Predictions offer revealing clues about the direction the Packers could take entering a pivotal free agency period
Green Bay has tools to improve.
Free agency officially starts only on Wednesday with the new league year, but the action truly kicks off on Monday at 11 a.m. (CT), with the legal tampering period — as weird as this name may sound.
By that point, teams can start agreeing to deals with pending free agents, even though the contracts can’t officially be signed for two extra days. Over the past few years, the Green Bay Packers have had a lot of movement on these initial days — Josh Jacobs, Xavier McKinney, Aaron Banks, and Nate Hobbs were all signed on the first day of the legal tampering period.
So, let’s wait for the first wave of signings with some predictions about what the Packers may or may not do over the next few hours and days.
Packers will go after some mid-level players this time around
Usually, the Packers tend to be pretty boom or bust in free agency. They either sign the top players at the position, or close to it, or they wait until some veterans are willing to accept a minimum salary. But last year they already broke this rule by signing Nate Hobbs, and don’t be surprised if they repeat the model in 2026.
The Packers have some needs on the roster (offensive line, interior of the defensive line, cornerback), but they don’t have a first-round pick or a lot of cap space to improve the roster. Therefore, a practical way of adding starting-caliber pieces is to go after some mid-level players in free agency, and this class in particular is built like that. While it’s not a high-end group, good value can be found all around the available names.
Defense is the priority
Usually, the Packers go outside of their building for defensive coaches and promote offensive coaches internally. Don’t be surprised if they repeat this approach with players in free agency. The Packers have a more comfortable situation on offense to draft and develop, but with a new defense and some obvious holes, it’s hard to make sure that rookies will come in and play right away. Grabbing a defensive tackle and a playable outside corner, for example, is key to building a viable defense — you can include an off-ball linebacker there too considering that Quay Walker is expected to sign elsewhere.
On offense, the biggest concern is the offensive line. However, it’s both hard and expensive to find o-linemen in free agency, so the Packers will probably find some developmental pieces in the draft while looking to keep the status quo on the starting group — center may be the exception here, if there will be one.
Don’t forget who they are
As long as Ron Wolf’s tree is leading the Packers’ front office, draft will be the main way of acquiring talent for the Green Bay Packers — as it should be. They can add a free agent here and there, including some big fishes eventually as Brian Gutekunst has done, but it will never be the bones of what they want to be as a team. Free agency is a complementary roster-building tool, not the main component of it. So if there are teams out there signing more players in free agency than the Packers, 1) don’t be that upset and 2) it might tell us more about those other teams than it does about Green Bay.
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