heading into his third season as the starter will be critical for the Packers and their Super Bowl aspirations.

“We gotta play better in those moments,” said LaFleur. “We can’t have the critical turnovers. We need everybody on the details. Because, I said this to our team for sure yesterday, but the details usually is what separates. It separates good from great and we have got to be on top of our details, everybody doing their individual whatever they’re asked to do. They’ve got to do their 1/11 at a high level, otherwise it’s hard to win those games.”

Packers fill DL coach role with former defensive coordinator

Paul Bretl | 1/30/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers have filled their defensive line coach opening. According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers are hiring DeMarcus Covington to fill that role.

Jeff Hafley’s job as the defensive coordinator is to establish the vision for what he wants the defense to be and what the game-plans need to look like on a weekly basis. It’s then up to the position coaches to relay that messaging to their players and make sure that throughout the week when it comes to prep, fundamentals, technique, and the understanding of the why behind each player’s role, those standards are upheld.

Covington has been in the New England Patriots organization since the 2017 season, when he got his start at the NFL level as a coaching assistant. Since then he’s held a variety of roles, which includes being the outside linebackers coach (2019), the defensive line coach (2020-2023), and most recently, the defensive coordinator.

This past season, the Patriots defensive line would rank 23rd in ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric and 16th in run-stop rate, allowing 4.4 yards per carry as a unit, which ranked 14th.

When Covington was specifically working with the defensive line, the New England front was steadily one of the more disruptive units in football. During the 2023 season, New England ranked 13th in pass rush win rate and were first in yards per carry allowed, giving up just 3.3 yards per attempt. In 2022, the Patriots were 7th in pressure rate and 4th in yards per rush attempt.

Then in 2021, New England was 11th in pressure rate and 26th in yards per carry surrendered. Lastly, in 2020, Covington’s first season in charge of the defensive line, the Patriots were 5th in pressure rate.

“We’re talking about maybe a pressure we can run, or a coverage that complements it. And he’ll go back and say, ‘Well, there was one from Oct. 9, 2022; this one from 2023,’” Patriots OLB coach Drew Wilkins explained about Covington. “His level of studying the game and being able to reference so much and put it together, this is a guy – he’s smart enough to coach every position on the team, it feels like.”

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Throughout the 2024 season, the Packers’ inconsistency when it came to pressuring the quarterback with just a four-man rush was a regular hurdle that the defense had to overcome. Particularly in games against the NFC’s best–Detroit, Minnesota, and Philadelphia–the lack of pressure on the quarterback was a lot for the defense to overcome.

In the most recent matchups against these teams, Jalen Hurts was pressured on 33% of his dropbacks, according to PFF’s metrics. Sam Darnold, meanwhile, was pressured on only 31% of his dropbacks, and Jared Goff 28% of his.

For some context around those figures, Justin Herbert was pressured on 33.8% of his dropbacks for the entire NFL season and that ranked 25th out of 42 quarterbacks. A pressure rate of 31% ranked 32nd and a 28% pressure rate ranked 38th.

Darnold and Goff would pick apart the Green Bay secondary with that time in the pocket. Darnold was 26-of-30 passing for 315 yards with three scores. Goff would 26-for-30 as well, for 215 passing yards when kept clean with one touchdown and one interception.

“I would say in those known passing situations, get back on track, third and medium plus, guys got to be able to win one on ones and there’s certain things you can do structurally to help create some one-on-one opportunities for our guys,” Matt LaFleur said. “Typically, if you put a linebacker on the ball and you space it out so that each lineman is covered, you’re going to get a 5-0, and you’ll have five one-on-ones, but somebody’s gotta win.”

Overall, the Packers defense would finish top-10 in sacks and their pressure numbers ranked around the middle of the NFL. However, many of those sacks came against lesser opponents and it’s also how those pressures were generated that illustrated the issue at hand. Oftentimes, pressures weren’t created by the four-man front winning their matchups. Rather it was Hafley drawing up blitzes or simulated pressures to throw some eye-candy at the offensive line that helped create that disruption.

When it came to the defensive front winning its one-on-one matchups, the Packers ranked 26th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric.

The trickle-down effect of Hafley have to help bolster a lack-luster pass-rush was that for much of the season, we didn’t really even see the true version of Hafley’s defensive scheme in Green Bay. In one respect, it’s a credit to Hafley for his willingness and ability to adapt and adjust on the fly, while still orchestrating a top 10 defensive unit in scoring. On the other hand, this also speaks to the lack of impact plays from the front.

