Grading Packers’ Expensive Signing of Javon Hargrave

Javon Hargrave’s best seasons in the NFL came when Jonathan Gannon was his defensive coordinator. Now, they are being reunited with the Green Bay Packers.

Less than an hour after he was released by the Minnesota Vikings, the 33-year-old Hargrave agreed to what NFL Network reported as a two-year, $23 million contract.

The #Packers are adding up front, agreeing to terms with massive DT Javon Hargrave to a 2-year, $23M deal done by agent Drew Rosenhaus. pic.twitter.com/sWbMEA8dZC
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2026

It’s a potential win-win-win, with Hargrave addressing a glaring need.

Packers Fill Big Need With Javon Hargrave

The Packers had an enormous need on the defensive line. That was obvious long before they traded Colby Wooden to the Colts last week.

After Devonte Wyatt went on injured reserve, general manager Brian Gutekunst practically held tryouts in the Lambeau Field parking lot late last season. He signed Jordon Riley, Quinton Bohanna and Jonathan Ford in hopes of bolstering the defensive line for the playoffs.

With Wooden, their best run-stopping defensive tackle, sent to Indy to acquire linebacker Zaire Franklin, defensive tackle was a five-alarm need. With Hargrave’s rumored release by the Vikings, who were well over the salary cap, the Packers perhaps worked behind the scenes to make headway on the deal.

Hargrave was a third-round pick by the Steelers in 2016 out of South Carolina State. He’s been superb. He started immediately, and had 10.5 sacks during his final two seasons in Pittsburgh.

“The dude can rush his tail off,” Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cam Heyward said in 2019.

He reached peak-destruction levels with the Eagles. In 2021 and 2022, when Gannon was their defensive coordinator, Hargrave had 7.5 sacks and nine tackles for losses among a career-high 63 tackles to earn Pro Bowl honors in 2021. He was even more impactful in 2022, when he had 11 sacks and 10 tackles for losses among 60 stops.

Hargrave was a Pro Bowler again with the 49ers in 2023, when he had seven sacks, but missed most of 2024 due to a torn triceps. Last offseason, he signed a two-year, $30 million contract with the Vikings. He played in 16 games (15 starts) and had 3.5 sacks and four tackles for losses. Of his 52 tackles, he had six in the Vikings’ loss at Lambeau Field.

Javon Hargrave In Position to Turn Back the Clock

Hargrave is 33 – he’ll turn 34 one week before the Super Bowl – and it’s been a while since he was a dominant force. Still, the beyond-the-basics numbers are encouraging.

According to Pro Football Focus, Wyatt was one of 91 interior defensive linemen who had at least 222 pass-rushing opportunities in 2025. From that group, Hargrave ranked 18th in pass-rush win rate and tied Wyatt for 18th in pass-rush productivity, which includes sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap.

For contrast, Brooks was 43rd in pass-rush win rate and 70th in pass-rush productivity and Wooden was 79th in pass-rush win rate and 89th in pass-rush productivity.

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave makes a tackle against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Can Hargrave become the game-wrecker he was with the Eagles? Under Gannon in 2021 and 2022, he had a combined 18.5 sacks, 34 quarterback hits and 123 tackles. Their time together made him an obvious target for the Packers.

“He gave me a lot of freedom and talked to me during the week about what I liked and some of the plays he was going to call if we liked them,” Hargrave said while with the 49ers in 2023. “He’s one those players’ coaches that listens to players a lot to get the best out of them.”

No Impact on Compensatory Picks

Critically from Green Bay’s perspective GM Brian Gutekunst was able to bolster an area of need without sacrificing one of his compensatory picks.

As a street free agent, Hargrave doesn’t impact the comp-pick ledger. The Packers are in line for potential third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks for quarterback Malik Willis, receiver Romeo Doubs and linebacker Quay Walker. Left tackle Rasheed Walker should get the Packers another, which would max them out at four.

Grading Packers’ Signing of Javon Hargrave

Because Hargrave didn’t impact the compensatory-pick ledger, he was a real value for Gutekunst in a crowded group of unrestricted and street free agents. Now, Hargrave will go for a turn-back-the-clock season with a familiar face.

With Micah Parsons rushing from one edge and Wyatt and Hargrave rushing up the middle, Green Bay could have a powerful pass rush. Gannon knows what it takes; the 2022 Eagles reached the Super Bowl behind an NFL-leading 70 sacks.

“Personally, I expected him to play really well, and he did,” Gannon said after Hargrave had two sacks against Atlanta in 2021. “I think the emphasis is between inside and outside guys, you need all of them. There’s really no premium — everyone used to talk about (how) you need an edge rusher and a good corner.

“You’d like to be able to win from inside and win from outside. When you have the people to do that, it makes the quarterback’s job pretty hard.”

Moreover, Hargrave can serve as a conduit between the players and Gannon.

“He’s smooth. He’ll come talk to you and he knows the right words to say to each player,” Hargrave said in 2023. “He knows how to make people believe in what we’re doing to win the game.”

In 2023, Hargrave parlayed his two huge seasons with the Eagles into a four-year, $84 million contract with the 49ers and Gannon turned his two excellent seasons in Philadelphia into the head-coaching job with the Cardinals.

“I needed him, he needed me,” Hargrave said. “I said thank you for everything he’s done and he said the same to me.”

They need each other now, too.

It’s an expensive marriage for a 33-year-old but it’s a necessity for the Packers. It might be hyperbole to trot out the phrase “desperate times call for desperate measures,” but the Packers were desperate to improve their defensive line. A reunion between Gannon and Hargrave could be worth the risk.

Grade: B.

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