Rashan Gary’s first five games in Dallas have done nothing to make the Packers second-guess the deal that sent him out the door.
Green Bay moved on from the pass rusher after last season, and the return already looks like a win: a 2027 fourth-round pick plus $11 million in cap relief. Five games into Gary’s Cowboys stint, the Packers have every reason to feel good about how that one played out.
The production just hasn’t been there. Through five games with Dallas, the 29-year-old has logged 14 tackles, including 10 solo stops, along with one tackle for loss, three quarterback hits and 1.0 sacks.
Against the run, it’s been even rougher. Pro Football Focus has him 99th among 106 eligible players with a 46.9 grade.
That’s a long way from the player Gary once looked like in Green Bay. He finished his seven seasons with the Packers with 46.5 sacks, and for a stretch he looked like he was climbing toward elite status in the NFC.
Then came the drop-off. Last season, after posting 7.5 sacks in the first seven games, he didn’t record another one over the final 10, and he didn’t add a tackle for loss in that span either.
What made the decline so frustrating was the way it looked from the outside. He gave Packers fans plenty of moments that felt flat-out maddening, and the effort level became a talking point the way his production faded.
Dallas brought him in as part of a busy effort to overhaul one of the league’s worst defenses, but Gary hasn’t changed the equation much. Meanwhile, Green Bay kept the benefit of the trade, and Brian Gutekunst came out looking sharp for the move.
The Packers also know what their own defensive front is missing. Losing Kenny Clark two years ago hurt, and with Javon Hargrave out for the season, that absence is even more obvious now.
So when Gary lines up against his former team at Lambeau Field on Sunday, there figures to be little anxiety in the Green Bay camp. Based on what he’s shown so far in Dallas, the Packers do not appear to be missing him at all.
In Other News...
Lukas Van Ness Just Reopened A Packers Pass Rush Debate
Lukas Van Ness gave the Packers exactly the kind of early-season jolt they needed off the edge, flashing the sort of production that can change how a defense looks in a hurry. The problem is that the burst has cooled, and with the rush opposite Micah Parsons still under the microscope, Green Bay is back to weighing whether Van Ness can settle into the reliable role the front four needs.
He has still affected plays with pressure, but the inconsistency has reopened a familiar debate about whether the Packers can count on him as more than an occasional impact rusher. What happens over the final weeks will matter, because the discussion around that spot is no longer just about development, it is about whether Green Bay eventually decides it needs a steadier answer there. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans Have Every Reason To Be Fed Up With This Rule
Week 6 brought another jolt of frustration for fans already skeptical of how roughing-the-passer gets applied, and the Packers wound up right in the middle of it. A flag against Lukas Van Ness came during a play involving Dak Prescott and turned a defensive takeaway into a conversation piece, joining a similar controversy elsewhere that week when the Chiefs were penalized on a play involving Chris Roland-Wallace.
For Green Bay, the sting was less about the final score and more about the way the sequence unfolded. The Packers still won their game, but the penalty again raised the familiar issue of how much contact is too much and why rulings that erase interceptions can feel so hard to accept in real time. For a fan base that has seen this rule spark debate before, it was another reminder that even a victory can come with a lingering gripe. [Read more 🡒]
Dak Prescott Took A Scary Hit And Green Bay Capitalized
Dak Prescott absorbed a heavy shot to the ribs from Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin at Lambeau Field and was slow to get back on his feet, a moment that briefly changed the feel of the game. Green Bay had already been looking to disrupt the Cowboys rhythm, and the hit gave the defense the kind of opening that can swing momentum in a hurry.
Prescott stayed in after being checked on, but the sequence only added to the pressure on Dallas as the next play ended with an interception. He appeared bothered the rest of the way, and the episode left the Cowboys trying to manage a quarterback who was clearly feeling the effects without giving Green Bay much reason to ease up. [Read more 🡒]