“I envisioned rushing four and playing three deep/four under a heck of a lot more and we ended up doing a lot of simulated blitzes and different pressures and playing a bunch of cover-2,” said LaFleur. “But I think, again, you always evolve throughout the course of the season, through the offseason, but that was the foundation, I would say, of the defense. But I thought our guys did a great job of adjusting. I thought we were playing some pretty good football at the end.”

While the pass rush faltered, the defensive front did make massive strides against the run. After years of struggling to limit opponents on the ground, the Packers ranked top-five in yards per rush allowed this season.

Slowing an opponent’s running game should put the defense in a position to find success with the offense facing predictable, long down-and-distance situations. But the ceiling for this Packers defense will ultimately be determined by their ability to get after the quarterback.

The addition of Covington to the coaching staff can hopefully help maximize a position group that the Packers have invested in heavily, both in terms of salary cap space and draft capital.

“Sometimes that’s just the way the NFL season goes,” said Brian Gutekunst. “I think, again, there was some transition to a new scheme, but I think we didn’t grow into that consistent front like we had hoped, but there were times that we showed it, so I know it’s capable. I think we’ve got the right guys. They’re workers in there, I think they’re all passionate about the game, they’re unselfish team guys so I expect us to get better there.”

Losing this Jeff Hafley assistant would be big blow to Packers defense

Paul Bretl | 1/29/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — A second of Jeff Hafley’s defensive assistants on the Packers’ coaching staff have now interviewed for a defensive coordinator opening this offseason. The first was defensive pass game coordinator Derrick Ansley who interviewed with Atlanta–a role that’s since been filled–and the latest was linebackers coach Anthony Campanile interviewing for the Jacksonville defensive coordinator role.

At the end of the day, it’s the players who deserve the credit for the plays being made on the field. But oftentimes, behind every successful player or position group is a coach helping to put those players in advantageous situations.

“I think Campanile does a hell of a job with that whole room,” said Matt LaFleur after the Seattle game. “Those guys have all gotten better throughout the course of the season—whether it’s Quay, whether it’s Eric, whether it’s Isaiah, they are all improving. Hopper. Every guy in that room. And it’s because of the consistent coaching that Campanile does.”

In Campanile’s first year as the Packers’ linebackers coach and run game coordinator, the play of this unit was elevated compared to years past. Now, of course, having a talent like Edgerrin Cooper in the middle–whose speed and athleticism allows him to impact the game in a variety of ways–certainly helps a lot.

But there’s a lot that goes into the progression we saw from Cooper as the year went on. It’s the work he puts in, it’s the gained experience through reps, it’s time in the film room, and it’s coaching. If a rep is off in practice, players get back in line and do it again until it’s done correctly.

“He wants us to get the job done,” said Cooper. “He’s a coach that never relaxes. He wants the best for us. Nice, physical and get downhill and make plays. Do what we need to do.”

Along with Cooper’s emergence, Quay Walker put together his best season as a pro. Again, as the season went on and he got more comfortable with the new scheme and his new role as the Mike linebacker, confidence was gained and strides were made. From Weeks 12-14, prior to Walker’s ankle injury, you name it, whether it be run defense, pressuring the quarterback, or plays in coverage, and Walker ranked among the best at his position group during that span.

We also saw steady play from Isaiah McDuffie, and whenever Eric Wilson was called upon to fill a larger role, he was ready and often came up with some impact plays.

To again be clear, first and foremost, this is a credit to those players above all else. They were the ones on the field executing. But behind their performances was Campanile.

“I have a huge amount of respect for him as a coach,” Hafley said. “His knowledge, how hard he coaches, his intensity, but more importantly as a person. He’s an extremely loyal friend, he always has been. He’s a guy that no matter where I’ve been, if I picked up the phone and needed anything I know he’d be right there.”

With Campanile also holding the title of run game coordinator, the Packers run defense made massive strides in 2024, operating as one of the best in football in that regard. Green Bay finished the season ranked third in yards per carry allowed and seventh in rushing yards per game, which included holding opponents to under 100 yards for the first time since 2009.

