2024 NFL Offseason Primer: Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

Projected Cap Space: $9.8 million

Draft Picks: 11

• 1st (No. 25)
• 2nd (No. 41, NYJ)
• 2nd (No. 58)
• 3rd (No. 88)
• 3rd (No. 91, BUF)
• 4th (No. 127)
• 5th (No. 168, comp)
• 6th (No. 204)
• 6th (No. 216, comp)
• 7th (No. 243)
• 7th (No. 251, comp)

Notable Free Agents: 

• S Darnell Savage
• OL Jon Runyan Jr. 
• OT Yosh Nijman
• CB Keisean Nixon
• RB AJ Dillon
• S Jonathan Owens
• LB Eric Wilson
• S Rudy Ford

Top Three Needs

1 – Safety

This was a major weakness for the Packers last year as well, but with limited resources the team elected to prioritize addressing other needs with greater positional value. This year, the Packers could be starting from scratch at safety. Owens, Ford and Savage were one, two and three in snaps played at safety for Green Bay. Ford and Owens are solid backups and Savage has talent as a former first-round pick. But with new DC Jeff Hafley installing a different scheme, there likely will be little attachment to any of these players. 

If there was any offseason to completely renovate the safety room, this is the year to do it. We have 13 safeties listed in our Top 100 2024 NFL Free Agents and seven in the top 50. Not only does that give Green Bay a lot of options, but it should also lower the cost since there’s so much supply. The Packers also have four picks on Day 2 to peruse a safety class with some depth to it. Adding three new players for what will likely be significant roles shouldn’t be too challenging. 

2 – Interior OL

Although the Packers seem likely to officially cut ties with LT David Bakhtiari this offseason, they’ve had plenty of practice managing without him the last few years. Packers GM Brian Gutekunst was complementary of LT Rasheed Walker and there aren’t many teams with as strong a history of developing quality offensive linemen as the Packers. Walker might get some competition but tackle doesn’t seem like a huge priority even with likely exits from Bakhtiari and Nijman, especially because of the emergence of RT Zach Tom. 

The interior is another story. Elgton Jenkins remains a stalwart at left guard and an insurance policy at tackle should injuries crop up. But Green Bay is losing his counterpart on the other side of C Josh Myers in Runyan to free agency. The Packers started rotating former third-round OL Sean Rhyan into the lineup with Runyan last year, presumably to prepare him for the opportunity to start in 2024. Competition is needed, however, and the Packers also need to restock the depth pipeline. Royce Newman isn’t a lock to make the team and Myers has struggled at center at times too. He’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, so expect the Packers to remain forward-looking up front. 

3 – Running Back

Linebacker is also a consideration, but Green Bay used a first-round pick on Quay Walker two years ago. Veteran LB De’Vondre Campbell lost snaps to Isaiah McDuffie — who overlapped with Hafley his final year at Boston College — and is a potential salary cut. Between Walker and McDuffie, the Packers might be content to fill out the room with mid-round picks and low-cost free agents. 

Although running back ranks just above special teams in the pecking order of positional value for most teams, the Packers rely on the position a fair amount and have shown that with the resources they’ve invested. Veteran RB Aaron Jones is one of their most important players on offense, which is why they have made significant efforts to keep him through multiple sticky contract situations over the past several years. Expect the same in 2024 even though Jones is an octogenarian in running back years (29). 

Jones’ counterpart, Dillon, is a free agent and the Packers seem like they want to shake things up in the backfield after waiting for a step forward that never really came from the back nicknamed “Quadzilla.” It seems likely that the team will add at least one more young back as a complement to Jones and a potential long-term successor. While it’s not viewed as a particularly strong running back class, there will be some contributing players to come out of the group, and the Packers have plenty of picks to work with. 

One Big Question

How can they keep getting away with this?? (Jordan Love)

Favre. Rodgers. Love? 

It was a rollercoaster at times in Love’s first full season as a starter. Mistakes were made, both by Love and by a youthful supporting cast of first and second-year skill players. But by the end of the year, the Packers were a legitimately dangerous team because of how well Love was playing. He finished with more than 4,000 yards through the air and 36 total touchdowns. Of his 11 interceptions, just one came in the final eight games of the season, and Love had multiple touchdowns in seven of those eight games. 

Love played too well for too long to dismiss, especially in the playoffs. Green Bay’s confident enough in his staying power that the Packers will likely sign him to a lucrative long-term deal worth more than $50 million a season in June when he’s eligible. The NFL is too good for it to be completely smooth sailing for Love and the Packers going forward, but Love also looks like a legit problem for Green Bay’s opponents. 

Green Bay’s strategy of surrounding Love with a pack of youngsters also proved to be a home run. Often teams want veteran players around young quarterbacks to provide stability. The Packers instead opted for a group of players who would all grow together. It made things ugly at times but by the end of the year, the Packers had a deep and talented group of skill players capable of hurting defenses.

It doesn’t hurt that HC Matt LaFleur is a top-tier coach and play-caller who tends to fly under the radar compared to some of the other offensive wunderkinds. If Hafley turns the defense around, the Packers could be right back in the mix at the top of the NFC. They already split the series with the Lions last year and the battle between the two for the top if the NFC North should be intense.