Traits Fans Haven’t Seen That Made Zaire Franklin Clear Captain Choice for Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers announced their five permanent team captains for the 2026 season on Monday.

Four of them are repeat captains: quarterback Jordan Love and tight end Tucker Kraft on offense, safety Xavier McKinney on defense and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie on special teams. The fifth captain was acquired by the team less than six months ago.

Linebacker Zaire Franklin.

How did a supposedly declining veteran get named one of two team captains on defense?

One reason is because he’s been a breath of fresh air on a defense that wasn’t the sum of its parts last season.

On Sunday, the Packers will face the Vikings in Week 1. It will be a pressure-cooker opening game. How will the Packers match the Vikings’ intensity for this rivalry showdown?

It’s a premise Franklin wouldn’t entertain.

“We don’t really match anybody’s intensity,” he said on Monday, before the captains announcement went public. “We set the tone for how we play. We’re going to go out there and play our brand of ball that we’ve been installing and creating that mindset since April.

“Minnesota’s just the first test. It’s going to be good to put that on tape and let the league know what the Green Bay Packers defense is all about.”

When’s the last time you heard that come out of Green Bay’s locker room? It’s not as if the Packers were pushovers on defense under Jeff Hafley, Joe Barry or Mike Pettine. After spending all of training camp as the most physical player on the defense and never turning down the opportunity to hit someone, a style that rubbed off on his teammates, Franklin is ready to be the driving force behind a new era.

“Obviously, they had success previously, but I just think every year’s a new group, every year’s a new challenge,” Franklin said. “The tempo and the energy that we bring at practice, we’ve got to go out there and earn it all over again on Sunday. That’s what I’m really looking forward to doing.”

Zaire Franklin’s No Stranger to Leadership

The second reason is Franklin’s upbringing, which he discussed with Packers On SI during minicamp in June.

“My upbringing is a little different,” Franklin said on Monday. “I lost my parents when I was young. That taught me to grow up very fast. Thankfully, I had great people in my life and in my village that taught me a lot of values and things that I still live on and believe in today. I’ve just got to credit my mom and my grandmother for instilling what they instilled in me. I’ve just been trying to keep their legacy and their memory going every day.”

The passing of his mom, Shelice Highsmith, and his grandmother, Juanita Highsmith-Bailey, forced him to grow up in a hurry.

Now, rather than having to lead a family, he leads a locker room. He’s done it for many years. He was a three-time team captain at Syracuse – the first since the 1890s – and was a captain with the Colts for his final six seasons with the team.

It’s a mission he embraces as part of one of the youngest teams in the NFL.

“Man, I think it’s just my personality,” he said. “First off, I just really enjoy serving the people around me. If you let my wife tell it, I got this innate ability to tell you a little bit of what you want to do, what you need to do kind of thing. I think it’s just in me to push people around me, for good and for bad.

“I just come in here and try to serve and learn the guys as best as I can. That’s what I care about the most is being somebody that they can depend on. That’s something that means the most to me.”

Franklin is 30 and entering his ninth season in the NFL. The Packers acquired him exactly 180 days ago in a trade with the Colts, with whom he was appointed a captain for the first time in 2020, when he was merely a standout on special teams.

Now, after four consecutive seasons of 125-plus tackles with the Colts, he’s ready to play in his first game with the Packers.

“Oh, man, I can’t wait,” he said. “I can’t wait to put that green and gold on for real this time. I’ve been excited just thinking about it all weekend, and I’m really looking forward to it, for sure.”

Tucker Kraft Voted Captain, Too

The other captain who was in the locker room and spoke to reporters before the announcement was Kraft.

A captain last year, as well, he’s made his leadership known throughout the process of coming back with a torn ACL while grappling with uncertainty over a contract extension.

Some players in his shoes, understandably, might have waited for the contract before stepping back on the field following a major knee injury. Not Kraft, who has made no bones about his intention of playing against the Vikings – regardless of the progress on an extension.

For Kraft, months of hard work will hit a crescendo when he plays against the Vikings.

“I’m definitely ready to move, that’s for sure,” he said. “The last five months as I transition out of the training room into the weight room and now here, I learned a lot about myself and the consistency you have to apply to this job. There’s no real off day. You’re always doing something whether it’s for your mind or your body.”

Kraft wouldn’t discuss a preferred number of snaps for this game. Rather, he intends to max out every snap he’s on the field.

“I’m just going to go out there and try to win the game one play at a time,” he said. “My mentality is simple: I’m blocking every block like I’m the point of attack, I’m going to finish to the whistle and I’m going to run every route like I think the ball’s going to come to me. That’s always been my recipe.”

With six days until the Packers kick things off at the Vikings, here are six reasons why this could be a dumpster fire of a season.

(I will have reasons for a championship tomorrow.) ⬇️https://t.co/KxQNnYURwM
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 7, 2026

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