NFL Free Agency Grades Hint at Trouble for Packers

The Green Bay Packers are at the bottom – or at least close to the bottom – in NFL free agency report cards.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Mar 23, 2023 11:10 AM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Over the Matt LaFleur’s four seasons as coach, the Green Bay Packers are second in the NFL with 47 wins. That’s more than the Chicago Bears (23rd with 25 wins) and Detroit Lions (30th with 20 wins) combined.

There appears to be a changing of the guard, though. The Bears, who entered the offseason with enough salary-cap space to bail out at least a couple banks, and the Lions, who ended last season by winning eight of their final 10 games, were given “A” grades by The Sporting News for their free-agent decisions.

The Sporting News graded all 32 teams. The Bears top the list, their A-plus grade matched only by the New York Jets, who appear poised to add Aaron Rodgers.

“GM Ryan Poles was ready to do business,” Vinnie Iyer wrote as part of his assessment. “He would have hit ‘A’ status just by the blockbuster deal in trading down from No. 1 that got [receiver D.J.] Moore for Justin Fields and key draft picks in return. But then he made smart upgrades to the defensive front seven, as well.”

The Lions aren’t far behind, ranking fourth. Iyer sees the Lions ready to make a playoff push after adding safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, cornerbacks Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley and running back David Montgomery.

The Vikings are 21st on Iyer’s report card even while losing several starters.

The Packers? Well, they ranked 32nd as one of three teams to receive “D” grades. With most of their free-agent spending focused on special teams, the only additions were on long snapper Matt Orzech and safety Tarvarius Moore.

“The Rodgers situation has been difficult for the Packers to navigate, and they have been sloppy with the transition from him to Jordan Love,” Iyer wrote. “His declaration that the Jets indeed are his destination are bound to hurt Green Bay's compensation on what's not been an inspiring free agency period otherwise.”

At Pro Football Focus, the Packers received the lowest grade in the NFC while the Bears and Vikings tied for the highest mark.

The Lions and Bears are among eight teams “that improved the most,” according to Sports Illustrated.

The Packers’ grade at CBS Sports is an incomplete.

The offseason comings and goings are reflected in the NFC North odds. At BetMGM, the Lions are +135 to win the North, followed by the Bears and Vikings at +300 and the Packers at +450.

Green Bay still ranks ahead of Chicago in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl markets at most sportsbooks, including SI Sportsbook.

“We’ve got a lot of areas that are unknown right now,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine. “We only have a couple tight ends coming back from last year, so there’s some holes there. Those guys have to step into those roles and fill them, or we’re going to have to look other places. Our secondary is a little bit unsettled. We have a couple safeties that were moving on that were here last year.

“But I think as a whole, I really like our nucleus coming back. How everything shapes up by the time we get to September, we’ll see.”

Back to the grades: Maybe they mean nothing. Last year, for instance, 12 teams received an “A” from The Sporting News. Only four made the playoffs; the Chiefs finished 26th and the Eagles ranked 14th.

Four NFC teams received “above average” grades from PFF. They combined for zero playoff wins and a cumulative losing record. In CBS’s grades, four of eight made the playoffs but only one team (Buffalo) won a playoff game.