Five Big Questions for Packers Before 2025 NFL Season

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will kick off the 2025 NFL season at home against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. It’s a huge game but, really, it’s just one of 17. The Packers figure to be a work in progress to start the season considering the injuries that disrupted the development of the offense during training camp and the late addition of Micah Parsons to the defense.

These five questions will determine the outcome of the season.

1. Can Jordan Love Be Elite Quarterback?

This is the franchise-defining question. In the quest to win the Super Bowl, teams with mediocre or even good quarterbacks need not apply.

The Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2024 behind Jalen Hurts. He may or may not be an elite quarterback – he finished eighth in Sports Illustrated’s poll of the top quarterbacks – but he’s an elite weapon because he’s an above-average passer and superior runner.

The Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2022 and 2023 behind Patrick Mahomes. The blockbuster trade for Matthew Stafford helped the Rams win the Super Bowl in 2021. The legendary Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory in 2020. Mahomes won the Super Bowl in 2019. Brady won his sixth and final Super Bowl for the Patriots in 2018.

The last time a quarterback who at least wasn’t very good won a Super Bowl was Nick Foles for the Eagles in 2017. Before that, it was Joe Flacco and the Ravens in 2012.

The Packers are paying Jordan Love $55 million per season to be their next great quarterback. He showed he can be that type of player during his sensational second half to the 2023 season but fell out of the top 10 of SI’s quarterback poll after an injury-plagued 2024. As he enters his third year as the starter and sixth year in the NFL, now’s the time for Love to turn potential into consistent, game-winning production.

2. The Golden Receiver?

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (22) catches a pass against Seattle Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst made two bold moves this offseason. The first was finally using a first-round pick on a receiver.

The Packers haven’t received a lot of instant impact from their first-round picks over the years. Of Gutekunst’s previous eight first-round picks, four started double-digits games as a rookie and the other four started zero or one.

Matthew Golden, however, looks like he could be a stud from Day 1.

“He’s done a great job,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Thursday. “He’s got great speed, great hands. Everything about him, he’s just been a true professional as soon as he’s walked in the door.

“So, I’m excited where he’s at and, as the season progresses, to see how it unfolds and how we can use him. But it’s just one of those things that you don’t really know until you get out there in the game and watch him play just because of his limited reps in actual live football for us. So, yeah, it’s going to be fun and I’m excited because what he’s put on film in practice has been excellent.”

The 4.29 speed in the 40 is just part of the package. If the Golden who showed his skill throughout training camp and showed savvy on his deep catch in the preseason against Seattle is the real deal, an offense that finished eighth in scoring last season could shoot well into the top five, which will play directly into the hands of No. 3 on this list.

3. Micah Parsons to the Rescue?

The second bold move made by general manager Brian Gutekunst was last week’s blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons.

Parsons is a total-package pass rusher and a game-changing weapon. Coaches love to talk about complementary football. If Jordan Love and the offense can get rolling, the Parsons-led pass rush can step on the gas. A one-touchdown lead can turn into two touchdowns. A two-touchdown lead can turn into a blowout.

New #Packers star Micah Parsons is hungry for knowledge.

“I never been the type to say, I’m going to come back on seconds. I’m going to load the plate all at once. I’m going to get everything I need in one meal.”https://t.co/NO0T76j0rc
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 4, 2025

“It’s like watching a highlight film,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “You just turn on his pressure tape and the guy can win. Here’s what’s amazing about the guy: The guy can win with speed. The guy can win by going through a tackle. The guy can win coming inside and win fast. The guy’s won on guards, he’s won on centers, he won as a standup linebacker.

“So, just turn on the highlight film and have fun. You should go watch his highlights. It’s the same thing I did, really. Look, I don’t want to get up here overexcited and you guys are starting to bring that smile on to my face. I kind of want to downplay this thing a little bit, but I’m excited that he’s here, I’m excited for our players, I’m excited for our whole team right now.”

There are questions, though, namely how the Packers will stop the run without Kenny Clark. Green Bay’s five defensive tackles have started six games in the NFL. Only 2022 first-round pick Devonte Wyatt was a top-115 draft pick; the rest of the group consists of Colby Wooden (fourth round), Karl Brooks and Warren Brinson (sixth round) and Nazir Stackhouse (undrafted).

However, in a league in which the teams with the top quarterbacks have an incredible advantage, it stands to reason that you need to stop those quarterbacks. Without elite talent at cornerback, it will be up to Parsons to be Green Bay’s defensive stopper.

4. Impact or Flops in Free Agency?

Brian Gutekunst’s track record in big-money free agency is strong. Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos and Billy Turner in 2019 and Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney in 2024 made him 6-for-6 in outside additions. Other than botching the re-signing of De’Vondre Campbell in 2022, Gutekunst has been impeccable with his high-profile signings.

How about this year?

On Day 1 of free agency, he signed guard Aaron Banks to a four-year contract worth $77 million and cornerback Nate Hobbs to a four-year contract worth $48 million.

Neither player was a standout starter for the team that drafted him – Banks was a second-round pick by the 49ers in 2021 and Hobbs was a fifth-round pick by the Raiders in 2021. Moreover, both players came with injury histories. Banks missed four games last season and seven games the past three seasons, and Hobbs missed 16 games the last three seasons.

That injury history is noteworthy because Banks missed the start and end of training camp with a back injury. He is not on this week’s injury report and will start at left guard on Sunday. Hobbs was out more than a month following knee surgery and, while he returned to practice on Thursday, seems unlikely to play.

The depth is perilous at both positions. On the offensive line, Jordan Morgan is the only backup the Packers would feel confident in playing. At cornerback, the No. 1 backup, Bo Melton, was a receiver as recently as OTAs in May.

Banks and Hobbs need to stay healthy, prove Gutekunst correct and earn their massive paychecks.

5. Can Matt LaFleur Win the Big One?

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Unless his team is hit by injuries to key players, there will be no excuses for coach Matt LaFleur.

Not good enough at receiver? Here’s Matthew Golden. Bullied by the Eagles’ defensive line? Here’s Aaron Banks. Need to improve the four-man pass rush? Here’s Micah Parsons.

The roster isn’t perfect but there are few better. The Packers have the pieces in place with quarterback Jordan Love, running back Josh Jacobs, tight end Tucker Kraft and a deep receiver corps. They have an elite player on all three layers of the defense with end Micah Parsons, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and safety Xavier McKinney.

Almost all of the big games are at home, including Week 1 against the Lions, who will be breaking in two new coordinators.

Now’s the time.

Going 1-5 in division games will be inexcusable, no matter the strength of the North. Going 0-6 against the best teams in the NFC will be unacceptable.

LaFleur in his debut season in 2019 immediately led the Packers out of the abyss that was the end of the Mike McCarthy era. As the No. 1 seed in 2020, they lost at home in the NFC Championship Game due in large part to the combination of David Bakhtiari’s ACL and a mostly empty Lambeau Field.

However, they’ve won only one playoff game the last four seasons. The trade for Micah Parsons made the Packers instant championship contenders. Will the Packers actually contend?

In NFL history, LaFleur ranks 13th in winning percentage. That is absurd success. Now is the time to make a run at the Super Bowl.

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It'll be a big game on Sunday for the #Packers. @JacobSlinkman has the big matchup. ⬇️https://t.co/9g1nxJmtbT
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 5, 2025