Packers OTAs Winners and Losers: Path to Super Bowl Hits Bumpy Start

GREEN BAY, Wis. – To be clear, no team has ever won a Super Bowl in May or June. But you sure as heck can lose one.

The Green Bay Packers, obviously, weren’t eliminated from contention for their 14th NFL championship over the past couple weeks, but it’s been an incredibly rocky beginning for a team that seems to be spinning its wheels with three consecutive seventh-seed seasons.

With the offseason practices reaching their midpoint, here’s an early look at the winners and losers. The first three in the losers ledger could be significant blows to Green Bay’s Super Bowl aspirations.

Loser: Jonathan Gannon

New Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is going to be walking into a gunfight with one of those Nerf Super Soakers.

Micah Parsons is going to miss the first four, five or six (or more) games as he comes back from last year’s torn ACL. Parsons and the Packers are taking a measured approach.

“The goal for me is to complete the season, not no relapse, and playoffs and pushing towards a championship,” he said on Wednesday. “The goal isn’t for me to go out there and re-hurt myself trying to force myself to get back the first few games. The goal has always been playoffs, and I think we’re all on the same page.”

That’s the right approach given Parsons’ overwhelming importance to the franchise. However, it does create some obvious challenges for Gannon that could put the season in jeopardy.

What does that "nine-month rule" mean for his timeline?https://t.co/Pl4ZGiwtdN

Is there enough pass rush?https://t.co/PHOHpcFGfW
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) June 4, 2026

Say what you want about Rashan Gary, who was traded to the Cowboys, but his 7.5 sacks last season are one less than Lukas Van Ness has in three seasons.

Say what you want about Kingsley Enagbare, who signed with the Jets in free agency, but he had as many sacks as Van Ness the past three seasons.

Green Bay’s entire edge group has 15.5 sacks in their careers. An opportunity to address a potentially fatal flaw is no longer available with the news that Josh Sweat “is not being traded.”

Three of Sweat’s best seasons came with Gannon either as defensive coordinator with the Eagles or head coach of the Cardinals. Sweat signed with the Cardinals last offseason due in part to the presence of Gannon, and he delivered 12 sacks during their reunion. The dots between Sweat and the Packers were easy to connect.

But, alas, there will be no trade. And that means there will be no elite pass rusher for Gannon. The opening schedule could be the salvation, but even a mediocre starting quarterback can carve up a defense from a clean pocket.

How will Gannon affect the Vikings’ Kyler Murray, the Jets’ Geno Smith, the Falcons’ Tua Tagovailoa (or Michael Penix) and the Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield in the first four games? And will his defense have a prayer if Parsons’ absence extends into games against the Bears’ Caleb Williams, the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and the Lions’ Jared Goff?

Winner: Luke Getsy

Former-turned-current quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy lost out on coaching Malik Willis but will at least have a competent and experienced backup in Tyrod Taylor.

Not that Getsy can kick up his heels and relax, but his job will be much easier with Taylor, who has played in 100 games in his career, as opposed to Desmond Ridder, who had been slated for backup duty. Plus, Taylor will serve as another set of eyes for Jordan Love, which Love will appreciate after working alongside young backups the past three seasons.

“Tyrod (has) been through a lot – 16 years of this league and being around a bunch of different styles of quarterbacks that he was playing with, too,” Getsy said. “I think all of that is really going to be really cool and something that Jordan will be able to lean on.”

Loser: The Offense

Of course, the big news of the offseason wasn’t any of the additions or subtractions. It was the arrest of star running back Josh Jacobs.

Jacobs has not been charged pending an ongoing investigation. Will Jacobs be on the field for all 17 games? Will he be suspended for the start of the season? Will he even be on the team?

So much of Matt LaFleur’s offense is predicated on running the football. If Jacobs isn’t on the field, will the Packers be able to cobble together an effective running game with Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd?

Winner: Tucker Kraft

The Steelers on Wednesday signed tight end Darnell Washington to a four-year extension worth $42 million.

Washington was the 93rd overall selection in the 2023 draft. In three seasons, he has caught 57 passes for 625 yards and two touchdowns. Tucker Kraft was the 78th overall selection in that draft. In three seasons, he has caught 113 passes for 1,551 yards and 15 touchdowns.

If Washington is worth $10.5 million per season in his extension, what will Kraft get in his extension from the Packers?

Take notes Ivan Drago pic.twitter.com/RpLiSjo7oa
— Tucker Kraft (@TuckerKraft) June 3, 2026

Loser: Jordan Love

Last season, the Rams won at Chicago in the playoffs and reached the NFC Championship Game. This offseason, they traded for cornerback Trent McDuffie, signed cornerback Jaylen Watson and traded for Myles Garrett to help the Super Bowl chances of Matthew Stafford.

What did the Packers do to help the Super Bowl chances of Jordan Love? Taking all the offseason transactions in totality, maybe nothing at all.

This week’s blockbuster trade for Garrett sent the NFL’s best defensive player to one of the NFL’s best teams. Garrett set an NFL record last year with 23 sacks. He did it while playing for a team that was terrible, meaning fewer opportunities to tee off on opposing quarterbacks.

With the Rams, Garrett should be able to cut it loose.

“That did play into the decision,” Garrett said during his introductory news conference. “Knowing I'll have the ability late in games to pin my ears back, not just because we need a play to be made but because we have the lead and its obvious passing downs. Being able to make plays to win the game for us, those are things that appeal to me and I'm sure appeal to all of us as D-linemen. That is something I really look forward to.”

That’s bad news for Love. Not only will Love and the Packers have to play at the Rams on Thanksgiving Eve, but one of the teams standing between Green Bay and the Super Bowl just became even more formidable.

Winner: MarShawn Lloyd

A third-round pick in 2024, Lloyd has played in only one game in two seasons. After the season, he went to the Meyer Institute of Sport in El Segundo, Calif., to figure out the root cause of his injuries. He stayed there until the start of the team’s offseason program.

Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd (32) runs through a ball-security drill during practice on May 26. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So far, so good.

“We figured out what we needed to do, figured out what I needed, and we just attacked it the whole offseason,” Lloyd said. “I didn’t really get to see my family as much as I wanted to because, yes, my family’s important, but my family knows how important this is to me.”

Loser: Colin Oliver

Oliver, who missed most of his final season at Oklahoma State in 2024 due to a foot injury, was a fifth-round pick in 2025. Due to recurring hamstring problems, he played in only one game as a rookie. He has not practiced during OTAs due a non-hamstring muscle injury.

Winners: The Veterans

The Packers will hold their mandatory minicamp next week. After that, the veterans will be sent home and the third and final week of OTAs will be dedicated to the young players.

“For some of those vets that have been here the whole time,” LaFleur explained, “I think it allows them to get out, and then you can kind of focus on the younger players.”

Loser: This Rookie

Rookie kicker Trey Smack is being handed the job on a silver platter. The results from Tuesday were, shall we say, not encouraging. It’s not just that he missed four of his nine attempts. It’s that two of the misses were about a ZIP code off target.

The silver linings are obvious. One, it’s June. Two, the rough start will provide a key early test. The team is counting on him to make big kicks. If he can bounce back, that will show the mental toughness needed to succeed in big moments.

Winner: This Rookie

Third-round defensive tackle Chris McClellan is the first rookie to put himself in position to earn a starting job.

At Tuesday’s practice, McClellan got some first-team reps alongside Karl Brooks and Javon Hargrave. When the season kicks off at Minnesota, the trio could be Hargrave, McClellan and Wyatt.

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