The Packers‘ offseason was so much more about the talent that departed Green Bay than the marquee arrivals.
Unlike in the recent past, there weren’t any Xavier McKinneys or Josh Jacobs’ or Micah Parsons’ who arrived over the winter and spring ahead of the Packers’ 2026 season.
Instead, the likes of Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Quay Walker, and Rashan Gary were among the players who left via free agency or were traded away, thrusting backups or unproven veterans into prominent roles.
Packers criticized for handling of offensive line
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Few places will the Packers see more turnover this fall from last year’s team than along the offensive line, and according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, Brian Gutekunst didn’t do nearly enough to improve one of the most vital position groups on the roster.
“You have to go back only to last year, though,” Barnwell writes for ESPN. “To remember how many issues the Packers had fielding their five favorite offensive linemen. The five-man lineup the Packers intended to start — Walker and Zach Tom at tackle, Aaron Banks and Rhyan at guard, and Jenkins at center — played just 64 snaps together all season. In the 2024 postseason, the Packers were tormented by a Jenkins injury early in the wild-card round loss to the Eagles, as backups Travis Glover and Kadeem Telfort took over and committed three holding penalties.
“The Packers were without a first-round pick by virtue of the Parsons trade, but there’s not a lot behind the starting five, and that’s a problem. The highest-profile addition on the interior was fifth-round pick Jager Burton. Gutekunst wasn’t going to be in the market for one of the expensive young interior linemen, but the Packers could still stand to add a lineman or two as depth before Week 1.”
Green Bay’s offensive line left much to be desired last season, and Banks faces immense pressure this season to prove he’s worth the contract the Packers awarded him in free agency last spring.
Whether this group can surpass expectations may be the ultimate deciding factor on the Packers reaching theirs, as a team, this season.
