When asked at the combine about how the Packers would attack this offseason, GM Brian Gutekunst told reporters that it was “time to start competing for championships”. Many fans took this as a signal that the Packers would be active players in free agency, and maybe even the trade market.
Did Green Bay live up to those expectations? They spent the ninth most out of teams in the league. Yet fans still seem fairly divided about what they did. Lets break it down by the areas that the team most needed to address this offseason.
The Offense
Offensive Line: While not as obvious as the other three spots we’ll talk about in a moment, the Packers definitely needed to look at adding reinforcements on the offensive line. The line played well last season, but fell apart in the loss to the Eagles in the playoffs.
The team let Josh Myers, their center for the last several seasons go in free agency. If you wondered why this may be illuminating:
Finding competent offensive lineman in the NFL is hard. Myers may not have been what Green Bay had hoped, but for him to only manage that kind of deal speaks volumes for his perception around the league.
This leads us to Aaron Banks.
Four Years, Seventy Seven Million. When I first saw those numbers I assumed that it was one of those free agency deals where the first numbers are misconstrued to make the agent look good. This is not the case. This is a lot of money, and a lot of it is real. Nothing about Banks tenure in San Francisco makes me think he was worth this kind of deal. That being said you’re always going to be paying a premium in free agency to fix the spots you missed in the draft.
The question with the Banks signing comes down to how the offensive line shakes out. If Banks plays LG, and Jenkins moves to C, is the upgrade from Myers to Jenkins more significant than the downgrade from Jenkins to Banks?
There’s certainly a chance that the line is better with these changes from last year, but I can’t help but wonder if the Packers may have been better off taking a chance on a player like Mekhi Becton at the price tag the Chargers got.
Wide Receiver: DK Metcalf, Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp. All three of these names were linked to the Packers in some form or fashion over the last week plus. I was in on Metcalf, until I saw the price tag. There are two wide receivers in the league I’d feel comfortable paying 30m+ for, and Metcalf isn’t one of them.
Cooper Kupp falls into the same sort of basket. The deal the Seahawks gave him is not one I’d want to give a player coming off the last two seasons he had.
Davante Adams is the one that stings a little. The deal he got from the Rams may be a little rich, but he’s the most versatile of those three players, has familiarity with the system and can still play. By all accounts the Packers did not reach out to him, which is confusing given the state of the room.
The Packers also signed Mecole Hardman. This feels like a move for a returner not a receiver, but who knows, maybe his speed can help replace a little of what the team lost in Christian Watson. Or he may not make the team.
The Defense
Another slightly confusing move given the position Hobbs has spent the most time playing and what the Packers already have on the roster.
Hobbs is an excellent slot corner when he is on the field. But while Green Bay certainly has a cornerback need, conventional wisdom has that need as an outside corner. So how does Green Bay plan to use him?
Do they move him outside, where he has not played significant snaps in several years? If they keep him in the slot and push Nixon outside, what do they do with Javon Bullard, a safety that most excelled when playing that same slot position? If they move Bullard back to safety with McKinney what do they do with Evan Williams?
The answer is probably somewhere some combination of the above. The Packers value positional flexibility as much as any team in the league. Its possible they move Hobbs all over the formation depending on the situation.
Edge/Pass Rush: The Packers did nothing to add to this as of Wednesday the 19th. Barring a surprise trade, Green Bay must be counting on the defensive line coaching change and another year in a new system to revive some of the pass rush from two years ago, and one or more draft picks to help bolster what was a disappointing unit in 2024.
When it comes to Free Agency, Green Bay has always been predictably unpredictable. If a fan came out of this week disappointed in what the team did I wouldn’t blame them. I would ask them to look at the major free agent signings that Brian Gutekunst has made since taking over.
Players usually aren’t free agents unless there is some real risk attached. Teams aren’t in the business of letting good players walk out the door. That being said Gute has managed to land several Pro Bow/All Pro level players when he makes the decision to spend. So while they aren’t the players I would necessarily have liked, Gutekunst deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this part of roster building.
