2026 NFL offseason preview: Green Bay Packers need to start delivering results and get Micah Parsons a wingman

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North:Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East:Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South:Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West:Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

Green Bay Packers

2025 season record: 9-7-1 (u 10.5 wins), second in NFC North, lost to Bears in NFC wild card, 11th in DVOA

Overview

At some points during the season, it looked like the Packers might be the best team in the NFL. The offense was clicking. Jordan Love was the most efficient quarterback in the league. Green Bay's defense, with the acquisition of Micah Parsons, was a terror. But slowly, injuries chipped away at what made the team special. Tucker Kraft's torn ACL in Week 8 eliminated the offense's biggest weapon, a man-beater and yards-after-the-catch monster. Then, a torn ACL for Parsons in Week 15 sapped the hope that Green Bay's defense could cause enough chaos to lead the way.

Those pillar pieces will return in 2026, which should again make the Packers one of the top contenders in the NFL. This is still a team that was the youngest by snap-weighted age. The potential has been growing for this franchise, but after another disappointing early playoff exit, 2026 might need to be the season when the results actually follow. With a potential salary cap crunch and no first-round draft pick, the Packers are going to have to hope the players already put in place can be as good as they need to be in the long term.

Cap/cuts outlook

The Packers have -$16.7 million in effective cap space, the seventh-lowest figure in the NFL and the bottom of the 2025 playoff teams. Green Bay has two clear-cut candidates who would open up over $30 million in salary cap space in Rashan Gary ($10.9 million) and Elgton Jenkins ($20 million). Gary never fully became the threat off the edge the Packers hope he would be, and there was even regression in his play when opposite Micah Parsons this season. Jenkins spent time on injured reserve and was replaced by Sean Rhyan at center. Still being a young team, the Packers likely won't do much more to push guaranteed money on the cap further to 2027 and beyond.

Key pending free agents

LB Quay Walker
WR Romeo Doubs
OL Rasheed Walker
OL Sean Rhyan
QB Malik Willis

Walker has played his way into a new contract, but it might not be with the Packers. Green Bay declined his fifth-year option before the start of the season and has Isaiah McDuffie potentially ready to slide in if Walker leaves. There are similar succession plans at wide receiver and offensive line. Doubs has been a reliable receiver and favorite of Jordan Love, but with Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed, bringing back Doubs on a new contract could be too costly. The Packers believe Jordan Morgan is a long-term tackle and he should be Green Bay's left tackle with Rasheed Walker leaving as a free agent. Rhyan played well at center and is the more likely of the two free-agent linemen to return.

Positional needs

Cornerback
Interior defensive line
Edge

The Packers struggled at cornerback and ranked 30th in EPA per pass on targets to wide receivers. All three of Green Bay's starting corners were below average in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. The team claimed Trevon Diggs off waivers late in the season, but Diggs has been an inconsistent cornerback throughout his career, more prone to allowing big plays than creating them.

Green Bay ranked only 20th in success rate on running back attempts. The middle of the defensive line missed Devonte Wyatt when he was lost with an ankle injury. The Packers' run defense went from the equivalent of the second-best in the league by EPA per play with Wyatt to 30th without him.

Micah Parsons was a one-man wrecking crew on defense, but it would be nice to have a second. Neither Rashan Gary nor Lukas Van Ness became that reliable complement and it really showed once Parsons was lost for the season. Parsons made up for 32.8% of the Packers' pressures, the fifth-highest rate in the league.

2026 NFL Draft picks

2nd round
3rd round
4th round
5th round
6th round
7th round
7th round (projected compensatory)
7th round (projected compensatory)

Good draft fit

Caleb Banks, DT, Florida

Banks is a rare athlete for his size (6-foot-6, 330 pounds) with an explosive first step. He needs to improve his technique and refine other areas, but the upside is there at a position of need.

Betting nugget

The Packers were oddsmakers' highest power-rated team for a bit after the Micah Parsons deal, but Green Bay disappointed bettors frequently in the regular season, going 7-10 ATS, including 4-4 ATS at home. - Ben Fawkes