I wrote yesterday about the Packers’ supposedly being one of the losers of the NFL’s offseason, which, while not exactly a widespread talking point, has certainly popped up here and there for the last few months.
Obviously I am not amenable to that position. I don’t think the Packers have had a uniquely bad offseason, or even a bad offseason at all. But in fairness to their critics, I think we can admit that, as is often the case, the Packers are banking on a lot of internal growth to make up for
a relative lack of other personnel moves. This is straight out of the Ted Thompson-era Packers playbook, with the caveat that the Packers only operated this way because they made a huge move last year in trading for Micah Parsons.
But let’s say we give the critics the benefit of the doubt. I think what they’re really expressing is not that the Packers had a particularly bad few months, but wariness over needing to count on this much internal growth. And that wariness really boils down to not trusting the Packers’ evaluations of their own talent.
Reasonable people can disagree on those points, to be sure, but I think you can see where the criticism starts to falter a bit. People looking from the outside in are deciding that the players the Packers have let go can’t possibly be replaced meaningfully by players the Packers have retained. They’re simply disagreeing with the Packers and dressing it up as a critique. That is, of course, the nature of the beast (Brian Gutekunst isn’t out here writing op eds about his draft class, after all), but that doesn’t make any of the criticism any more legit.
But the point remains that the Packers are still going to need a lot of growth from a lot of young players. That’s a big ask, and some concern over that is probably warranted. What that concern adds up to is up to you.
Which recent top pick is most important to Packers in 2026? | Packers Wire
The Packers are counting on a lot of internal growth, a strategy they’ve banked on in the past.
4 lingering questions ahead of Packers training camp | ESPN
Some of these questions are going to linger into the regular season.
Packers LB Zaire Franklin Makes Big Impact on Field; It’s Far Bigger Off It | Sports Illustrated
Zaire Franklin is honoring his mother’s legacy with some remarkable charitable work.
No Packers on this list, thankfully. I think they should just trade all of these players to the Packers for peanuts, though. Maybe one seventh round pick apiece?
Skateboarder crosses the United States coast-to-coast in 39 days | UPI
I don’t think I could skate across my driveway, so this is pretty impressive.
