National writers seem pretty down on the Packers lately. I don’t share most of their concerns, but perhaps they’re legitimate. Reasonable people can disagree, and maybe they have some insights those of us who cover the team closely don’t.
But one thing I don’t get is the fixation on the snaps the Packers have lost. Consider the perspective of ESPN’s Ben Solak, who wrote this week that he didn’t care for the Packers’ entire offseason philosophy:
“On defense, the Packers lost over 3,000 snaps following
the departures of Colby Wooden, Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, Quay Walker and Nate Hobbs. The offensive line lost another 1,018 snaps when Rasheed Walker left and 516 when Elgton Jenkins was cut. And Romeo Doubs’ consistent availability (795 snaps) mattered a lot in a receiver room otherwise plagued with injury.”
It’s certainly true that the Packers have lost a few players who played a lot of snaps. I don’t think a lot of Packers fans are wringing their hands over the departure of Nate Hobbs or Colby Wooden, and I think even the people who might not like to see Rashan Gary head out of town will concede he was pretty bad last year.
But, again, these guys did play a bunch of snaps, and it’s accurate to point that out. However, it’s only part of the picture, and looking at the whole picture, you might get an idea as to why the Packers are willing to let these players walk. The rest of that picture involves a bunch of snaps coming back to the Packers, mainly due to players returning from injury.
Banking on players coming back from injury isn’t necessarily an offseason strategy, per se, but it’s certainly a part of the Packers’ plans for next year. And looking at who stands to come back from injury, it seems only fair to at least give some lip service to the snaps the Packers will probably gain back.
Starting small, Lukas Van Ness played just 263 snaps last year, but played a career high 428 in 2024. Chances are good he’ll beat both of those numbers in 2025, and he was better than Rashan Gary when healthy last year.
The same goes for Micah Parsons. He played just 707 snaps in 2025, barely ahead of the 696 he played in 2024. Even if he’s limited at the start of 2026, there’s a good chance he’ll beat out his 2025 season total. It goes without saying that he was better than Rashan Gary last year, but I’ll say it anyway.
And those are just the small additions. Tucker Kraft only played 439 snaps last year, almost 500 below his 2024 total. Zach Tom was limited to just 605 snaps as well. If both return to near their previous career standards, the Packers will add in about 1000 total snaps from players who may have a legitimate claim to being the two best on the Packers’ offense.
And then there’s Jordan Morgan. Morgan didn’t really have injury issues in 2025, but he did spend virtually the entire season out of position. He only played 270 snaps at tackle, and 51 of those came in the Packers’ Week 18 quasi-exhibition game against the Vikings. If he plays starter’s reps at tackle all of next season, the Packers will add nearly 800 snaps at left tackle from an athletic prospect who, at times, outperformed their actual starter in last year’s preseason.
Yes, the Packers lost guys who soaked up significant snaps. But they’re going to bring back more than a few as well. The Packers’ offseason plan reflects that, and it makes sense to build around that reality, especially since the Packers reaped a bounty of compensatory picks for 2027 by letting those snap eaters walk. Heck, the Packers were probably going to cut Rashan Gary anyway (because he was bad, and I cannot emphasize enough how much he was not a good player last season, no matter what lies Brian Gutekusnst said at the NFL Combine and no matter how many snaps he played), but still managed to reel in a fourth round pick. They got themselves what amounts to a compensatory pick for a player they shouldn’t have been compensated for! That’s a win just about any way you slice it.
That’s just my perspective, though, and maybe I’m just freebasing black tar cheddar-infused copium. I’ve been running low lately. Maybe Mike Tanier knows where I can get some more.