The linebackers also played a crucial role in the team’s ability to drum up pressures. With the four-man front struggling to get home, Hafley had to manufacture pressure on the quarterback through either blitzes or simulated pressures to throw some eye candy and confusion at the offensive line. Despite the inconsistencies up front, the Packers’ defense as a whole would rank in the middle of the pack in pressure rate, with the linebackers being a big part of that.

“I think these guys are totally bought into what we’re teaching,” said Campanile about the run defense. “I firmly believe that there’s a progression each play. Your eyes, your feet, your hands, and then there’s got to be a violent finish. That’s how every football play should start and end. If your eyes are right and you’ll feet will be right, you’ll get there, and your hands will buy you time.

“That’s some of the fundamental things about defending the run, those are essential. Your body position, where your feet are, not compromising your base, playing with great hands and technique, pad level. Some people talk about those things, but you’ve got to drill those things every day, almost like to the point where it’s a martial art.”

As the defensive coordinator, Hafley establishes the vision for what he wants the defense to be and what the game-plans need to look like on a weekly basis. It’s then up to the position coaches to relay that messaging to their players and make sure that throughout the week when it comes to prep, fundamentals, technique, and the understanding of the why behind each player’s role, those standards are upheld.

Now, how each coach goes about accomplishing these tasks is up to each individual. When it comes to Campanile, you can assume that some sort of boxing clip or reference is going to be baked in. As Hafley put it, Campanile is a “historian” when it comes to boxing.

“That’s all he talks about, said Cooper. “That’s all. Throwing jabs, that’s something he wants us to reference to – throwing jabs. You’re going to take some punches sometimes during the game. It’s just all about how you respond.”

Hafley and Campanile had an existing relationship that goes beyond their time in Green Bay this past year. In fact, as Hafley said, it goes back 15-plus years. The friendship began when Hafley was coaching Division-III and at the FCS level, while Campanile was still coaching high school. Hafley would visit Campanile’s school for recruiting visits and the two hit it off.

“I’d go to the school and we’d hang out,” Hafley said. “We’d meet up after and just talk football, draw plays, and then I got to pick, he came and visited me when I was at Pitt and we continued to have a really good friendship and relationship. A lot of that started with the respect I had for him and how hard he worked. I tried to get him to college football and then it worked out. We’ve just become really close.”

While there was a lot of overlap between the two in where they coached during their careers, the two had never had the opportunity to work together until this season. So when Hafley had the opportunity to build out his staff, he knew exactly who he wanted as his linebackers coach–a role that Campanile had held with the Miami Dolphins since the 2020 season.

“We were texting,” said Hafley, “we were on two separate planes on the way home from the last game (Seattle) and we were texting back and forth and he just wrote me a text back, ‘how cool is this? This is what we always talked about doing.’ So it’s actually really neat to finally get a chance to coach with him because I hadn’t before. I feel like I have, but we just hadn’t. What a great job he’s done with the linebackers, him and Sean Duggan, with those young guys and obviously it’s shown.”

As of now, Campanile is one of four known candidates who have interviewed for the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator opening. This also isn’t the first time he’s interviewed for a coordinator role, doing so last offseason with the New York Giants.

For the reasons mentioned, losing Campanile would be a huge loss for this Packers’ defense, and even if Campanile does return for the 2025 season to Green Bay, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before he takes that next step. The results in the Packers’ linebacker room speak for themselves.

Recipe exists for Packers to again go heavy on the offensive line this offseason

Paul Bretl | 1/28/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Not only addressing the offensive line but often doing so heavily has become common practice each offseason under general manager Brian Gutekunst, and the recipe for that trend to continue could very well exist in 2025 as the Packers plan ahead and attempt to add competition to the position group.

In three of Gutekunst’s last four draft classes, the Packers have selected three offensive linemen. That’s an infusion of nine new offensive linemen to the roster in a four year span, not accounting for who was already on the roster or any outside free agent additions brought in.

It’s one thing to talk about the importance of a position group, it’s another thing to walk the walk as Gutekunst has with his roster building approach.

“Those big guys are hard to find, so that’s never something we’re not going to address,” said Gutekunst. “Like we’ve been pretty consistent in our time here. We very much believe that, with the exception of quarterback, winning in the trenches is how we need to get it done.

“And so, we’ve got some decisions to make as we move forward on the offensive line, and as we go through that, there could be some shuffling around.”

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Continuity was a key element behind the Packers overall play along the offensive line this season. According to ESPN, Green Bay’s starting offensive line unit played 830 snaps together during the regular season–the most in football.

