Free agency is a risk. Inherently, the open market is tough waters to navigate because perfect profiles don’t become available — when a player is great, healthy, and has good character, the original team will inevitably extend him beforehand most of the time.

Sometimes, it works to perfection. Sometimes, it’s awful. The Green Bay Packers showed exactly that over the past two years, with a highly successful class in 2024 (Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney) and a bad one last year (Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs).

The first step to avoid a new disaster is crossing names off your list. So, let’s do this exercise here. These are five free agents the Packers should not sign in 2026.

WR George Pickens

There is no way the Packers would give Pickens anything close to $30 million a year. Well, first because the Dallas Cowboys will most likely franchise tag him — so that would demand the draft picks plus the contract — even if the Packers can negotiate a smaller compensation with Dallas, it’s unrealistic.

But also, Pickens has a personality the Packers don’t prefer, and that’s one of the reasons why they didn’t draft him or trade for him when the Pittsburgh Steelers made him available last offseason. Pickens is a great wide receiver and he’s coming off a great season, but it’s hard to invest so much in a position where the Packers don’t even have a strong need, especially in a player who would bring too much risk in a long-term deal.

LB Devin Lloyd

Lloyd is the type of player the Packers might sign, but they shouldn’t. The idea among some Packers fans here is that they could let Quay Walker leave in free agency and sign Lloyd instead, and that’s not a bad plan at first. The problem is that, even though Lloyd is coming off a great season, he still plays a non-premium position.

Paying $20 million a year, which he’s expected to command, for an off-ball linebacker is not what would get the Packers over the hump — and yes, he’s a much better player, but the lack of care for positional value was in part of made the Packers sign guard Aaron Banks last year. Also, Jonathan Gannon’s scheme is less linebacker-dependent than Jeff Hafley’s. If you have $20 million a year to spend, go sign a top cornerback or an excellent interior defensive lineman.

CB Jamel Dean

Dean has been good for a long time and was particularly excellent in 2025 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Oh, and he plays a premium position of obvious need for the Packers. If Green Bay can get him for a year and a reasonable price, go do it. But that’s usually not how free agency works. PFF projects that Dean will get a three-year, $55 million contract ($18.3 million a year), with $35 million in guarantees.

First, this is not a structure the Packers would like with guarantees beyond Year 1. But more importantly, he will be 30 years old by October. Cornerbacks tend to fall off a cliff by that age, and free agent cornerbacks are intrinsically risky due to scheme change and performance volatility year over year.

EDGE Trey Hendrickson

Hendrickson may get a short-term deal — one- or two-year contract, around $25 million a year. Pairing Hendrickson with Micah Parsons would be intriguing for sure, and it’s been reported that the Packers had some interest in him last year before trading for Parsons. The problem is that would be too much money at one position, and Hendrickson is a rental. Brian Gutekunst has already said he prefers long-term solutions, and that’s why he traded for Parsons, who’s much younger. Hendrickson is 31, and he missed more than half of last season with a hip/pelvis injury.

OL Alijah Vera-Tucker

Theoretically, AVT is the exact free agent profile the Packers would love. He’s still 26 and he’s played NFL snaps at four different positions — 1,249 at right guard, 1,027 at left guard, 279 at right tackle, and 70 at left tackle. His talent is undeniable.

The problem is the amount of injuries he’s handled. Toe, ankle, triceps. He missed time throughout his career, including all of the 2025 season. That’s too much risk based on his contract projection — four-year, $70 million deal — especially because the Packers already invested in a player with some injury history in Aaron Banks last year, and it was costly.

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