The Packers may have to lean hard on youth early in 2026, and Brenton Cox looks like one of the names most likely to get that chance.
With Micah Parsons set to open the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, Green Bay’s pass-rush picture could hinge on a young player taking a real step forward in the first month. Unless the Packers make a late-summer move for a veteran edge like Josh Sweat or Haason Reddick, the rotation is expected to be built around former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, fourth-round rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton, and the rest of the edge group trying to help cover for Parsons’ absence.
That’s where Cox comes in. Over at PackersWire, Zach Kruse pointed to the first month of the season as a possible audition for an expanded role.
“Has played in only 15 games over three seasons,” Kruse writes of Cox. “Including just four games last season.
Had 4.0 sacks over seven games in 2024. Figures to factor into the edge rushing rotational early in 2026.”
Cox arrived in Green Bay as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and has put up five sacks and 10 total tackles so far. But if the Packers are going to squeeze more production out of the edge in Parsons’ absence, this figures to be the biggest opportunity Cox has had yet.
How he handles September could go a long way toward showing where he fits in Jonathan Gannon’s rotation for the rest of the season.
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 🡒]