When it comes to offensive line play, the sum of the parts are greater than any one individual, and when there is familiarity and an understanding in not only what you’re supposed to do as a blocker but a trust in where the blockers around you will be, that creates a cohesive and unified unit that operates as one.

We really saw the benefit of this in pass protection, particularly with how often Jordan Love was blitzed last season. During the regular season, no quarterback was blitzed more often than Love, according to PFF’s metrics. However, in terms of how often he was pressured, Love ranked 23rd in that category. Overall, the Packers’ offensive line finished seventh in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric.

“I thought our offensive line, particularly in pass pro, played really, really well all year for the most part, with the exception of a couple games,” Gutekunst said. “But I think all those guys had really solid years and improved.”

While it was a highly productive season for Josh Jacobs, who rushed for 1,329 yard–the sixth-most in football–one element that was missing from the Packers’ run game was the home run ability. Jacobs would steadily pick up positive gains, averaging 4.4 yards per rush on the season, and oftentimes, turning a carry that could have been a loss or no gain into one where he picked up a few yards.

But in terms of ripping off a huge gain, while Jacobs would rank 11th in rushes of 15-plus yards, that in part, is a product of how often he carried the ball. From an efficiency standpoint in that regard, Jacobs was 32nd among eligible running backs in breakaway rate.

In order to have more opportunities for those explosive runs, Jacobs needs more opportunities to hit the second level cleanly where we all know he has the ability to make defenders miss. However, of Jacobs’ 1,329 rushing yards, 1,039 of them came after contact. That’s nearly 80% of Jacobs total yards were manufactured after a defender contacted him.

For some context, the only backs with more yards after contact were Saquon Barkley (1,093) and Derrick Henry (1,137), but a stark difference is that both of those backs were around the 2,000 yard mark–or roughly 50% of their yards came after contact. Naturally, it’s a lot easier to rip of big runs when not dealing with defenders right away.

With Jacobs as the back, we saw a much more heavy dose of the gap running scheme this season rather than the traditional outside zone runs often associated with Matt LaFleur’s offense. The gap scheme suits Jacobs skill set well, but it was a change for the offensive line.

“I think coaching is, yeah, you have a philosophy of what you want to do and a foundation of what you want to do, but you’d better not be so stubborn that you just – this is what we’re going to do – if you’re pieces don’t necessarily match. I think that’s good coaching – putting your players in the best position possible,” LaFleur said.

During the Packers’ playoff matchup with Philadelphia, the depth of the offensive line was exposed when Elgton Jenkins left the game. From there, the Packers turned to rookie Travis Glover–his first significant NFL snaps–to fill in at right guard, and then second-year lineman Kadeem Telfort after Glover was penalized numerous times.

With the Eagles’ able to generate steady pressure on Love and a strong push in the run game while only rushing four, that made the already difficult task of breaking free from the Eagles’ two-high coverage shell all the more difficult. Losing that line of scrimmage battle was an key contributing factor to the Packers’ offensive woes.

Without Jenkins, as well as Jordan Morgan who was placed on season-ending injured reserve late in the year, I’m not sure that there are many–if any–offensive lines out there who could trot out their seventh lineman on the depth chart and expect them to hold up well against that Eagles’ front.

So, as Gutekunst said, you don’t want to overreact to that one performance, but competition has been a vital element to the rapid growth that we’ve seen from the Packers these last two years, so adding more of that to the offensive line room to push Glover, Telfort, and Jacob Monk–rather than assuming that a step forward in 2025 is going to happen–should be on Gutekunst’s radar, which it very often is, as highlighted at the beginning of our conversation.

In the outside world, the offseason is focus on immediate improvement–how can my team get better now? But internally, it’s part of Gutekunst’s job description to keep his eye to the future a few years down the road as well.

In the short term, center Josh Myers is set to be a free agent this offseason. Looking ahead just one year from now, Rasheed Walker, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom are all free agents in 2026. So whether it be planning to extend any of those players or bringing in new talent to be better prepared for any potential free agency exits, those are additional factors that will be baked into how Gutekunst navigates the offseason along the offensive line.

If you put all of that together: Gutekunst’s track record in the draft, the need for more competition on the back end of the roster, and some pending free agents over the next 12 months, and you get a recipe for, what I would guess, is another offensive line-centric offseason for the Packers.

