Let’s talk about quantity, not quality
A lot of the focus for Green Bay Packers fans has been on the potential big swings that the team could take. There’s good reasoning for that: No team is returning more snaps going into the 2025 season than the Packers, at least as of now, and Green Bay is a relatively young team that is entering a steady cap situation for the first time in two or three years.
If you just looked at where the Packers are on paper, you would say they’d be in a position to inject some high-end talent onto their team without it hurting them long-term. That was essentially echoed by general manager Brian Gutekunst in his end-of-the-year press conference when he said that he wants to be “aggressive” this offseason.
But what about looking for singles instead of home runs? Where on Green Bay’s roster does that calculus change? Is there anywhere where the Packers simply need NFL bodies, rather than an expensive dice roll on a potential Pro Bowler?
To answer these questions, let’s take a look at the returning players from Green Bay’s 53-man roster and injured reserve:
Quarterbacks (3): Jordan Love, Malik Willis and Sean Clifford
Running Backs (4): Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson (ERFA), Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd
Receivers (6): Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton (ERFA) and Malik Heath
Tight Ends (4): Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave, John FitzPatrick and Ben Sims
Offensive Linemen (8): Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Sean Rhyan, Zach Tom, Jordan Morgan, Kadeem Telfort (ERFA), Travis Glover and Jacob Monk
Defensive Ends (5): Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, Lukas Van Ness, Brenton Cox Jr. and Arron Mosby (ERFA)
Defensive Tackles (4): Kenny Clark, Karl Brooks, Devonte Wyatt and Colby Wooden
Linebackers (3): Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper
Cornerbacks (3): Jaire Alexander, Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine
Safeties (4): Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard and Kitan Oladapo
Kickers (0): None
Punters (1): Daniel Whelan (ERFA)
Long Snappers (1): Matt Orzech
A couple of these positions stand out. First of all, they’re going to need a kicker. The Packers’ 2024 kicker, at least for the second half of the season, was Brandon McManus, who figures to be one of the best kickers available in free agency this offseason.
Beyond that, though, Green Bay’s roster numbers are relatively game-ready, outside of a couple of positions. I would argue that there are probably only three positions where I could see the Packers double-dipping: offensive line, linebacker and cornerback.
On the offensive line, Green Bay is likely going to lose starting center Josh Myers in free agency, which should open up snaps for first-round rookie Jordan Morgan to earn playing time. With that being said, the depth behind the 2025 projected starting offensive line is shaky at best. Among Kadeem Telfort, Travis Glover and Jacob Monk, the highest investment that the team has made is Monk — who was a healthy scratch during the second half of 2024. The only other draft pick was Glover, who was brought off of the bench as an injury replacement in the postseason and was quickly benched due to a string of penalties.
At linebacker, the Packers simply don’t have the bodies. Eric Wilson and Isaiah McDuffie are set to become unrestricted free agents this offseason. They were the third and fourth linebackers on the depth chart once Edgerrin Cooper broke out. Behind Quay Walker and Cooper, the only notable linebacker under contract is 2024 third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper, who was hardly even seen on the field for garbage time as a rookie. The five linebackers that Green Bay carries in 2024 were already a relatively low number for a 4-3 defense. Don’t be shocked if the Packers add three more players to this group, because of the special teams impact of the position.
Lastly is cornerback, where Jaire Alexander very well might be released. If Alexander is gone, this leaves just Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine as notable returning players at the position. The Packers didn’t seem too confident that Valentine could be an every-down player last year, based on the fact that they rotated him with Eric Stokes even once Alexander suffered his knee injury. At minimum Green Bay will need five players at this position. It’s not uncommon to see them carry six, either, though, that might be a little less likely with safety Javon Bullard commanding the slot role.
The positions that the Packers will attempt to swing big for are obvious: edge rusher and cornerback, maybe receiver. After that, though, the second wave of transactions that Green Bay should be eyeing in the 2025 offseason, either via free agency or the draft, will be cornerback (again), the offensive line and linebacker.