Only One Former Packers Player Will Play in Super Bowl

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Seahawks face the Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl, there will be a definite Green Bay flavor with Seattle general manager John Schneider and New England executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf helping form the rosters.

Schneider worked under former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who is Eliot Wolf’s father. However, there will be only one former Packers player on the field when the teams battle for the Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara, Calif.

That would be defensive tackle Jarran Reed.

Reed, who was a second-round pick by Seattle in 2016 and had a career-high 10.5 sacks in 2018, played in all 17 games with 14 starts for the Packers in 2022. The hope was Reed would help get the Packers across the finish line after falling short as the No. 1 seed in 2020 and 2021. Reed had 2.5 sacks and returned to Seattle in free agency in 2023.

Reed had seven sacks in 2023, 4.5 sacks in 2024 and 2.5 sacks in 13 games this season, then added four tackles in the two playoff games.

For the 33-year-old, it’s been a long and rather incredible wait. With Seattle, he arrived too late for the “Legion of Boom” Super Bowl teams of 2013 (win) and 2014 (loss). After five seasons in Seattle, he spent one season with the Chiefs, who reached Super Bowls in 2019 (win), 2020 (loss), 2022 (win) and 2023 (win) but lost in the AFC title game with Reed in 2021. With Green Bay, he arrived a year too late for its three-year streak of 13 regular-season wins.

Now, the 10-year pro has finally made it to his first Super Bowl.

“It means everything to me,” Reed said via The Seattle Times. “Look, winning the NFC championship was good, but I was just thinking the fact that we’re going to the Super Bowl, I was overjoyed. I had so much emotion running over me that I’ve been playing this game for 10 years and to finally get that moment; some people go a long time, even the greats, and don’t make it here.

“But to just make it here with this group of guys that we have is amazing. We’re closer than ever and I get to enjoy it with them with a great team.”

Reed rejoined the Seahawks on a two-year deal in 2023. This past offseason, he returned with a three-year deal worth $22 million.

“We didn't want him to go,” Schneider said. “We had to make a business decision; he had to respond. He decided to go to Kansas City; that’s his prerogative. He went to KC, then he was in Green Bay (and) played great. It's one of those deals where you have that relationship (and) he knows everybody. So, our culture really attracted him. Could he have gone somewhere else for more money? Absolutely. Did he want to come back here and be part of a special thing we're building right now to help us get over the top? Yeah.”

With Reed, Seattle this season finished first in the NFL in points allowed per game, yards allowed per rushing attempt and third-down percentage, and second in yards allowed per play and yards allowed per passing play.

“It’s a testament to how hard we work every day,” Reed said. “Every guy in here leaves it on the field. Every guy in here does what they need to do to be available to play. The training room does a great job – an absolute great job – getting us ready to go whenever something happens with anybody. The weight room staff is amazing. Everybody works out like none other. It’s just everybody is hitting on all cylinders.”

The Seahawks are 4.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook. Reed is +390 to record a sack.

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