“We’re going to continue to lean on versatility,” added Gutekunst. “We’ve got three or four guys on our line that could probably play five spots, and that’s, I believe in that. I think every coach that I’ve been around believes in that and I think that’s an asset that we have that not all teams have.”

The Senior Bowl’s significance to Packers’ pre-draft process

Paul Bretl | 1/27/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — It’s Senior Bowl week, an event that has played an important role in the pre-draft process for the Packers under general manager Brian Gutekunst. In fact, if history continues, there’s a good chance that not just one, but multiple future Packers are in Mobile, Alabama this week.

“It’s very important for us,” said Brian Gutekunst following the 2024 draft about the Senior Bowl. “We put a lot of time into it, and like I said, their staff down there in Mobile, they do such a good job getting us to spots where we can really evaluate these guys. We’re very appreciative of that. It’s certainly not by design, but I know we’ve taken a lot of Senior Bowl guys over the years.”

The Senior Bowl is an All-Star college football event held each year in Mobile, Alabama, and is invitation only. At the Senior Bowl, top draft prospects are able to showcase their talents against high-level competition during a week of practices followed by an All-Star game, which this year takes place on Saturday, February 1st.

The event attracts general managers and scouts from all 32 NFL teams and has traditionally been for seniors or fourth-year juniors who have graduated. However, for the first time in 2024, underclassmen were eligible to participate if they received an invite.

Beyond the on-field component of the event, the Senior Bowl provides the opportunity for teams to meet with prospects as well, perhaps providing the organizations their first chance to get to know each player.

“Certainly, for some of us, it’s the first time we get the chance to set our eyes on some of these players,” Gutekunst said of the Senior Bowl. “Seeing them physically move around and compete, it’s such a big deal to see the competition live. 

“And to meet them, in the beginning phase of getting to know these guys as people, I think is just a huge part of our process. Then, having it in Mobile and the professional way that they roll that thing out for us, and make it so easy, it’s a very, very important part of our process.”

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Since 2022, so over the last three draft classes, the Packers have made 35 selections in total. Of those picks, 18 of them–so over half–have participated in the Senior Bowl.

Some of the members of the Packers’ 2022 draft class who were apart of the Senior Bowl include Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, JJ Enagbare, and Devote Wyatt. From the 2023 class are Karl Brooks, Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave, and Dontayvion Wicks. Also of note, Jordan Love was a participant in the 2020 Senior Bowl as well.

Altogether, there were 10 Packers’ draft picks between 2022 and 2023 that were Senior Bowl invitees. This past draft, however, blew even those impressive numbers out of the water. Of Green Bay’s 11 selections in 2024, a whopping eight of them played in the Senior Bowl. At that rate, it’s easier to list the draftees who didn’t participate in the event, which were Ty’Ron Hopper, Jacob Monk, and Edgerrin Cooper.

“Not by design,” said Gutekunst about selecting so many Senior Bowl participants, “but I will say that Jim Nagy and his staff do such an amazing job of access and allowing us to scout those guys that go there. And it’s a such a really positive experience for the players. Not only the competition on the field, seeing really good players go against really good players in drills, but our ability to talk to them, interview them and be around them in that competitive environment, there’s really not a much better evaluation phase for us.”

With the Senior Bowl being an All-Star game, it’s going to attract the top draft talent, but in addition to that, Gutekunst is a fan of the willingness of these prospects to compete throughout the week and also the unscripted nature of the event. The week of practices isn’t about game-planning for the big game on Saturday that concludes the week. Instead, it’s a lot of one-on-one reps and good-on-good competition with a lot of eyes on them.

Throughout the draft, Gutekunst and other members of the personnel department will meet with local media members to discuss the Packers’ selections. Last year specifically, the Senior Bowl was referenced on a few occasions as having an important role in the Packers evaluation process.

Last April, Gutekunst would say that Travis Glover’s performance at the Senior Bowl against Power-5 opponents helped put him on the Packers’ radar. VP of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan mentioned that seeing how Evan Williams moved in space at the Senior Bowl gave the Packers confidence that he could play in the nickel as they looked to fill that do-it-all safety role.

Also of note, Williams was voted the Defensive Specialist of the Week for the American Team and Javon Bullard was the Defensive Specialist of the Week for the National Team.

