news-engine

← american_football

What Will Be the Packers Biggest Offseason Regret?

Cheesehead TV · Dan Saia · 2026-09-10T15:46:42+00:00 · nguồn gốc

What Will Be the Packers Biggest Offseason Regret? What will we look back at with shame if the Packers don't succeed this season? By Dan Saia As we begin to embark on a brand-new NFL season this week, many of us fans have firmly put the offseason in the rearview mirror and are focused only on what is in front of this team: what we all hope is a Super Bowl trophy. As a team that is squarely in win-now mode, they don't have time to think about what could have been or what might have been. But with that being said, before the ball is kicked off at 4:25 p.m. ET this Sunday in Minnesota, I wanted to take one quick look back at what happened this offseason and what, if anything, might come back to bite this Packers team. Before we get to what is likely going to be the team's biggest regret, let's look at a few things that, while the team might come to regret them, they have done enough to ultimately keep them from being the biggest issue. Not Planning for Josh Jacobs' Absence: The Packers have known since May, when Jacobs was arrested, that he was likely going to face some sort of absence. Whether that be a flat-out suspension or being placed on the commissioner's exempt list, which is exactly what happened, the possibility was always there. While they maybe did not know exactly when his absence would begin or how long it would last, I'm sure they had some sort of idea. What did they do to plan for it? Not much. We have heard all offseason how much the team is looking forward to having a healthy MarShawn Lloyd in the mix, and while he made it through camp and the preseason upright, this is a player who has 10 career carries in two professional seasons. There is giving a player a vote of confidence, and then there is malpractice. You could argue the Packers not adding a real solution behind Lloyd and Chris Brooks is bordering on malpractice. The addition of Kaleb Johnson has the potential to be good, but for a team that is focused on winning a Super Bowl, potential is not a good plan for replacing a star player. What keeps this from having the potential to be the biggest regret is the possibility of Lloyd living up to the hype that has been heaped upon him. If he can stay healthy and show the burst and juice that made him a third-round pick, that, paired with the steady Eddie third-down back in Chris Brooks, could be enough to keep the run game afloat until Jacobs returns. Not Adding Another Edge Rusher: Micah Parsons tore his ACL back on December 14th. The Packers then proceeded to go on a five-game losing streak, including the playoffs, to end the 2025 season. The Packers front office saw this team struggle mightily on the defensive front on their way to losing those games and thought, "We're good!" In fact, the Packers actually subtracted from the edge rusher group when they traded away Rashan Gary and let Kingsley Enagbare walk in free agency. That's 58 career sacks they let walk out the door. The group that is being tasked with replacing them until Parsons returns has 15 career sacks between them. The quartet of LVN, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox Jr., and Dani Dennis-Sutton has the dubious task of keeping the team's pass rush afloat until Parsons returns in Week 5 or 6. Rumors of interest in Josh Sweat resulted in nothing, and the Packers watched several veteran free agents sign elsewhere, even deep into the offseason. A win-now team putting all of its eggs in an unproven basket is risky. What is keeping this from being the biggest regret is the team's addition of Javon Hargrave on the interior and the hiring of Jonathan Gannon as the new defensive coordinator. Hargrave is looking at a designated pass-rush specialist role from the interior. If the Packers can keep him healthy and fresh, he brings a different element, and 49 career sacks, than anything the Packers had last year. Add him rushing alongside a healthy Devonte Wyatt, and the Packers could have one of the better pass-rushing interiors in football. Gannon brings with him an exciting background of generating pressure with three safeties and cornerback blitzes. As long as they get the quarterback on the ground, am I right? Biggest Regret: Not Fixing the Offensive Line: The biggest move, or non-move, that Gutekunst and Co. will look back on and regret from this offseason is not fixing the offensive line. Similar to the pass rush that they saw struggle down the stretch last season, the offensive line was a major disappointment a season ago and really held back the team's running game all season. I was firmly of the belief that they would relieve Luke Butkus of his duties as offensive line coach, but alas, they did not. While there are some positive changes on the personnel side, such as Jordan Morgan replacing the departing Rasheed Walker and now being the full-time left tackle, as well as what will hopefully be a full season of a healthy Zach Bako-Bewele, there are just as many concerns. Aaron Banks missed a large chunk of the offseason with knee tendinitis that flares up when he does football activities. For someone who plays football for a living, that's not great. And let's be honest: he has been a major disappointment as a free-agent signing. Is Gutekunst trying to salvage his 2025 offseason by keeping him around? Left guard was an open competition for much of camp, a competition between a fifth-round pick and a former fifth-round pick who has one career start in two professional seasons. If Monk struggles early and often we could be in for a long season. To add on top of that, their depth is, well, not great. The top backup at tackle is last year's starting left guard, Anthony Belton, and their likely top backup at guard/center is the same fifth-round pick who lost the aforementioned competition and was running with the third team at the end of camp. If the Packers' 2026 season ends in sheer disappointment like the 2025 season did, those are going to be some of the major reasons why. As far as running back and edge rusher are concerned, help is at least on the way by the middle of the season. Offensive line? Not so much. Teams don't part with good offensive linemen. The Packers chose to stand pat on both the coaching and personnel fronts this offseason, and that could end up being their biggest offseason regret. -Dan Saia