The Green Bay Packers starts the new league year on Wednesday having agreed to make big swings in free agency. On Monday, the team added guard Aaron Banks and cornerback Nate Hobbs, and those two moves bring huge repercussions to the roster in 2025 and beyond.

It’s time for us to write about the winners and losers for the Packers, and two former first-round picks will have a lot of responsibility and pressure moving forward.

---

Winners

Lukas Van Ness

The Packers were expected to look for pass rushers in free agency, but it hasn’t materialized so far. There are still some options available, but the top defensive ends who could be really impactful from the get go are gone.

Without any significant additions to the room, 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness will have a lot of pressure on him to finally take a step up and perform at a high-level.

"We need to affect the quarterback more in the front four, with just four players, and Lukas is a big part of that," general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the season. "He does everything he can. He is everything you want in a professional as far as his work ethic and what he puts into it, and I expect him to take a big jump this year."

Unless a new move happens or Gutekunst adds another high draft pick to the group, the Packers’ edge room will have Rashan Gary, Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, Brenton Cox, and Arron Mosby, the same players who finished the season in 2024. There have also been some minor additions: Deslin Alexandre and Jeremiah Martin, who finished last season on the practice squad.

---

Jordan Morgan

The offensive line plan with the addition of Aaron Banks is a big question mark. The easiest way to figure it out in the short-term is to move Elgton Jenkins to center, and Jordan Morgan would fight with Sean Rhyan for the right guard spot. Ideally, Morgan wins it, and Rhyan becomes the swing interior offensive lineman.

However, the masterplan here might be moving Morgan to left tackle, which would justify his draft position. With that, Rasheed Walker could leave in free agency, as the money the Packers would spend on him went to Banks. They would still need to extend Rhyan, but the long-term line would have Jordan Morgan – Aaron Banks – Elgton Jenkins – Sean Rhyan – Zach Tom.

Now, can Morgan really play tackle? He has shorter arms than the Packers usually prefer at the position, and last year the staff decided to move him to full-time guard as a rookie after moving him around in the offseason program and early training camp.

---

Dontayvion Wicks

Wicks was rumored to be one of the potential players going to Seattle if the Packers were to acquire DK Metcalf from the Seahawks, but that ultimately didn’t happen. But more than that, the Packers didn’t add any wide receiver to the room.

In the Super Bowl week, Wicks went to social media to react after Josh Jacobs said the Packers needed a real, established wide receiver one. Well, Wicks will now have the opportunity to show he is right.

---

Losers

Rasheed Walker

As aforementioned, the Packers’ activity to sign Aaron Banks makes it more likely that Walker won’t get a long-term extension in Green Bay. The Packers are now paying big money to Banks and Elgton Jenkins, and it’s hard to imagine more than three offensive linemen with big salaries at the same time.

That leaves only one big contract available, and the Packers will likely prioritize right tackle Zach Tom, because he is the more talented player.

Walker is a viable left tackle and has played fairly well since taking over after David Bakhtiari, and that has a huge value on the market. Maybe the Packers try to trade him, if Morgan pans out quickly, but the most likely scenario is that they will keep him to start or as a depth option while he’s cheap, and then happily get a compensatory pick when he leaves in free agency.

---

Javon Bullard

Last year, Bullard started his rookie season as a starting safety alongside Xavier McKinney. Throughout the season, though, the Packers needed him at slot corner with Jaire Alexander’s injuries, and Evan Williams ended up being a better option as a deep safety.

Bullard was underwhelming in coverage, but the Packers still trust he can be a useful secondary piece. However, with the addition of slot cornerback Nate Hobbs, it’s difficult to project a starting spot for Bullard on this defense.

Presumably, Hobbs and Nixon will start in base defense. In nickel, Hobbs moves inside and Carrington Valentine enters as a boundary corner. Meanwhile, McKinney and Williams will be the two deep safeties. Unless he takes a few steps forward in his game, Bullard will be a rotational piece.

---

Advocates of drafting for need

The Packers have a clear process to get players in the draft with high upside, even though sometimes it means taking time to develop them into positive starters. The closest Brian Gutekunst has gotten to draft for need was 2021, when he took cornerback Eric Stokes and center Josh Myers well ahead of the consensus board because the Packers needed options at those positions.

Overall, the 2021 draft was a total disaster for Green Bay. Stokes signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, while Myers is still unsigned but won't return. TJ Slaton got a decent deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. Amari Rodgers is in the UFL, Royce Newman was cut last season. Shemar Jean-Charles, Cole Van Lanen, and Kylin Hill have been out of the team for a long time.

The only member of the 2021 class who got a second contract in Green Bay was sixth-round off-ball linebacker Isaiah McDuffie.

Contract details emerge for Packers’ newest free agent additions, revealing a different approach for each signing

Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs both signed four-year deals