Five Roster-Building Lessons Packers Can Learn From Super Bowl Teams

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Seattle Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2014. The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl after back-to-back four-win seasons.

How can the Green Bay Packers get to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010? Here are five roster-building lessons worth considering for general manager Brian Gutekunst after a fourth consecutive season of failing to win even the NFC North.

1. Get a Stud Cornerback

The Packers haven’t gone to the NFC Championship Game since the 2019 and 2020 seasons, when Jaire Alexander started 31 games, intercepted three passes and had 30 passes defensed.

Alexander’s career fell off a cliff, and the Packers failed to replace him. After drafting Eric Stokes in the first round in 2021, the Packers didn’t draft a cornerback in 2022 and selected Carrington Valentine in the seventh round in 2023, Kalen King in the seventh round in 2024 and Micah Robinson in the seventh round in 2025.

This past offseason, the Packers dumped Alexander and Stokes and signed Nate Hobbs, with $48 million given to a player who had three interceptions in four seasons as a part-time starter for the Raiders.

Meanwhile, in 2023, the Seahawks used the No. 5 overall pick on Devon Witherspoon and the Patriots used the No. 17 overall pick on Christian Gonzalez. Witherspoon is 3-for-3 in Pro Bowls and was second-team All-Pro in 2025. The Packers had no prayer of drafting him, but they could have had Gonzalez rather than Lukas Van Ness.

Gonzalez, who had the clinching interception in the AFC Championship Game at Denver, was second-team All-Pro in 2024 and a Pro Bowler in 2025.

A great cornerback can help take away great receivers, obviously. It also allows the defensive coordinator to help the No. 2 cornerback and put together more aggressive game plans. As it stands, opposing quarterbacks saw only green lights when throwing at Keisean Nixon, Valentine and Hobbs.

2. Build Deeper Defensive Line

Thumbs up to Gutekunst for trading for Micah Parsons. Thumbs down to utterly ignoring the interior of the defensive line.

In free agency, Gutekunst let valuable TJ Slaton sign with the Bengals after he had started every game the past two seasons. He might have kept Slaton had he known he would be trading Kenny Clark as part of the Parsons trade. That was unknowable, of course, so some of Green Bay’s shortcomings are because of the law of unintended consequences.

The Packers’ need on the defensive line was obvious entering the draft, though, with Green Bay poised to roll with Clark, former fourth-round pick Colby Wooden, former sixth-round pick Karl Brooks and Who Knows Who. While Gutekunst drafted two receivers and two defensive ends, the only defensive tackle was a sixth-round pick on Warren Brinson, who started four games during each of his final two seasons at Georgia.

The Packers added a game-wrecker on defense with Micah Parsons but Warren Brinson was the biggest addition at defensive tackle. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

By the end of the season, Gutekunst was overturning couch cushions in hopes of finding a big guy capable of helping the run defense, only to see his defense get ground into a pulp by the Ravens in Week 17.

During Gutekunst’s eight drafts, he’s used one top-100 draft pick on a defensive tackle, Devonte Wyatt. New England’s starters include high-priced free agent Milton Williams and former second-round pick Christian Barmore, and Seattle’s starters are 2023 trade-deadline addition Leonard Williams and 2024 first-round pick Byron Murphy.

You get what you pay for. The Packers haven’t paid enough, and they paid the price.

3. Build Better, Smarter on Offensive Line

It’s not as if Gutekunst hasn’t tried to build a deep and sturdy offensive line. He drafted three linemen in 2021, including second-rounder Josh Myers. He drafted three linemen in 2022, including third-rounder Sean Rhyan. He drafted three more linemen in 2024, including first-rounder Jordan Morgan. He added three more linemen in 2025, including guard Aaron Banks to a colossal four-year, $77 million contract in free agency and Anthony Belton in the second round.

Has Gutekunst done a poor job in drafting linemen? Has Luke Butkus done a poor job in developing linemen?

Green Bay Packers guard Aaron Banks (65) takes to the field before their game against the Chicago Bears on Dec. 20. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Regardless, just imagine how much better off Green Bay’s line would have been had Gutekunst signed center Garrett Bradbury in free agency, kept Elgton Jenkins at left guard and spent some of the money not given to Banks elsewhere. The Patriots signed Bradbury to a two-year, $9.5 million contract – basically pennies on the dollar compared to Banks.

Instead of being centerpieces on the line, Banks and Jenkins could be cost-cutting releases this offseason.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s starting line, which includes third- and fourth-round picks and an undrafted free agent, is 100 percent homegrown.

Interestingly, and probably an oddity, Green Bay had the seventh-most expensive line. Of the top 10, only four made the playoffs.

4. Leave No Stone Unturned

Gutekunst did a good job here. He swung and missed on Hobbs and Banks, but he did spend in high-stakes free agency. There were the no-risk signings of Isaiah Simmons and Mecole Harman. He traded for Darian Kinnard before final cuts and signed Nick Niemann after final cuts. Late in the season, he took a flier on Trevon Diggs.

Oh, and he traded for Micah Parsons.

That’s what smart general managers do. While Ted Thompson relied almost exclusively on the draft and college free agency to build a roster, Gutekunst has used every avenue in putting out a strong roster.

New England, coming off back-to-back dreadful seasons and with the luxury of having a quarterback on his rookie contract, had oodles of salary-cap space and took advantage by doling out a league-high $364 million in contracts in free agency – almost $100 million more than any other team.

Six players received more than $20 million, including $104 million for Williams, $63.5 million for receiver Stefon Diggs and $54 million for cornerback Carlton Davis. It’s not just the high-priced players, though. Bradbury, receiver Mack Hollins, pass rusher K’Lavon Chaisson and defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga were smart budget moves.

The Seahawks were fourth in free-agent spending with $205 million, including quarterback Sam Darnold, receiver Cooper Kupp and veteran edge DeMarcus Lawrence getting more than 85 percent of the money.

No general manager has ever been as active as Seattle’s John Schneider. From 2010 to the start of the 2025 season, he made more than 3,900 transactions. The pace didn’t slow down this season. He is the personification of the saying if at first you don’t succeed, try again.

While Gutekunst has been active, there’s an argument to be more active. At the trade deadline this year, with Green Bay’s return game being completely nonexistent, he watched Schneider trade for New Orleans receiver Rashid Shaheed for fourth- and sixth-round picks. In 11 total games since the trade, he has three special-teams touchdowns.

5. Stay Young

At the start of the season, the Packers had the NFL’s youngest Week 1 roster with an average age of 25.28. Seattle (25.85) was the fourth-youngest and New England (26.00) was the fifth-youngest. By the end of the season, according to Pro Football Network, Green Bay was still the youngest; Seattle was fifth and New England was 11th.

The Packers are always young and they will be again (and again). That Seattle and New England are young, too, should show that Gutekunst is on the right path.

The Challenge Ahead

The problem entering this offseason is Green Bay doesn’t have a first-round pick due to the Parsons trade and doesn’t have money to spend in free agency. It will be hard to get that stud cornerback or havoc-creating defensive tackle.

Gutekunst would be wise to prioritize cornerback and defensive tackle and offensive line in the draft, and then be active with veteran roster cuts to build the roster depth necessary to handle the rigors of the season.

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