Packers NFL Draft Tracker: Trading Up for Chris McClellan

GREEN BAY – The NFL Draft started on Thursday for most of the league. It started on Friday for the Green Bay Packers.

This will be your hub for all the quick-hitting news on all the draft picks and trades.

Third Round: Packers Draft Missouri DT Chris McClellan

The Green Bay Packers have hammered away at their biggest needs on defense. After using their second-round pick on South Carolina cornerback Brandon Cisse, they traded up for Missouri defensive tackle Chris McClellan.

Green Bay moved up from No. 84 to No. 77 by giving up the second of their fifth-round picks, No. 160 overall.

After two seasons at Florida, McClellan transferred to Missouri. After starting nine games in 2024, McClellan had a superb final season with six sacks, eight tackles for losses and 48 tackles – all career highs.

At 6-foot-3 3/4 and 313 pounds with 34-inch arms and enormous 11-inch hands, he’s got the size to fill the big void at nose tackle in the new 3-4 scheme.

“Just being able to kind of play in multiple different defenses for multiple different years, like primarily based out of a nickel at Missouri and Florida it's like more of a 3-4 defense,” McClellan said at the Scouting Combine. “So, having that experience to kind of translate both kind of styles so I can play in any defense that I get drafted to.”

He’s still got room to grow as a player. He arrived at Florida as a defensive end.

“I didn't play D-tackle until I got to college, so each year was kind of a learning experience for me, getting better,” he said. "Obviously, this last year, my senior is my best year, sort of understanding how to beat those into your linemen and be able to get some sack production.”

Second Round: Packers Draft South Carolina CB Brandon Cisse

The Green Bay Packers used their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on South Carolina cornerback Brandon Cisse.

Cisse fits Green Bay’s usual mold at cornerback. At 5-foot-11 3/4, he’s about the same size as Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine. In other words, he’s not too tall, not too short. At pro day, he ran his 40 in 4.41 seconds. He’s got smaller hands than the typical Packers cornerback at 8 1/2 inches.

Cisse is a perimeter cornerback. He will challenge Nixon, Valentine and Benjamin St-Juste for playing time.

Cisse spent his first two seasons at North Carolina State. He started nine games in 2024 – he missed four games with an injured thumb – and had zero interceptions and five passes defensed.

In 2025, he started all 12 games and intercepted one pass with six pass breakups.

According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed 18-of-38 passing with one touchdown and one interception in 2025. In 2024, he allowed 14-of-27 with one touchdown. That’s a combined completion percentage of just less than 50 percent.

Cisse was the 41st prospect, according to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah.

“Cisse is a fast, twitchy cover corner,” Jeremiah wrote. “He usually played with his back turned to the sideline, allowing him to see through the wideout to the quarterback. He plays with vision, which allows him to use his elite speed to close space and make plays on the ball. He is a loose, fluid athlete. He’s not physical in press coverage, though. He carries his hands low and relies on his quick feet to mirror and match.

“I’d like to see him play with more aggression against the run. He gave up some plays in the games I studied, but it appeared to be more of a focus issue than any physical limitation.”

Grading Jayden Reed Contract Extension

In huge news before the Packers went on the clock on Friday, the team announced it had signed receiver Jayden Reed to a contract extension.

According to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, the three-year extension is worth $50.25 million in new money and includes $20 million guaranteed.

It might seem like big-time money, but that’s the going rate for a big-time player.

Reed is a big-time player.

Reed is coming off a disappointing season. He tried to play through a foot injury, only to suffer a broken collarbone while making a circus catch in the end zone against Washington. He wound up missing most of the season. After leading the team in receptions and receiving yards during each of his first two seasons, Reed caught 19-of-22 passes in seven games.

It was a dismal season that makes it easy to forget just how good he’d been during his first two seasons.

Take 2024, for instance. Of 84 receivers to be targeted at least 50 times, Reed rewarded his quarterbacks with a 137.5 passer rating – tops in the league. Short or long, Reed destroyed defenses. He was sixth in the league with 7.1 yards after the catch per catch and first with an 80.0 percent catch rate on deep passes.

From the 2023 draft class, Reed and Puka Nacua are tied for No. 1 with 9.7 yards per target. Of the 110 receivers who were targeted at least 75 times over the past three seasons, He’s tied for seventh in yards per target.

“I look at it as, this game ain’t all about me,” Reed said in 2024. “At the end of the day, I just want to win. As long as we’re winning, I don’t care about targets, none of that. If we’re winning, that’s all I’m about.”

Reed is a bit on the smallish side. Packers coach Matt LaFleur needs to find the right balance with his touches. Maybe some of the gadget stuff for which Reed had excelled can go to Savion Williams so Reed can run more receiver routes.

Reed got paid because he’s a really good player. He also fits the culture.

“I love the energy he brings. And it’s not just gameday, it’s every day,” LaFleur said in 2024. “We’re lucky to have a guy like that. He’s a tone-setter, he really is. I love the way he competes and prepares for every battle.”

The extension will keep Reed under contract through 2029. With Matthew Golden, the Packers have two dynamic receivers. Now, can the Packers find enough money to sign Christian Watson to an extension, as well?

If so, Jordan Love couldn’t ask for much more.

Grade: A.

Packers Have Eight Draft Picks

With no first-round pick, Thursday night was like a Seinfeld episode. Things will pick up the rest of the week.

Second Round, No. 52 (Gutekunst has made a killing here.)

Third Round, No. 84

Fourth Round, No. 120

Fifth Round: No. 153

Fifth Round: No. 160

Sixth Round: No. 201

Seventh Round: No. 236

Seventh Round: No. 255

Limited Draft Capital for Packers

With only eight draft picks and no first-round picks, the Packers have precious few resources to spend in this year’s draft.

OverTheCap.com places a value on every draft pick. The Packers’ eight picks are worth 3,941 points. Only five teams have less draft capital.

“I’m at eight and I’d like to get more,” Gutekunst said. “But it really depends on how the board falls and if the board says, ‘Hey, there’s players worthy of moving up and taking here,’ we’re going to do it. And if we really feel good about the numbers we have we’ll move back and try to acquire, whether it’s this year or next year picks, because we feel we have enough players to take. So, it really just depends on how it falls.”

It’ll be a different story next year. The Packers are scheduled to have 11 picks, including perhaps two in the third round and three in the fourth.

Packers Draft Board

Based on the talent of the players and Green Bay’s history at positions, here’s our look at a potential Packers draft board, with players broken down by positions and rounds.

For what it’s worth, the offensive line is the betting favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook to be the first position drafted by the Packers.

Hit-And-Miss History

This is Gutekunst’s ninth draft. From his first eight, here are the best and worst picks.

It’s OK to laugh at the Pro Bowl as a measuring stick, but this damning stat says something about Gutekunst’s history. He has been on a bit of a roll, though.

One thing’s for sure: The Packers can’t afford to screw this one up.

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