{"id":41575,"date":"2026-01-12T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41575"},"modified":"2026-01-12T12:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:30:18","slug":"packers-upcoming-free-agents-put-pressure-on-the-front-office-as-difficult-decisions-officially-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41575","title":{"rendered":"Packers upcoming free agents put pressure on the front office as difficult decisions officially begin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/atozsports.com\/.image\/w_3840,q_auto:good,c_limit\/Mzk6MDAwMDAwMDAwMzc2OTYx\/usatsi_27982783.jpg?arena_f_auto\" alt=\"Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) celebrates a first down reception against the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter during their wild-card playoff football game Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\">The\u00a0Green Bay Packers lost to the Chicago Bears, 31-27, and their 2025 season is officially over. Now, general manager Brian Gutekunst is already thinking about 2026 \u2014 and he better be, because there will be a lot of work to do in the offseason to keep building this roster.<\/p>\n<p>The Packers have 10 pending unrestricted free agents, and some of them are impactful pieces who could leave Green Bay in March. There are also seven players slated to be restricted free agents, which is a rarity in the NFL world.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"unrestricted-free-agents\" class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-m-font-size\">Unrestricted free agents<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;ordered&quot;:false,&quot;values&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">WR Romeo Doubs<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">LB Quay Walker<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">QB Malik Willis<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">LT Rasheed Walker<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">C Sean Rhyan<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">EDGE Kingsley Enagbare<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">S Zayne Anderson<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">LB Nick Niemann<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">TE John FitzPatrick<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">LB Kristian Welch<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\">Quay Walker is probably\u00a0the player on this list that\u00a0Brian Gutekunst\u00a0wants to keep the most, but the linebacker market and Walker\u2019s underwhelming performance throughout his rookie contract put his situation at risk. It\u2019s possible that the Packers try to keep one of Rhyan or Walker \u2014 more likely Rhyan, who\u2019s cheaper considering his position, and would allow the Packers to release Elgton Jenkins from his $20 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>Green Bay would also love to keep\u00a0backup quarterback Malik Willis\u00a0around, but he played great over the past two years and it\u2019s very likely that he will receive an opportunity to at least compete for a starting job \u2014 something he won\u2019t with the Packers.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"restricted-free-agents\" class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-m-font-size\">Restricted free agents<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;ordered&quot;:false,&quot;values&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">RB Emanuel Wilson<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">RB Chris Brooks<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">EDGE Brenton Cox Jr.<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">T Darian Kinnard<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">QB Desmond Ridder<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">EDGE Arron Mosby<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">TE Josh Whyle<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\">According to\u00a0Over The Cap, these are the projected RFA tenders for 2026: first-rounder ($7.893 million), second-rounder ($5.658 million), and rights of first refusal ($3.453 million). The original round tender hasn\u2019t been projected, but it should be something around $4.5 million.<\/p>\n<p>This is how it works: If the Packers apply the tender, the player could simply sign it and play in 2026 under this one-year deal. However, another team can offer the player a long-term contract. If that\u2019s the case, the Packers would have the option to match the offer or to allow the player to leave, receiving the corresponding compensation.<\/p>\n<p data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\">None of these players are starters, so it\u2019s unlikely that the Packers will need to offer him a big tender. One or two may receive the rights of first refusal \u2014 one of the running backs, for example, Brenton Cox, and\/or Darian Kinnard.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the most likely scenario is that the Packers don\u2019t apply a tender on many of those players, making them unrestricted free agents. By that point, Green Bay could bring them back on cheaper deals, but they would be free to sign elsewhere if wanted.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"exclusive-rights-free-agents\" class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-m-font-size\">Exclusive-rights free agents<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\" data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;ordered&quot;:false,&quot;values&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">WR\/CB Bo Melton<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">DT Jonathan Ford<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">CB Kamal Hadden<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">G Donovan Jennings<\/li>\n<li data-wp-block-name=\"core\/list-item\" data-wp-block=\"[]\">C Lecitus Smith<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-wp-block-name=\"core\/paragraph\" data-wp-block=\"{&quot;dropCap&quot;:false}\">Those are easy ones, because the Packers can just apply the ERFA tender, which is the minimum salary \u2014 it varies from $885k to $1.075 million depending on the player\u2019s experience in the NFL. And the player has no option but to accept it or retire from the league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Green Bay Packers lost to the Chicago Bears, 31-27, and their 2025 season is officially over. Now, general manager Brian Gutekunst is already thinking about 2026 \u2014&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Packers upcoming free agents put pressure on the front office as difficult decisions officially begin - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41575\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Packers upcoming free agents put pressure on the front office as difficult decisions officially begin - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Green Bay Packers lost to the Chicago Bears, 31-27, and their 2025 season is officially over. 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