It has been since before Covid that either of the NFL’s conferences sent a representative to the Super Bowl that wasn’t the 1 or 2 seed. We saw that again with this year’s matchup. In fact, if it wouldn’t have been for Bo Nix’s unfortunate injury, then we likely would have had both no. 1 seeds in the Super Bowl. This highlights the importance of the regular season in the NFL. While anything can happen in the playoffs, setting yourself up well for success is of paramount importance. For the Green Bay Packers to do that in 2026, they must start by finally winning the NFC North. So let’s take a look today at each of the teams in Green Bay’s division and what their offseason to-do lists look like. 

Chicago Bears

Let’s start with the team that won the NFC North in 2025. The Bears roll into this offseason with roughly negative 11 million dollars in top 51 cap space according to Spotrac. This means that they’ll have to either cut, trade, or restructure some players to get back under the cap. 

The good news for the Bears is that they can do this rather easily this summer. Unlike most other contenders, the Bears haven’t added void years onto really any of their contracts, and they are incurring almost zero dead cap money heading into the 2026 season. 

In translation, this means the Bears could still be major players in free agency this year. 

According to the Armchair GM tool on sticktothemodel.com, Chicago could create 32 million in cap space just by restructuring/extending the contracts of DJ Moore, Jaylon Johnson, and Montez Sweat. The Bears could also save 15 million dollars against the cap by releasing Tremaine Edmunds, 8 million dollars by releasing Cole Kmet, and another 7.5 million dollars if they decide to release D’Andre Swift. 

Here’s the notable pending free agents for the Bears: 

  • Jaquan Brisker 
  • Kevin Byard 
  • Ryan Bates 
  • CJ Gardner-Johnson
  • Andrew Billings 
  • Nashon Wright 
  • Braxton Jones

Expect the Bears to turn in another solid offseason. They may not quite continue their reign as offseason champs, but they’ll be able to add to this team. I could see them retaining 1 or 2 of their important pending free agents in the secondary, and then adding another player or two in free agency. 

The big deal for the Bears is that this is the last season before Caleb Williams will be eligible to start contract negotiations. While the team does control him for another 3 seasons I would be blown away if they don’t extend him early. Maybe even 2 years early. The contract will almost assuredly be backloaded, and the cap hits will be deferred to the future, but once that extension hits, that is when the Bears will finally find out how tough it can be to build a complete roster around an expensive quarterback. 

For that reason, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bears go all out trying to win the big one before that becomes a problem. Every other team in the NFC North will be trying to stop them.

Green Bay Packers

As many of you know, the Green Bay Packers have roughly negative 4 million dollars in top 51 cap space heading into this offseason. As of right now, that’s actually the most space of any team in the NFC North. 

The Packers have ways of creating cap space, but those methods don’t come without a cost. For example, releasing Elgton Jenkins frees up 20 million dollars of space. But with that you also have to pay the cost of replacing Elgton Jenkins on your team! 

I would guess that Elgton Jenkins and Rashan Gary are the only two players that will surely be cut. Releasing those two players alone clears up 31 million dollars worth of space for the Packers. 

Other players who could find themselves on the bubble for financial reasons include: Aaron Banks, Josh Jacobs, Nate Hobbs, Isaiah McDuffie or Brandon McManus. 

Here’s the list of notable pending free agents in Green Bay: 

  • Malik Willis 
  • Romeo Doubs
  • Quay Walker 
  • Rasheed Walker 
  • Kingsley Enagbare 
  • Sean Rhyan 

The Green Bay Packers were a Super Bowl caliber team when healthy in 2025. So, they don’t have a ton of holes that they truly need to fill. The problem is the limited resources they’ll have to fill the few holes they do have. 

Green Bay has developed a pipeline of young players that’s ready to step up and fill the void of the departing free agents. Matthew Golden is set to replace Doubs, Ty’ron Hopper is set to replace Quay, and Barryn Sorrel is set to replace Kingsley Enagbare. 

The Packers need these young players to step up and be better than their predecessors were. Combine that internal improvement with increased health, and a well placed free agent addition or two, and this team could be cooking with gas in 2026. 

Minnesota Vikings 

The Vikings correctly fired their GM who oversaw one of the more hilarious offseasons in recent memory. As a Packers fan, I will never be able to thank him enough for letting Sam Darnold walk out of my division. 

Even unrelated to that though, the Vikings are in a pretty horrible spot this offseason. They are the proud owners of negative 40 million dollars in cap space which is good for second worst in the NFL. Kinda blows my mind how a team can do that without having to pay your quarterback anything!

According to the Armchair GM tool referenced above, the Vikings would have to cut Jonathan Greenard, Ryan Kelly, Aaron Jones, TJ Hockenson AND Javon Hargrave just to get back under the cap. 

This doesn’t even take into account them having to sign a draft class, retain any pending free agents, fill out a 90 man camp roster, or even make offers to their own restricted free agents.

So, yeah the Vikings are not in a good spot. Especially within the NFC North.

Here’s their list of pending free agents: 

  • Ivan Pace 
  • Jalen Nailor 
  • Jalen Redmond 
  • Eric Wilson 
  • Justin Skule 

It’s also been reported that CJ Ham and Harrison Smith are retiring. 

Here’s the big thing for me. Two of the main players on the Vikings roster, Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones have recently put out some subtle shots towards JJ McCarthy and his readiness to be an NFL starter. This Vikings roster is expensive and built to win now, and that means that they need to find a quarterback who can provide winning play for them upon arrival. 

They don’t have a high draft pick, which means they’ll have to pay somebody to come compete for the starting job in Minnesota. Kirk Cousins, Anthony Richardson, Malik Willis or Daniel Jones are all names that come to mind. Whether it’s salary or draft capital, none of those players will come cheap. 

Expect the Vikings roster to decay. The front office will have to chip away at it to get under the cap and find enough money left around in order to pay another quarterback. This is the big price of swinging and missing on the quarterback selection. Once again, let’s all rejoice that the red-headed guy we saw slinging it around the yard on Sunday no longer plays in the NFC North! 

Detroit Lions 

The Lions biggest problem on their cap sheet right now is Jared Goff. The team structured his contract with very backloaded cap hits to give them a 2 year window to win a title before his contract made it difficult for them to spend. Well, that window has now come to a close and Jared Goff will carry a cap hit of 70 million dollars into the 2026 season. 

Goff can’t be released, he still has almost 100 million in guaranteed salary, but the Lions could choose to restructure that deal for short term benefit. The Lions could also negotiate an extension with him in the next year or two, but I’m not sure how much of an appetite there is for that in Detroit. 

Anyways, keep an eye on what Detroit does with Jared Goff. It’s the biggest domino to fall for their offseason. 

Here’s the list of pending free agents in Detroit: 

  • Amik Robertson 
  • Roy Lopez 
  • Marcus Davenport 
  • Kalif Raymond 
  • Al-Quadin Muhammad 
  • Avonte Maddox 
  • Alex Anzalone 
  • DJ Reader 

The Lions could stand to lose more talent than they bring in this offseason. They’ll need to rely heavily on a solid draft class, and internal improvements. It’s a somewhat similar scenario to the one their NFC North rival Green Bay Packers find themselves in. 

If they decide to restructure Goff, then all bets are off. If the Lions do that, then they could somewhat easily scrounge up enough money to sign a couple new players in 2026. The Lions are in a tough spot, but don’t count them out.