Grading Packers’ First Five Days of NFL Free Agency

Taken individually, the Green Bay Packers haven’t made a bad move as we progress into Day 5 of NFL free agency.

Signing defensive tackle Javon Hargrave filled a major need and will give new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon a trusted voice on the field and in the locker room. Signing receiver Skyy Moore took care of a major weakness on special teams. The Packers might have found a major bargain at cornerback with Benjamin St-Juste.

General manager Brian Gutekunst should be arrested for highway robbery for getting a fourth-round pick for Rashan Gary. While the Packers won that trade, who knows if the same will be true of trading defensive tackle Colby Wooden for linebacker Zaire Franklin and replacing Quay Walker with Franklin.

All of the team’s re-signings, ranging from running back Chris Brooks to defensive tackle Jonathan Ford, were smart.

And yet, in this case, the entirety of its free agency isn’t worth the sum of its parts.

Have the Packers Gotten Better?

This is a drum we bang constantly here: This is Titletown, and winning the Super Bowl should be the only thing from which success and failure should be judged. That doesn’t necessarily mean the 2026 season would be a failure if the Packers lost the NFC Championship Game on a walk-off field goal. It does mean every step along the way should be about getting to the Super Bowl.

The Packers haven’t won the NFC North since 2021. They are coming off back-to-back-to-back seasons of being the No. 7 seed, which is practically an impossible road to get to the Super Bowl.

Through the initial waves of free agency, and with most of the impact players off the market, are the Packers any closer to winning the NFC North and making a run at the Super Bowl today than when they walked off the field in dismay and disgrace after losing to the Bears in the playoffs?

It would be impossible to say yes.

The Packers’ biggest needs this offseason were improving at defensive end, defensive tackle, cornerback, offensive line and returner.

At least the Packers got their returner with Moore, who was one of three players to finish in the top 10 in punt returns and kickoff returns in 2025.

But what about those other weaknesses?

At defensive end, where Micah Parsons is coming off a torn ACL and probably will miss the start of the season, the Packers traded Gary and lost Kingsley Enagbare in free agency. They have not been replaced.

At defensive tackle, the Packers needed to get bigger and tougher after finishing 18th against the run. So, they traded 25-year-old Colby Wooden – their best run-stopper at the position – and replaced with him with 33-year-old Javon Hargrave. On running plays, Wooden had six tackles for losses and Hargrave had one.

The Packers traded Wooden for Franklin. Financially, this was a no-brainer. Walker’s four-year contract averages $13.5 million per season. Franklin’s two-year total is about $16.0 million. The last three seasons, Franklin had a combined 10 interceptions and forced fumbles and Walker had one. However, Franklin is coming off a down season and will turn 30 on July 2.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs fumbles into the end zone while being tackled by Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

There’s no doubt the Packers are better at cornerback by releasing Nate Hobbs, who they hoped could play perimeter cornerback, and signing St-Juste, who has shown he can play perimeter cornerback. But is St-Juste good enough to be a starter, or will he only be better depth?

On the offensive line, it’s Jordan Morgan’s time to replace Rasheed Walker at left tackle. They drafted him in the first round in 2024 for this moment. Ready or not, it’s here. At center, Sean Rhyan parlayed seven starts at center into ranking seventh at the position with his $11 million per season. The Packers also re-signed Darian Kinnard.

Individually, there was nothing wrong with any of those moves. But on the whole, have the Packers improved? Even a little?

Are Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver, the next men up at defensive end after quiet rookie seasons, better than Gary and Enagbare?

At defensive tackle, Hargrave is a better pass rusher than Wooden but is he better overall? And, as was the case a week ago, do the Packers have enough manpower up front?

At cornerback, the depth is better with St-Juste but will the defense be appreciably better even if he wins the starting job?

On the offensive line, the decisions on Walker, Rhyan and Kinnard probably were all correct when examined individually. But will the line as a whole be better after Green Bay’s run game went from 4.75 yards per carry in 2024 to 4.14 in 2025?

Crossing Their Fingers

The Packers are a draft-and-develop team, and they’ll count on that development.

At defensive end, Brenton Cox played a little in 2024, Sorrell played a little as a rookie in 2025 and Oliver barely played at all as a rookie due to hamstring injuries. They might be thrust into major roles, especially with Parsons unlikely to be available to start the season. All the Packers have otherwise is Lukas Van Ness, who hasn’t exactly taken the league by storm.

At defensive tackle, Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse showed some flashes. They’re in line to be key players in 2026 but are going to have to be a lot stronger against the run than they were as rookies.

Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit (9) is forced out of bounds by Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Sean Rhyan (75). | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rhyan has played 460 snaps of center in his life. He’s got to win physically and mentally. There’s no reason why he can’t do it but, as with the others, there’s some projection involved.

Wishing and hoping isn’t a great roster-building plan. But that’s what the Packers will be doing. They’ll be hoping there’s another step in Jordan Love’s game. They’ll be hoping Morgan will be a lock-down blind-side protector. They’ll be hoping Rhyan is on his way toward being a top-10 center. They’ll be hoping Hargrave and Franklin can turn back the clock. They’ll be hoping young players will rise to the occasion. They’ll be hoping Parsons and tight end Tucker Kraft can make spectacular recoveries from their knee injuries.

Individually, all of those things are possible. Taken together, will enough projection turn into production for the Packers to contend for a championship?

Grading the Packers’ Start to Free Agency

Give Gutekunst credit for stealing a more-than-respectable fourth-round pick for Gary. Getting that selection and the free-agent compensatory picks should more than offset not having a first-round pick.

In the NFC North, the Vikings made a big move at quarterback with Kyler Murray, who might be overrated but he’s clearly better than J.J. McCarthy. The Bears and Lions, however, are having similar spinning-the-wheels offseasons as Green Bay.

The same can’t be true for other NFC teams.

Even without running back Kenneth Walker and cornerback Tariq Woolen, the Super Bowl-champion Seahawks will be formidable. The Rams fixed their secondary by adding Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson. The Eagles improved their secondary with Woolen and their pass rush with Arnold Ebiketie.

The Panthers, who stumbled into an NFC South championship, have spent more than $185 million in improving their roster. The Commanders, who reached the NFC Championship Game in 2024, have spent more than $233 million.

It’s not going to be easy for the Packers. They were a half-game out of last place in the NFC North last year. They could win the division this year. They could finish last.

As far as winning the Super Bowl, which should be what matters in Titletown, the whole season might boil down to if or when Parsons and Kraft return to form. A roster that wasn’t good enough to overcome their injuries last season hasn’t been sufficiently upgraded this offseason.

There’s a saying that states if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. It’d be hard to argue the Packers have gotten better.

Grade: D-plus.

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