Green Bay Packers [kind Of] Praised For Rashan Gary Trade Ahead Of 2026 NFL Draft

The Green Bay Packers have had an incredibly busy off-season. In addition to changes they have made on their roster, they have had to almost entirely revamp their defensive coaching staff. Jeff Hafley, of course, left to take the head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins and took many of Green Bay’s defensive coaches with him.

Besides that, though, the Packers have also spent many resources this off-season attempting to improve the defensive side of the ball in terms of their roster. It seems, though, that many of these moves are not impressive to those outside of Green Bay.

In fact, one NFL analyst believes the best thing they did was not any signing they made, but rather getting rid of Rashan Gary.

Green Bay Packers get criticism mixed with praise for Rashan Gary trade

Mike Sando of The Athletic recently published a piece in which he listed the move each NFL team made this off-season that he liked the most. When it came to the Packers, he chose the Gary trade because, frankly, he did not think any of their other moves made them better:

“It’s tough to find moves that made the Packers better this offseason, so we’ll single out a potential victory in the trade market. Most thought the Packers would release Gary, who said his Instagram account was hacked when it briefly carried a farewell to Green Bay while he was still on the team’s roster.

“Dallas, desperate for pass-rush help after trading Micah Parsons to the Packers last offseason, tried to acquire Maxx Crosby from the Raiders. The price paid for Gary was not steep, but it was something for the Packers in an offseason mostly about future flexibility.”

As one can see, Sando does not think the additions or Javon Hargrave, Benjamin St. Juste, or Skyy Moore have done anything to improve Green Bay’s roster. Meanwhile, it could be argued that trading Gary away, while a popular move, makes the Packers pass rush even more of a question with Micah Parsons out until Week Five.

That being said, Gary didn’t register a single sack over the last 10 weeks of the season last year. Getting a fourth-round pick in 2027, with that in mind, was a no-brainer.

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