Ranking Seven Biggest Offseason Needs for Packers Before Scouting Combine

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are stuck in a seventh-seed rut. Having failed to win the NFC North since 2021, general manager Brian Gutekunst will enter this offseason with some key needs but not a lot of capital to fill the holes.

With an eye on next week’s Scouting Combine, when teams will scout the top prospects and meet with agents of free agents, here’s a ranking of Green Bay’s biggest offseason needs.

7. Receiver

Yes, receiver. Same as always, it seems. This isn’t about finding a No. 1 receiver, though, or even restocking the room with the expectation that Romeo Doubs will leave in free agency. Rather, it’s about the reality of next offseason, when Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks will be free agents.

At that point, the under-contract receivers would be Matthew Golden and Savion Williams. That’s it. Of course, not all of the free agents-to-be will be headed out the door, but a good general manager is always thinking a step ahead. Or, in this case, a year ahead. Gutekunst will see a typically strong group at the Scouting Combine.

6. Running Back

Josh Jacobs isn’t exactly washed up. He did have a disappointing season in 2025, though, the combination of injuries and disappointing play by the offensive line conspiring against him. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Jacobs ranks sixth among active running backs with 2,109 touches. Did the wear and tear of seven NFL seasons begin catching up with the former Pro Bowler?

“Josh is a warrior,” Gutekunst said a couple weeks ago. “Really important part of our football team. Everything that he brings to us on the field, in the locker room, he’s an important part and I think he’s got a lot of good years left.”

After two seasons completely ruined by injuries, there’s no reason whatsoever to expect 2024 third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd to be a contributor. At this point, he should be considered an undrafted rookie and that any production he provides will be an unexpected bonus.

With Lloyd’s nonstop injuries, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks have been Jacobs’ backups the last two seasons. Both players will be restricted free agents.

Combining those factors, the Packers may look to the draft in hopes of finding a back with some of Lloyd’s explosive skill-set to provide a change-of-pace back behind Jacobs.

5. Quarterback

In 2024, Malik Willis replaced injured Jordan Love and won starts against Indianapolis and Tennessee and came off the bench to help win a game against Jacksonville. In 2025, he played one series in the win against the Giants and led a key touchdown drive, and he kept the Packers in the game in back-to-back losses to Chicago and Baltimore.

Could Desmond Ridder be Malik Willis 2.0? | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Having completed a ridiculous 85.7 percent of his passes with a 145.5 passer rating this past season, Willis has earned the big paycheck and starting opportunity that’s going to come in free agency. The Packers have a couple in-house options to replace Willis. Desmond Ridder, a 2022 third-round pick, has started 18 games. After the season, they signed Kyle McCord, a sixth-round pick by the Eagles last year.

Maybe the Packers are set. But “maybe” isn’t a great plan at the most important position in the sport. This is not a strong draft class; can Gutekunst pull off some more Willis-style magic?

4. Defensive End

Micah Parsons is coming off a torn ACL. While he expects to be back in the lineup early in the season, it might take longer for him to be the indomitable star who made so many big plays and played an obscene number of snaps.

Rashan Gary is coming off a back-of-the-milk-carton season in which he disappeared off the face of the earth after his two-sack game at Pittsburgh in Game 7. There’s a good chance he will be released.

Nobody played more snaps at defensive end down the stretch than Kingsley Enagbare, who will be a free agent. Brenton Cox and Arron Mosby will be restricted free agents.

That leaves Green Bay with a potential Week 1 platoon of Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver.

3. Center

The Elgton Jenkins Experiment didn’t work. The 30-year-old is coming off a season-ending injury and his cap number is $6.2 million more than any other center. There’s almost a 0 percent chance he will return to the team.

In his place last season, Sean Rhyan slid over from right guard to center. He wasn’t bad, all things considered, in nine trial-by-fire games. However, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent. That leaves only Jacob Monk, a sixth-round pick in 2024 whose only real playing time was Week 18 against the Vikings.

2. Defensive Tackle

After losing T.J. Slaton in free agency and trading Kenny Clark, the Packers were left with Devonte Wyatt, 2023 fourth-round pick Colby Wooden, 2023 sixth-round pick Karl Brooks, 2025 sixth-round pick Warren Brinson and 2025 undrafted free agent Nazir Stackhouse.

Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Colby Wooden (96) and defensive end Micah Parsons celebrate a play against the Vikings. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

Injuries limited Wyatt to about one-third of the defensive snaps. When he suffered a season-ending injury at Detroit on Thanksgiving, Green Bay’s run defense was thrown for a loss. From Week 14 (the first game without Wyatt) through Week 17 (we’ll discard Week 18, when the Packers played their backups), Green Bay against the run ranked 31st in yards allowed and 23rd in yards allowed per carry.

By the end of the season, Gutekunst had a revolving door of big guys in a too-late hope of beefing up the defense.

Wyatt will be back under the fifth-year option and presumably will get a contract extension, but he’s hit a meager 400 snaps just once in four seasons (552 snaps; 32.5 per game in 2023). Wooden and Brooks did what they could but were thrust into too-large roles and faded late. Plus, they’ll be free agents next offseason. The Packers have to get bigger and badder in the middle.

1. Cornerback

It’s a shock – a shock! – that a cornerback trio of Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs and Carrington Valentine weren’t good enough. Combined, they intercepted one pass – Nixon’s game-saver against the Bears – and failed in crunch time during fall-from-ahead losses down the stretch.

While Nixon ranked among the NFL leaders in passes defensed, he was No. 1 in penalties. He’s not as bad as you believe; he’s not as good as he believes. Contractually, he’s a bargain, so there’s a near-0 percent chance he won’t be back for 2026.

Gutekunst gave Hobbs a four-year, $48 million contract in free agency last offseason. It didn’t make any sense at the time; Hobbs during his final three seasons with the Raiders played in 35 of a possible 51 games and intercepted two passes. Sure enough, he missed the start, middle and end of his debut season in Green Bay with knee injuries. He played in 11 games (five starts), played 32 percent of the snaps and intercepted zero passes.

“Those are always risks you take whenever you get into the free agency pool,” Gutekunst said of his big free-agent additions, guard Aaron Banks and Hobbs. “Most all these guys have had stuff, if you’ve played four or five years in the National Football League. You’re going to have some things you’ve got to have to kind of take some risk on, and we did. It didn’t work out this year, particularly with Hobbs, but we’ll see how it goes in the next year.”

Eventually, Valentine replaced Hobbs. He’s a solid player in coverage, but he went from forcing four turnovers in 2024 to zero in 2025 during the regular season, and his tackling will forever be a weakness.

Gutekunst has a history of signing a veteran in free agency and then doubling down in the draft. That could be the approach this offseason, as well. The draft class is incredibly deep.

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