When previewing the Green Bay Packers’ week three matchup with the Cleveland Browns, I stumbled upon something interesting. The Packers have not played the Browns in four years, which is a typical frequency for NFC vs. AFC matchups. However, the amount of roster turnover that has taken place in Green Bay over those four seasons is truly staggering.
When I examined the starting lineups for that last game between these two teams — which took place on Christmas Day 2021 — I found something shocking:
only one member of the Packers’ starting lineup that day is still on the roster today.
That led me to look even further into the roster, where I found a truly amazing revelation: only three players who were active on the Packers’ roster for at least one game during the 2021 season remain in the organization. Those players are all key components of early Brian Gutekunst draft classes who have since earned second contracts with the team:
- ED Rashan Gary
- OL Elgton Jenkins
- QB Jordan Love
Gary started against the Browns in 2021, Love was active but did not get into the game as the backup to Aaron Rodgers, and Jenkins missed the game with an injury. However, every other player who was on the Packers’ 53-man roster at any point during the 2021 season is gone. That includes specialists, backups, rookies, everybody.
And it was a slow churn, too.
Davante Adams got the franchise tag the following offseason, then Gutekunst traded him to the Raiders. Aaron Rodgers departed during the spring of 2023. Running back Aaron Jones left in 2024, replaced by Josh Jacobs. Then another final pair of big names from the 2021 squad to depart Green Bay headed out in recent months, with the team releasing Jaire Alexander in June and then sending Kenny Clark to the Cowboys in the Micah Parsons trade a few weeks ago.
Beyond the fractures with Rodgers and Adams, the biggest major reason for the huge turnover is likely the Packers’ success in the 2022 NFL Draft. Six of the 11 players drafted that year should be in the starting lineup on Sunday in Cleveland (depending on Zach Tom’s status), with a seventh likely to be effectively a starter when he returns from injury. First-round picks Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt appear to be taking major steps forward this season on defense, but the offense got a total facelift thanks to the 2022 class. Sean Rhyan, Tom, and Rasheed Walker are all well-entrenched starters on the offensive line today while wide receivers Christian Watson (still on his way back from a torn ACL) and Romeo Doubs join them in the lineup when healthy. And let’s not forget Kingsley Enagbare, a player who is not a starter but is still a key member of the two-deep on the edge.
If Walker and Wyatt continue their hot starts, that entire class should be remembered as one of the deepest in recent Packers history, even if a few of those players do not end up signing second contracts in Green Bay (a situation caused in part by good draft picks in the years since 2022).
While the Packers have just three players remaining from that 2021 meeting, the 2025 Browns still have six players who started in that Christmas Day game four seasons ago, and three more who did not start but who played significant roles for Cleveland that season.
Starters still on Cleveland’s roster
- OG Joel Bitonio
- S Grant Delpit
- ED Myles Garrett
- LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
- OG Wyatt Teller
- CB Denzel Ward
Other 2021 Browns still on the team
- TE David Njoku (did not start in GB-CLE but played 39 snaps)
- OT Jack Conklin (was injured for GB-CLE)
- CB Greg Newsome II (was injured for GB-CLE)
Several of these players have been and remain high-quality contributors. Garrett won Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and is a perennial All-Pro while Bitonio, Teller, and Ward are both frequent Pro Bowlers. Conklin, Njoku, and Delpit remain in the starting lineup, while JOK and Newsome are currently on injured lists but have generally been starters for the last four seasons as well, though Newsome was moved into a backup role last season.
However, the Browns’ roster construction in the last four years has been largely a result of the disastrous trade for Deshaun Watson during the 2022 offseason. That draft cost the Browns their first-round picks in each of the 2022, 2023, and 2024 drafts, which sapped their ability to find high-level talent on affordable rookie contracts. Cleveland also did not pick in round two in 2022 or 2023, instead trading back to acquire more third- and fourth-round picks, many of whom are still on the roster.
The Watson trade — and his ensuing massive mess of a contract — have limited the Browns’ ability to acquire outside talent both through the draft and free agency. Without early picks to hit on or money to spend externally, the Browns have chosen to pay to retain many of the players listed above in order to try to remain competitive while Watson has dealt with suspension and injury issues since his arrival.
We’ll see where the Packers are in a few years when they are dealing with the aftermath of the Micah Parsons trade, which sent their next two first-round picks to Dallas. But for now, their excellent drafting over the past few years are why they look vastly different from four years ago, while the Deshaun Watson trade is why the Browns look fairly similar in many areas.
