The Green Bay Packers’ offseason is finally rolling after the team has brought back two players and made a trade for a new addition. Let’s go through these moves, give some quick thoughts on what the team is trying to do with these actions and assign them all a letter grade. You guys know the drill at this point.
Re-signing RB Chris Brooks
It’s me, the Chris Brooks stan. Brooks not only out-snapped
Emanuel Wilson as the RB2 from Week 13 on (excluding the JV game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18), but he’s also Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded pass blocker and run blocker.
Is he a ball-carrier? Not really, but there was little difference between his 3.9 YPC and Wilson’s 4.0 in 2025. He’s here to be a top-tier blocker (be it as the sixth-man in pass protection or in the run game in multiple-back looks). On top of that, he’s basically the only offensive skill player whom head coach Matt LaFleur actually allows to play on teams consistently. His 230 snaps on special teams rank 3rd on the team overall. The next highest offensive skill player is Savion Williams (ranked 31st with 52 special teams snaps on the year, out of just 48 eligible players on gamedays).
If the Packers want to continue to be dead last in WR/TE snaps played on special teams, which allows LaFleur to stash pass-catchers instead of special teams contributors in backup roles, Brooks had to come back. He’s a very unique player (again, 1st in both pass blocking and run blocking) and is quietly a reason why their current roster construction works. That’s well worth the $2.43 million per year they’re paying him over two years, after they elected not to tender him as a restricted free agent at his minimum $3.5 million tender cost. I’m glad they got this one done.
Grade: A
Trading NT Colby Wooden for LB Zaire Franklin
I haven’t done a deep dive into Zaire Franklin’s film, so I’m having to rely on people who are either film-watchers in the media or with clubs for this one, but the consensus I’ve received early on is that Franklin wasn’t close to as bad as his PFF numbers in 2025 (ranked 87th of 88 qualifying linebackers). What I have been told is that he’s a plugger who is an athletic run defender but can’t contribute much as a coverage player.
This is sort of the mold I figured the Packers would go with to pair next to Edgerrin Cooper in their new 3-4 defense. Coverage matters, yes, but I think the primary driver was always going to be to pair Cooper with a plugger to keep him clean and allow him to be a little more versatile.
This trade helped the Packers get a linebacker, one that they can technically move off of as early as this summer with a $0 cap charge if it’s not looking good in camp, without it impacting Green Bay’s expected compensatory picks. Franklin also has a background with Jonathan Gannon, as they were both with the Colts from 2018-2020. Yes, Gannon was part of the staff that drafted Franklin.
On the Colby Wooden end, he was part of the Packers’ issues last season. It’s not his fault that the team started him at nose tackle after Kenny Clark was sent to the Dallas Cowboys in the Micah Parsons trade, but he wasn’t able to fill in as an efficient starting nose tackle.
The most telling stat of the Packers’ 2025 defense is that they were essentially the best team in football for two drives and then were arguably the worst defense in the league after that.
In short, they wore down because they couldn’t stop the run in the 2nd through 4th quarters. It sure didn’t help that the team started Wooden, who came into the league at 273 pounds (and has added weight since), at nose tackle full-time.
Here’s how Green Bay’s nose tackle reps were split in 2025:
- Colby Wooden: 312 snaps (now a Colt)
- Karl Brooks: 97 (mostly in pressure packages)
- Nazir Stackhouse: 88
- Devonte Wyatt: 47 (mostly in pressure packages)
- Warren Brinson: 37
- Jordon Riley: 36
- Quinton Bohanna: 34 (no longer on roster)
- Jonathan Ford: 30 (2026 free agent)
The Packers were always going to have to add a nose tackle in 2026. The trading of Wooden didn’t change that. The hole is even bigger now, though. At the moment, the current starter is probably Nazir Stackhouse, a 2025 undrafted free agent.
I get the swap of Wooden for Franklin in isolation. Wooden is in the last year of his contract and probably wasn’t going to be a priority for re-signing. It’s better to get something for him than nothing. The Packers also needed a Quay Walker replacement, and they apparently didn’t feel the need to offset a comp pick for it (which isn’t a surprise).
My big worry now is how the team fills the nose tackle void (I’ve heard that Javon Hargrave is a name to watch here, a cap casualty who has previously played under Jonathan Gannon and would not impact Green Bay’s comp picks). I feel the least committed to this grade out of this bunch. Depending on how I feel about Franklin’s film (once I can finally sit down and watch it thoroughly) and how the Packers address nose tackle, I could see my opinion being swayed about this one.
Grade: C+
Re-signing LB Nick Niemann
This one was surprising to me, because the Packers haven’t typically kept five off-ball linebackers on their roster when they’ve played a 3-4 defense. With Zaire Franklin, Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper and now Nick Niemann, they have five rosterable off-ball linebackers, even if Quay Walker walks in free agency, which is now fully expected.
Niemann was a true special teams ace, contributing on everything but the field goal team and field goal rush units. He was one of the best, if not the best, special teams players on the roster in 2025. (Other candidates include Bo Melton, Zayne Anderson and Arron Mosby.)
I’m happy to see him back on a one-year contract, even if he’s basically a special-teams-only player. That fifth linebacker spot under Jeff Hafley was really the only slot that the team has dedicated to a true special-teams-only guy. Mosby was a player in this mold, too, but was only activated to the 53-man roster in Week 10, and I don’t think the team is going to bring him back now that he’s vested and his salary will be fully guaranteed if he makes the team in Week 1.
We don’t have contract details yet, but I doubt Niemann got more than something like the minimum salary plus a $500,000 roster bonus/per-game signing bonuses, which is typically what the Packers give to special teams contributors who are also backups on offense or defense.
Brought back a special teamer. The care level on special teams didn’t drop to 0 immediately after Rich Bisaccia left, which was the case before Bisaccia. That’s a big plus to me.
Grade: A (but surprised the team did it)
