Free Agents From Every Roster Who Belong on the Packers: The NFC North

Should the Packers take a look at any pending free agents from their division rivals?

We’ve taken a look at free agents from around the league, division by division, and we are finally at the NFC North. Let’s take a look at players from rival teams, as well as the Packers themselves, and see who might be a fit in Green Bay.

Chicago Bears: DL Darrell Taylor

The Chicago Bears are good at two things: being worse than the Green Bay Packers, and getting guys on defense who can cause problems for opposing QBs. 27-year-old Darrell Taylor arrived in Chicago via trade in August of 2024, and right out of the gate had 2 sacks and a forced fumble. He finished the season with just 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles, so there was a definite slowdown after his Week 1 performance. However, with 31 pressures in 2024 (compared to Lukas Van Ness’s 20), I think Taylor is skilled enough at getting after the QB that he would make a great rotational piece for a Jeff Hafley defense.

Detroit Lions: CB Carlton Davis

It came between Carlton Davis and DL Al-Quadin Muhammad, but ultimately I think the Packers need Davis so much more. We still don’t know for sure what the team will do with Jaire Alexander, but I personally think the writing is on the wall and he’ll be with another team in 2025. Davis plays a lot like Alexander (this is both complimentary and derogatory), and I think he’d be the perfect replacement, albeit an expensive one. Davis finished the 2024 season with 2 INTs, 1 forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries in 13 games. He did miss some time this season with a fractured jaw, but his general injury history has been pretty mild, and is not nearly as concerning as Alexander’s.

Green Bay Packers: K Brandon McManus

This one’s a no-brainer for me. I trust the Packers’ ability to replace every single pending free agent on their roster more than I trust their ability to replace Brandon McManus. We’ve seen what the Packers look like with a bad kicker on their roster, and I want no parts of that again, thank you very much!

The Packers’ Week 4 loss to the Minnesota Vikings was by 2 points. Their kicker at the time, Brayden Narveson, missed two FG attempts, both under 50 yards. It’s safe to say Brandon McManus would’ve made at least one of these, potentially reversing the outcome of this entire game and affecting the NFC playoff landscape. In 11 regular season games for the Packers this season, McManus was 20/21 in FG attempts, and a perfect 30/30 in XP attempts. Retain him, THANKS.

Minnesota Vikings: CB Shaquill Griffin

I am fully unmoved by the Vikings’ 2025 free agent class, including Shaquill Griffin, who is coming from his fourth team in as many years. He had a bit of a bounce-back year in Minnesota, with 2 picks, 6 passes defensed, and 41 total tackles, so things might not be completely over for him. He’s not a guy I’d want starting 17 games for Green Bay, but he would be a nice veteran to bring in and help develop the incoming rookies.

Three divisions down, one to go! Tune in for the next batch of free agents as we take a look at the AFC South.