NFC North Preview 3: Green Bay Packers
This is the third in a four-part series in which I will break down each of the NFC North teams in alphabetical order. We’ve already covered the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions.
Last Season: Another Solid Year
The 2024 Packers made the playoffs as a wild card for the second straight season, and they finished the season with a strong point differential of +122.
Nonetheless, Packers’ fans were generally a bit disappointed with the results of the season: they went one-and-done in the playoffs, and QB Jordan Love’s late-season surge in 2023 didn’t quite carry over into 2024. Instead, Love settled into the middle tier of NFL QBs, finishing somewhere in the 12-18 range by most passing metrics.
Biggest Moves
The Packers were, in many ways, the most boring NFC North team this offseason. They didn’t fire their head coach, lose their coordinators, or switch to a new QB.
Perhaps the Packers’ biggest roster shakeup in free agency came along the interior of the offensive line. The team brought in LG Aaron Banks, formerly of the 49ers, on a 4-year, $77 million deal and moved Elgton Jenkins to C. But the Packers were second in the league in sacks allowed and fifth in rushing yards, so their interior offensive line situation was nowhere near as dire as the Vikings’ coming into this offseason.
In the draft, the Packers ended a 23-year first-round WR drought by selecting Matthew Golden out of Texas. The Packers’ WR room lacks a true X, and Golden brings 4.29 speed plus a proven record as a deep threat. Time will tell if his skill set carries over to the NFL game.
Biggest Losses
CB Jaire Alexander—a longtime villain in Vikings’ circles—was released by the Packers in June and signed with the Ravens. Alexander has suffered from injuries in recent years and played more than seven games only once in the past four seasons, so his departure is unlikely to have a major effect on the Packers in 2025.
Bottom Line
The Packers haven’t done much this offseason, but this is not an accident: the 2024 Packers were the youngest team in the NFL, with an average age of 25.2. Their core of young players, like Jordan Love and Zach Tom, took the Packers to the playoffs last season, and the Packers are betting their team will improve as they gain more experience.
As a consequence of this stability, the Packers seem to have a relatively high floor but a relatively low ceiling this season. It’s hard to imagine them turning into one of the truly dominant NFL teams, but after a rough offseason for the defending champion Lions, the Packers are undoubtedly contenders to win the NFC North.