The Green Bay Packers’ biggest question heading into 2026 isn’t hard to spot: can they finish?
That’s the issue ESPN’s Rob Demovsky zeroed in on, and it hangs over Green Bay after a brutal end to 2025. The Packers went 0-4 to close the regular season, then lost to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round despite holding a 21-6 lead.
“How can they avoid another late-season collapse? The Packers were 9-3-1 and had a nine-point lead in the third quarter of their Week 15 game at the Denver Broncos, who would go on to be the top seed in the AFC,” Demovsky wrote.
“That's when it all crumbled. The Packers lost to the Broncos and didn't win another game the rest of the way, ending the season on a five-game losing streak.
The Broncos game wasn't the only one they gave away. They blew fourth-quarter leads in two losses to the Bears, in Week 16 and in the wild-card game.
Coach Matt LaFleur has talked all offseason about finishing games better, but that's not exactly something you can practice in a tangible way.”
That collapse came after Micah Parsons tore his ACL in Week 15 against the Broncos, and Green Bay didn’t win again after that.
The roster around Jordan Love looks different now, too. Romeo Doubs left for the New England Patriots in free agency, and Dontayvion Wicks was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. That leaves Tucker Kraft, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, Skyy Moore, Jakobie Keeney-James, Isaiah Neyor and Will Sheppard as the pass-catching options on the roster.
Love is the player who has to drive this thing forward. He signed a four-year, $220 million contract with Green Bay in 2024, and the expectations that come with that deal are obvious. Last season, the 27-year-old threw for 3,381 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 66.3% of his passes.
For his career, Love has 11,535 passing yards and 83 touchdown passes, and he’s 27-20-1 as a starter.
The Packers open 2026 against the Minnesota Vikings, and Love will enter that game with Parsons unavailable to start the season as he works back from the ACL tear. Love recently said the biggest thing he’s focused on is his footwork.
“My biggest thing that I've noticed since I got back is just my feet in the pocket, trying to be as smooth and consistent as possible,” Love said. “When I go through my reads, get into my hitches and not getting antsy, not getting to that point where you're trying to move through the pocket too fast.
Just staying calm, staying relaxed, move through my reads. If I've gotta move around in the pocket, keeping those movements pretty tight and not kind of running into where guys might be peeling off and able to hit you.”
That’s where the Packers’ 2026 story starts: better feet, better finishes, and no repeat of the fade that ended 2025.
In Other News...
Packers Are Running Out Of Time To Solve One Major Problem
The Packers head toward 2026 training camp still looking for a cleaner answer off the edge, and the concern only grows with the way the pass rush has been reshaped this offseason. Green Bay has been searching for more disruption up front, and a veteran like Von Miller has emerged as the kind of addition that would make sense for a defense that needs proven production rather than more projection.
Millers 2025 season in Washington offered exactly that sort of rsum, with steady pressure production even in a reduced role. He also fits the kind of pass-rush environment Jonathan Gannon has helped create before, which is why the possibility has some appeal in Green Bay. The question now is whether the Packers are ready to act before the calendar turns and the margin for solving the problem gets even smaller. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans Wont Like Where This Ownership Debate Could Be Headed
The Packers unusual place in the NFL has always been part of the franchises identity, but it also comes with a built-in financial ceiling that privately owned teams do not face. CEO Ed Policy recently acknowledged that reality, noting the club does not have the same capital-raising flexibility as other franchises and will need to be more aggressive about generating revenue even as he stressed the team remains financially healthy in the short and medium term.
What makes the discussion more interesting is where those revenue conversations can lead, because the options for a public, community-owned team are far different from the rest of the league. A league reporter has already started sketching out possible paths forward, and while a sale is not currently on the table under NFL rules, the very fact that the topic is being raised shows how much pressure can build around a model that has long been seen as part tradition, part constraint. [Read more 🡒]
Packers May Regret Giving Up On A Young Receiver Too Soon
The Packers decision to move on from Dontayvion Wicks has already become one of those roster calls that invites a second look. Green Bay turned the young receiver into a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-rounder, then flipped the fifth-rounder into interior offensive lineman Jager Burton while also clearing $2.6 million in cap space. On paper, it was the kind of practical transaction teams make when they want to balance future flexibility with immediate roster needs.
What makes the move linger is how quickly Wicks found a new landing spot and a clearer path to a bigger role. Philadelphia did not treat him like a throw-in, and that alone says something about how the league viewed his value compared with Green Bays willingness to cash out. For the Packers, the question now is whether the draft capital and financial relief will be enough to justify letting a young receiver go before his market had fully formed. [Read more 🡒]