This is one of the most impactful and influential weeks of the year for NFL teams. Big free agents will sign everywhere, a lot of money will go around. Some decisions will crown great teams and the executives will be lauded as geniuses. Others will make GMs and scouts look awful and probably cost them jobs.

For the Green Bay Packers, this is a particularly interesting moment. General manager Brian Gutekunst said he wants to ramp up the sense of urgency, and with the best financial situation the team has had in half a decade, moves are to be expected.

“Every offseason, we have to attack aggressively. The opportunities that present themselves, whether that be free agency, trade, are different every year,” Gutekunst mentioned at the end of last season. “Every year there's not gonna be a Josh Jacobs and a Xavier McKinney out there to go get. So we'll see what transpires with the free agency class, who gets re-signed, who doesn't, if there's salary cap casualties, if there's trade opportunities, all those. We always operate under the kind of aggressive mindset. But we have a process that we go through and we'll see what's available. If it's right for us, we're gonna attack it. But if it's not there, it's not there.”

So, let’s go through a blueprint of what the Packers should do in the offseason to build the best possible roster coming into 2025.

Own free agents

The Packers have already re-signed two of their five most important free agents, giving new deals to linebacker Isaiah McDuffie and kicker Brandon McManus.

The other ones are center Josh Myers, cornerback Eric Stokes, and defensive tackle TJ Slaton. Of those, the only important one to keep is Slaton. Even though it's a strong interior of the defensive line class in the draft, the Packers don't have another run-stuffer. Kenny Clark showed signs of regression last year, while Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks are designated interior rushers. Spotrac projects that Slaton will get a one-year,$3.782 million contract, and that's ok value for a bridge role player.

Josh Myers is well-liked in Green Bay, but his performance throughout the rookie contract doesn't justify an extension. The Packers will need to add depth to the interior of the line for sure, but the best approach is to move Elgton Jenkins to center and play last year's first-round pick Jordan Morgan at left guard.

With Stokes, the idea was great, but he didn't pan out because of injuries. Unless it's a veteran minimum late in the process, it's time to move on.

The Packers will certainly keep all of their exclusive-rights free agents, but should not tender restricted free agent tight end John FitzPatrick, making him unrestricted.

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Edge and cornerback in free agency

Gutekunst has talked about how strong the draft class is for defensive and offensive lines. And those are actually the harder ones to find in general. But the Packers have needs elsewhere too, so free agency is a viable tool to add them—and a much more realistic tool in Gutekunst’s days than it was when Ted Thompson was calling the shots.

We have already reported that the Packers are expected to be interested in Dayo Odeyingbo, a defensive end from the Indianapolis Colts, and Charles Omenihu could be a Plan B. There are several other options and good values becoming available, and the Packers have a proven track record of solid additions on the market.

Besides the edge position, the Packers desperately need to address cornerback, especially because Jaire Alexander won’t return. Paulson Adebo should be the ideal target considering talent, age, and profile. But those two positions are the ones where the free agent investment should be in.

Trade for a top wide receiver

Meanwhile, the wide receiver market is not nearly as good in free agency as edge and cornerback. If the Packers depend on who’s available, there’s nothing really good, especially after Davante Adams signed with the Los Angeles Rams.

We heard a lot of rumors about DK Metcalf, but he ultimately went to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Maybe the San Francisco 49ers are truly willing to move on from Brandon Aiyuk.

The fact is that the Packers need short- and long-term solutions at the receiver position. And if they can get both answers with the same player, it’s worth investing more than they usually do.

Teams plan their cap situation three years in advance. The Packers probably budgeted a significant extension for Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs. And if none of them is deserving of that at this point, it’s ok to look at better options elsewhere and use that space with an established player.

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Early extension

The Packers have 11 candidates for early extensions, but no one is more deserving than one than right tackle Zach Tom. Offensive line is one of the most difficult spots to find talent in football, so when you find a player who can be a star for a long time, you have to lock him up for years to come.

And that’s where the Packers are with Tom. He is the exact type of player who should get an early deal. First, he’s only 25. Second, he has a relatively strong track record of high-level production, which gives them security about the future. Third, it’s a premium position. And fourth, all the first three points lead us to believe that he will only get more and more expensive as time goes on.

According to Spotrac, Tom is projected to command a four-year, $86.7 million deal. While the $21.7 million average already looks reasonable for a player of his caliber, it gets even better considering that Tom is under contract this season for $3.263 million.

Combining the current deal with the new money, it would be a five-year, $90 million contract in total. An $18 million yearly average for an ascending star at a premium position is something 32 teams in the NFL should do.

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Trade down in the draft

This is a general philosophy that teams should use more frequently, and Gutekunst himself has with extreme success—he got Jaire Alexander in 2018 accumulating a future first, and traded down in 2023, picking Jayden Reed and getting extra picks to select Dontayvion Wicks and Karl Brooks.

Sure, sometimes it doesn’t work out the way the team hopes for. In 2017, Ted Thompson moved down from TJ Watt to select Kevin King and Vince Biegel. But mistakes happen, and the chances of taking impactful players get bigger the more picks you have.

This year, the draft class is flat, so the talent level in the 20s is not much different from the 30s and 40s. Acquiring an extra Day 2 pick for that difference is probably worth it, especially if the Packers send a Day 2 pick of their own to acquire a veteran wide receiver.

The Packers have a lot of processes to execute in a long offseason. But it’s a fun part of the year, and understanding how they operate is always a good challenge to explore.

Packers have already decided on one of their top free agent targets, and it makes perfect sense on every level

Colts defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo is Green Bay’s plan A at pass rusher.