“Absolutely,” said Gutekunst about the unscripted environment at the Senior Bowl, “and I also think the willingness to compete and put themselves in that environment. That’s not an easy thing to walk out onto that Senior Bowl practice field with all these NFL people judging you. That’s not an easy thing to a) choose to do that and b) compete at a high level when you’re out there. None of that’s going to phase you, that says something to me.”

While that’s a look back at the Packers’ recent past with the Senior Bowl, what about this year’s event?

To help us out in that regard with players to watch as this week unfolds, Brennen Rupp of Packers Wire was kind enough to provide us with some prospects to keep our eyes on at the 2025 Senior Bowl. Rupp has a particularly keen eye for not only evaluating draft talent, but which prospects in particular may have the Packers’ attention.

A few members of the Packers’ coaching staff will also get an up-close look at a number of these prospects. Passing game coordinator Jason Vrable will be the National Team’s offensive coordinator, while defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis will coach the linebackers on the American Team.

Cornerbacks
● Trey Amos, Ole Miss
● Azareye’h Thomas, Florida State
● Tommi Hill, Nebraska
● Darien Porter, Iowa State
● Quincy Riley, Louisville
● Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
● Dorian Strong, Virginia Tech
● Bilhal Kone, Western Michigan

“It would not be shocking to see Brian Gutekunst snag two players from this group,” wrote Rupp. “Amos and Thomas are potential targets when the Packers are on the clock for the first time during the 2025 NFL Draft.”

Edge rushers
● Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
● Landon Jackson, Arkansas
● Barryn Sorrell, Texas
● Jah Joyner, Minnesota
● Princely Umanmielen, Edge, Ole Miss
● Jordan Burch, Oregon
● Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
● David Walker, Central Arkansas

“Scourton, Stewart and Jackson are potential targets with the 23rd overall pick,” said Rupp. “If the Packers miss out on the top-end talent, Barryn Sorrell and Jah Joyner could be high on Green Bay’s board when Day 3 kicks off on April 26th.”

Defensive tackles
● Joshua Farmer, Florida State
● T.J. Sanders, South Carolina
● Alfred Collins, Texas
● Darius Alexander, Toledo
● Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
● Ty Hamilton, Ohio State
● Yahya Black, Iowa
● Vernon Broughton, Texas
● Shemar Turner, Texas A&M

“The talent at defensive tackle down in Mobile is outstanding,” Rupp said. “The Packers may need to find a replacement for TJ Slaton, that’s where players like Sanders, Collins, Hamilton, Black and Broughton come in. If they want an explosive, quick-twitch type player, that’s where Alexander, Nolen and Turner enter the chat.”

Linebacker
● Cody Lindenberg, Minnesota
● Carson Schwesinger, UCLA
● Demetrius Knight Jr, South Carolina
● Shemar James, Florida
● Smael Mondon, Georgia

“How early will the Packers take a linebacker after using a pair of Top 100 picks on the position last year? Lindenberg is a player who could be high on Green Bay’s board when Day 3 of the draft rolls around,” said Rupp.

Offensive line
● Caleb Rogers, OL, Texas Tech
● Josh Conerly Jr, OT, Oregon
● Ozzy Trapilo, OL, Boston College
● Armand Membou, OL, Missouri
● Charles Grant, OT, William & Mary
● Jack Nelson, OT, Wisconsin
● Marcus Mbow, OL, Purdue
● Grey Zabel, OL, NDSU
● Jared Wilson, C, Georgia
● Wyatt Milum, OL, West Virginia
● Garrett Dellinger, OL, LSU
● Jackson Slater, OL, Sacramento State
● Jonah Monheim, OL, USC

“After using three picks on the offensive line last year, how many picks will Gutekunst use on the offensive line this year as he looks to bolster the depth of that group? As always, he’s going to put a value on versatility and this year’s group down in Mobile has a ton of players who can play multiple positions across the offensive line,” Rupp said.

Wide receiver
● Jalen Royals, Utah State
● Pat Bryant, Illinois
● Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
● Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
● Bru McCoy, Tennessee
● Jack Bech, TDCU
● Chimere Dike, Florida
● Da’Quan Felton, Virginia Tech
● Kyle Williams, Washington State

“Gutekunst has drafted 10 wide receivers since 2018 and seven of them competed at the Senior Bowl. With the Packers likely in the market for another wide receiver, it’s a safe bet that he’ll take one of the players from this group,” Rupp wrote.

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