A lot of the offseason chatter around Green Bay starts with the same assumption: Jordan Love’s offense took a hit. But that line of thinking doesn’t really hold up when you look at the pieces around him.
Yes, the Packers did lose production at receiver. That part is real.
But the way that gets framed can be misleading. The room had too many mouths to feed last season, and even the head coach has acknowledged that.
In that setup, Matthew Golden probably would have done a lot more if the group had been less crowded and if some of the mistakes around him hadn’t piled up. His role should be much bigger this year, and that alone makes Green Bay’s passing game worth watching.
And then there’s Watson, who is really good.
The tight end conversation gets even stranger. Some national voices have been pretty cool on Tucker Kraft, but that doesn’t square with what he showed last season.
Once he gets fully back up to speed, he’s a top 5, sometimes top 3, pass catching tight end. Period.
Up front, the story is similar. The offensive line was a problem at times, but that’s not the same thing as saying it’s doomed.
Injuries played a part, the roster construction played a part, and coaching likely did too. Even so, Green Bay is heading into training camp with a much clearer plan for its starting five than it has had in recent years.
There’s a strong case that this group will be better than it was a season ago, and last year’s line, while not disastrous, still fell short of the Packers’ usual standard.
All the while, plenty of praise has been flowing toward Chicago and Detroit. The Bears were well coached and also very lucky last year, while the Lions, according to this view, actually got noticeably worse late in the season.
For now, though, this is what the offseason gives us: arguments, projections, and a whole lot of noise. The real answer will come once the games matter.
Training camp opens with the first Packers practice on July 29, three weeks from today, and that will begin a series of three key questions at quarterback. There’s also a separate look ahead at safety Mark Perry, the undrafted free agent from 2024 who has yet to play in an NFL game but says that could change this year.
In Other News...
Packers Suddenly Have A Real Chance To Chase Maxx Crosby
The Packers are heading toward the 2026 season with a pass rush that still feels unfinished, even after the big swing for Micah Parsons. With Parsons expected to miss the first half of the year as Green Bay eases him back from injury, Lukas Van Ness is likely to be one of the main edge options when the season opens, which puts added pressure on the front office to keep looking for help.
That is why Maxx Crosby has suddenly become a name to watch again. The Raiders star was already the sort of player who would change the look of a defense, and now Green Bay has a real chance to enter the conversation if it decides the price is worth it. The question is whether the Packers would be willing to spend the draft capital needed after already making such a major investment in Parsons, or whether they will trust their current plan and let the market sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans Know Exactly Who Truly Owned No. 5
The Packers No. 5 has a long, old-school history, with several early Green Bay standouts and Hall of Famers having passed through it before the modern era ever got started. But the numbers place in franchise lore really comes into focus when you look at the player who turned it into something bigger than a jersey, a versatile scoring force who helped define one of the NFLs great dynasties.
He was at his peak in the early 1960s, when he piled up points, earned league MVP honors in 1961 and helped Green Bay win four NFL titles. Vince Lombardi later treated No. 5 as if it were off-limits, even if the Packers never made that retirement official, and only a handful of players have worn it since. [Read more 🡒]
One Packers Bears Stop Still Fuels The Keisean Nixon Debate
The play that keeps coming up in Green Bays cornerback conversation came in the final seconds of a Week 14 rivalry game, when the Bears had already pushed quickly into Packers territory and were threatening to flip the night on its head. On fourth down with 27 seconds left, the Packers were clinging to a 28-21 lead, and Keisean Nixon came up with the interception that ended Chicagos comeback bid and turned a tense finish into a defensive exhale.
Nixons value has always been tied to his playmaking, but this one also reopened the broader debate about how much freedom he should have to freelance in key moments. The sequence was messy before it became memorable, with a breakdown in coverage creating the kind of split-second opening that can decide a rivalry game, and it left the Packers once again weighing whether Nixons instincts are exactly what they need or part of a larger gamble. [Read more 🡒]