The 2025 season will be a critical one for Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker. The Georgia alum will be in the final year of his rookie contract and GM Brian Gutekunst needs to decide if Walker deserves a new contract or whether the team will let him go and test the free agent waters next offseason.
Walker has great speed and athleticism. He can use that speed to run down plays when the ball is run away from him, to spy on a quarterback, to blitz, or to cover a running back or tight end on passing plays. That’s why the Packers used the 22nd pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to select him. He has led the Packers in tackles in each of his first three seasons in the league. He did that in 2024 despite missing four games due to injury.
The issue with Walker has not been the number of tackles he’s made, but when and where on the field many of them have taken place. Too often, Walker has made stops after runners or receivers have already made substantial gains. His ability to read plays quickly and make splash plays has also been lower than the Packers hoped when they chose him in the first round of the draft.
However, late in the 2024 season, Walker seemed to pick up his play. His reaction time was better, and he was making more plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. In fact, he finished the 2024 campaign with a career-high nine tackles for loss and tied his career best with 2.5 sacks.
“I think he was progressing at that point also and playing some good football, right about the time he got hurt,” said former Packers linebackers coach Anthony Campanile. He is now the defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. “I thought it was a steady progression for him, he made a jump I would say at that point in the year. I think he was just starting to see it really well. In the room, I think he’s done everything he can do. He’s all over it. Answering questions, totally immersed and locked into the game plan.”
“That’s something that kind of speaks to the character of the guy, too. Even the games he hasn’t played in, he’s in the room, answering questions, calling it out, playing the plays through on the screen just like he’s out there as he normally would be.”
Head coach Matt LaFleur also saw the progress Walker was making late last season. “Quay’s been playing his best ball,” LaFleur said in December.
“I don’t think anybody would dispute that. He’s got a better feel for what we’re asking him to do.”
The key question now becomes whether this late season improvement was a mere hot streak where he put a few good games together, or whether he can play this well consistently going forward.
GM Brian Gutekunst addressed the media after the Packers playoff loss to the Eagles in January and expressed confidence in Walker.
“I think Quay continued to make a leap and [he’s] another guy who had struggled through injuries at the end of the year, but he was really impactful for us this year. Continues to be a great leader for us,” Gutekunst said. “Certainly think, we would love to have him around here for longer than just a couple more years. He’s that kind of guy.”
If Walker plays well in 2025, the Packers will almost certainly try to sign him to a second contract with the club. The thought of having Walker and Edgerrin Cooper, two very fast linebackers, on the field together would give defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley some options in his second year running the Green Bay defense.
Ultimately, it is up to Walker to continue to play at this new, higher level. If he does, his future in Green Bay could be very bright. If not, he will likely have to look for another team willing to give him a chance to prove he deserves to be a quality starter in this league.
