The Green Bay Packers are knocking on the door of contention, but if there’s one glaring hole keeping them from kicking it down, it’s special teams. And not just in the “needs improvement” sense - in 2025, Green Bay’s special teams unit ran through the full catalog of miscues: blocked kicks, returns gone wrong, missed tackles, and questionable personnel choices. If the Packers truly want to be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender, this phase of the game can’t keep being the afterthought it’s clearly become.
Let’s start with the return game - because that’s where things got especially chaotic.
Green Bay had an All-Pro kick returner on the roster last season. The problem?
He wasn’t returning kicks. Instead, the team shuffled through a rotation of starters moonlighting as returners, none of whom were particularly suited for the role.
Things reached a head in the playoffs when Josh Jacobs - yes, the feature back - returned a kick for the first time since his college days. He fumbled it, of course, though the Packers recovered.
Still, it was a telling moment: a team with championship aspirations improvising on special teams in January.
So, what’s the fix? It starts with intention.
Instead of plugging holes with whoever’s available, Green Bay needs to prioritize finding a return specialist - someone who not only has the skillset, but actual experience. And there’s a growing talent pool tailor-made for this: the United Football League.
Since the XFL and USFL merged in 2024 to form the UFL, spring football has become more than just a curiosity. It’s a proving ground - a place where players get meaningful reps, refine specialized skills, and, increasingly, earn their way onto NFL rosters.
The UFL isn’t just surviving; it’s carving out a real role in the football ecosystem. And for NFL teams willing to look, it’s a goldmine for special teams talent.
Green Bay already has a success story in punter Daniel Whelan, a former DC Defender who was named All-XFL before joining the Packers. He’s been one of the few bright spots on special teams - a reminder that the UFL pipeline can work.
And there’s another layer here: the UFL has been operating under kickoff rules that the NFL adopted and tweaked in 2024. These rules are designed to make kickoffs safer while keeping them relevant - and they’ve changed the return game significantly.
UFL returners already know how to navigate this system. Rookies coming out of college?
They’re used to full-speed, traditional kickoffs. That learning curve matters, especially for teams like the Packers who’ve struggled to adapt.
If Green Bay needs proof of concept, they don’t have to look far. Division rival Detroit found real value in the UFL.
The Lions brought in kicker Jake Bates - who the Packers reportedly had interest in - and running back Jacob Saylors, a former St. Louis Battlehawk who became Detroit’s primary kick returner.
Saylors logged just eight offensive snaps but racked up the ninth-most kick return yards in the league with 897 on 33 returns. That kind of production turned into a contract extension.
That’s the kind of impact player the Packers desperately need.
Historically, Green Bay hasn’t been big on keeping players solely for special teams. But under special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, that philosophy has started to shift - albeit slowly.
Head coach Matt LaFleur still tends to shy away from risking starters in the return game, but the door is cracked open. Last season’s signing of Mecole Hardman, clearly intended to bolster the return unit, was a swing and a miss.
But it was a swing - and that’s a start.
One challenge is that LaFleur’s offense doesn’t typically roster the kind of smaller, shifty wide receivers who often double as natural punt returners. It’s not a body type the Packers usually target. But if Green Bay wants to finally escape its special teams purgatory, it might be time to embrace a little discomfort.
Take Jahcour Pearson, for example. He’s 5’7”, 178 pounds, and led the UFL with 295 punt return yards in 2025.
At 27, he’s older than any wideout currently on the Packers’ roster. He’s not the prototype Green Bay usually goes for - but maybe that’s the point.
Pearson, or a player like him, wouldn’t need to be a major contributor on offense. He’d just need to do one thing exceptionally well: flip field position and give this offense better starting points.
That’s not a luxury - that’s complementary football.
And who’s to say LaFleur couldn’t find a creative way to use a player like Pearson on offense, too? After all, if you’re already dialing up jet sweeps for rookies like Matthew Golden, why not give a proven return man a shot in space?
By extending LaFleur, the Packers made it clear they still believe he’s the guy to lead them to the next level. But part of that journey requires honest self-scouting - and special teams has been a blind spot for too long. If Green Bay wants to be more than a playoff team with potential, it has to start treating all three phases of the game with equal weight.
Looking to the UFL for a return specialist isn’t just a creative idea - it’s a practical one. The talent is there.
The experience with the new rules is already baked in. And the cost?
Minimal, especially compared to the upside.
If the Packers want to stop being the team that fumbles away momentum - literally and figuratively - it’s time to invest in special teams like it matters. Because it does.