NFC North Offseason Check-In: Hutchinson Looks Ahead, Packers Seek Consistency, and Jefferson Backs McCarthy (For Now)
As the 2025 NFL season fades into the rearview, three of the NFC North’s biggest names are already turning their focus to what lies ahead. From Detroit’s defensive cornerstone resetting his mindset, to Green Bay’s front office dissecting another late-season collapse, to Minnesota’s star wideout offering support for a young quarterback, the division is buzzing with offseason energy - and urgency.
Aidan Hutchinson: “People only care about what you do next”
For Aidan Hutchinson, 2025 didn’t go the way he - or the Lions - envisioned. Detroit came into the year with momentum and expectations, but the results didn’t match the hype. Now, the star edge rusher is focused on flushing the past and coming back stronger in 2026.
“It just sucks,” Hutchinson said bluntly. “We just couldn’t quite put it together how we wanted to as a team this year in all phases, at different times.”
That kind of season - where flashes of potential are overshadowed by inconsistency - can weigh heavy. But Hutchinson isn’t one to dwell. He’s turning the page, and fast.
“The beautiful thing about football is people really only care about what you do next,” he said. “That’s why I’m kind of moving on to next year.”
This isn’t just offseason talk. Hutchinson believes the Lions are still built to win and that 2025 was more of a detour than a derailment.
“I think over these last few years we’ve built who we are,” he said. “Sometimes you have a season like that and it can be a little discouraging.
But I think next year we’ll be right back on track and it’ll just be like a blip in the Lions era - for sure. In the Dan Campbell era.”
There’s a quiet confidence in those words, and it’s clear Hutchinson sees 2026 as a bounce-back campaign - not a rebuild.
In coaching news, Detroit is promoting assistant offensive line coach Steve Oliver to tight ends coach, a move that suggests they’re keeping things in-house and trusting the culture they’ve built.
Packers: Searching for December Answers
Over in Green Bay, the Packers are still licking their wounds after a brutal end to the 2025 season - five straight losses, capped off by a Wild Card defeat to the rival Bears. For GM Brian Gutekunst, the frustration isn’t just about how it ended, but how familiar it’s starting to feel.
“I think we’re 3-9 the last two years [in December and January],” Gutekunst said. “So we’re looking at that from a lot of different angles to make sure that we’re playing our best football in December and January.”
That’s the crux of the issue in Green Bay: the team shows flashes - even brilliance - but can’t seem to sustain it when it matters most.
“We had an opportunity to kind of round into form there in the second half of the season, and obviously it didn’t work out that way,” Gutekunst said. “There were moments that we played at a very, very high level - championship-football-type level - but it wasn’t consistent enough. We didn’t sustain it.”
That inconsistency is now front and center as the Packers evaluate what went wrong and how to fix it heading into 2026. But one thing that’s not changing? The head coach.
Gutekunst offered full-throated support for Matt LaFleur, saying he remains the right man for the job.
“He’s an excellent football coach,” Gutekunst said. “To get where we’re going, he’s the guy we need. I think he’s as eager as anybody to get back at it.”
The Packers’ leadership trio - Gutekunst, LaFleur, and executive VP Russ Ball - has been together for seven seasons now. And while the last two have ended in disappointment, the front office is betting on continuity to be the answer, not the problem.
Vikings: Jefferson Throws Support Behind McCarthy
In Minnesota, the quarterback question is still very much open-ended - but for now, Justin Jefferson is rolling with J.J. McCarthy.
“As of right now, J.J. is my quarterback,” Jefferson said. “So for me, it’s getting him to where we need to go. It starts off right now in the offseason and getting better now.”
McCarthy’s rookie season didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet, and Jefferson isn’t sugarcoating that. But he’s also not writing off the young QB. Far from it.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the most spectacular thing,” Jefferson admitted. “Those are things that he understands and we all understand as a building - that there are some things to work on.
But J.J. is a really good quarterback. He’s a really good guy personally to sit there and talk to.
He’s a really good leader and great motivator.”
That’s high praise from one of the league’s elite receivers, and it signals that Jefferson is willing to put in the offseason work alongside McCarthy to help him grow into the role.
Still, Jefferson made it clear: his focus is on results, not résumés.
“I don’t care [who the quarterback is],” he said. “That’s not my decision.
That’s not my main priority, and I’ve said that multiple times. I don’t really care who’s throwing that ball.
But the person that’s throwing that ball needs to throw that ball - and needs to lead us to that big dance at the end of the season.”
That’s the standard in Minnesota now. No more moral victories, no more patience for long-term projects. Whether it’s McCarthy or someone else under center, Jefferson wants to win - and soon.
Final Thoughts
Across the NFC North, there’s a common thread: disappointment in how 2025 ended, but belief that 2026 can be different. For Hutchinson, it’s about getting healthy and leading a Lions resurgence.
For the Packers, it’s about finally solving the riddle of late-season football. And in Minnesota, it’s about molding a young quarterback into a leader capable of matching Jefferson’s sky-high expectations.
The offseason is just beginning, but the urgency? That’s already in midseason form.