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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Whether it’s re-signing his own players or attracting new ones in free agency,\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0general manager Brian Gutekunst believes he can do some of both.<\/p>\n
Yet with nine players who will be unrestricted free agents, it’s all but a given the Packers will lose multiple starters on the open market, especially given the fact that they’re currently well over their projected salary cap for 2026.<\/p>\n
So how will Gutekunst manage to improve a roster that finished 9-8-1, including the playoffs, and ended the season with a five-game losing streak?<\/p>\n
“I believe we have all the flexibility to do what we need to do,” Gutekunst said last week. “We also have a bunch of young players, really good players that we would like to keep around here for a while, so we’ll work through that. But I feel good about our flexibility.”<\/p>\n
It means that despite Gutekunst saying last week that he believes the Packers will retain the likes of G\u00a0Aaron Banks, DE\u00a0Rashan Gary, CB\u00a0Nate Hobbs, RB\u00a0Josh Jacobs\u00a0and C\u00a0Elgton Jenkins\u00a0— all veterans who have massive salary cap charges and\/or expensive roster bonus upcoming — the\u00a0reality is that’s impossible.<\/p>\n
“I expect all these guys that are under contract to be back,” Gutekunst said. “But we’re just getting started at kinda looking at how we’re building out the team for next year.”<\/p>\n
The “but” part of that statement is the key. Nearly every offseason since he took over as GM in 2018, Gutekunst and vice president\/director of football operations Russ Ball (who manages the cap and handles player negotiations) have released veterans who were under contract. It happened most recently with players such as\u00a0Jaire Alexander\u00a0last offseason, and\u00a0Aaron Jones Sr.\u00a0and\u00a0De’Vondre Campbell\u00a0in 2024.<\/p>\n
“I think the last few years, Russ has done such a good job of keeping us at a point where, if opportunities present themselves, we’re never not able to do those things,” Gutekunst said. “Like [trading for\u00a0Micah Parsons]\u00a0last year. So I feel really good about it.”<\/p>\n
One of the first tasks, even before free agent talks open on March 9, will be for Gutekunst and Ball to figure out if any of their impending free agents are worth bringing back. The Packers have nine players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on March 11, and a case could be made that there is not a must-have player on the list.<\/p>\n
Here’s a look at each one and their chance of returning to the Packers:<\/p>\n
If the Packers were up in the air on Doubs, he gave them one more thing to think about when he caught eight passes for 124 yards and a touchdown in the playoff loss to the Bears. His price also might have gone up because of it.<\/p>\n
The Packers never considered him a No. 1 receiver, but perhaps another team will. Even as a solid No. 2, Doubs could be in line for a contract that averages in the $12 million per year range, according to several NFL sources who have studied this year’s market.<\/p>\n
Considering the Packers might want to sign\u00a0Christian Watson\u00a0to another extension and they still have\u00a0Jayden Reed,\u00a0Matthew Golden\u00a0and\u00a0Dontayvion Wicks, it’s hard to see them bringing Doubs back.<\/p>\n
With former first-round pick\u00a0Jordan Morgan\u00a0expected to move into the starting left tackle role, Walker will likely hit the market.<\/p>\n
An NFL source said Walker will be one of the top two tackles available in free agency, and he could command a deal in the range of $20 million per year even though he had a subpar performance in the wild-card loss.<\/p>\n
The Packers are already paying right tackle\u00a0Zach Tom\u00a0big money ($22 million per year), so getting Morgan to play on his rookie contract would be ideal.<\/p>\n
Gutekunst all but admitted he thinks the Packers will lose Willis when he said, “To be realistic, I think he’s going to have a lot of opportunities to maybe play more than he would here.”<\/p>\n
Predictions on what kind of money Willis — who is expected to be\u00a0one of the top free agent quarterbacks\u00a0— will draw are all over the board, but it’s likely to be well above $10 million a year.<\/p>\n
The Packers declined the fifth-year option on his rookie deal that would have been worth nearly $15 million, but he still could get that much in early average on a long-term deal. Gutekunst previously expressed a strong desire to re-sign the 2022 first-round pick, but it might be a luxury he can’t afford, especially if he considers\u00a0Ty’Ron Hopper\u00a0as a capable starter to pair with\u00a0Isaiah McDuffie\u00a0and\u00a0Edgerrin Cooper.<\/p>\n
A pass rusher coming off a solid season could have value in free agency to the tune of an eight-figure average salary. But with Parsons unlikely to be ready for the opener while recovering from ACL surgery,\u00a0Gary possibly being released\u00a0and\u00a0Lukas Van Ness\u00a0slow to develop, Gutekunst might have to pony up the $10 million per year or so that it might take to get Enagbare back.<\/p>\n
The Packers have let more accomplished interior linemen leave in free agency in recent years (e.g.,\u00a0Josh Myers\u00a0and\u00a0Jon Runyan). But Rhyan gave them something to think about when he moved to center after Jenkins’ injury and performed well.<\/p>\n
After blowing out his right Achilles tendon in Week 17, FitzPatrick is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season. Still, the Packers like him enough to perhaps bring him back on a veterans minimum deal.<\/p>\n
Despite playing in only seven games, the backup linebacker ranked tied for fifth on the team in special teams tackles. Given that he’s not likely to draw more than the veteran minimum, the Packers would like to re-sign him.<\/p>\n
Like Niemann, Welch was a special teams contributor who was limited to eight games last season because of injury and could return on a low-cost deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Whether it’s re-signing his own players or attracting new ones in free agency,\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0general manager Brian Gutekunst believes he can do some… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"\n