The Green Bay Packers are getting a full dose of Zaire Franklin, and that comes with the whole package: the talk, the edge and the same on-field concerns that followed him out of Indianapolis.
Franklin has never been shy about letting people know exactly how he sees himself between the lines. That hasn’t changed in Green Bay. This week, he made sure his new teammates understood that the intensity they’ve seen in practice isn’t personal.
According to The Athletic's Matt Schneidman, Franklin said, "When I’m on the field, I’m a completely different person. My mentality between the white lines is ultra competitor, ultimate alpha.
I wanna challenge the best, the biggest. I don't want no little guy.
I wanna go against the baddest (expletive) out there. That's how I feel.
I feel like I'm the baddest (expletive) on the planet when I'm on the field. That's just my mentality."
That kind of bravado fits a linebacker who’s expected to set the tone. Franklin has long been a vocal presence, first with the Indianapolis Colts, where he grew into the green dot on defense and a locker-room leader after spending the early part of his career outside the starting lineup. He was also combustible at times, and that was one of the reasons he was traded to Green Bay this past offseason.
The bigger issue, though, was what he was doing on the field. Franklin struggled badly in pass coverage and started missing more tackles, a problem for a player whose job is largely to clean up against the run.
In 2025, he missed tackles 15.5 percent of the time. In 2024, that number was 12.2 percent.
He does have his positives. Franklin has missed only one game in his career, so availability has been a real strength.
He also piles up tackles, which is what teams expect from an inside linebacker who spends a lot of snaps near the football. In 2024, he added five forced fumbles and earned Second-Team All-Pro honors.
Still, the coverage issues have lingered. In two of the last three seasons, Franklin has posted a passer rating allowed of at least 103.4, including 111.5 in 2025. Over the last three years, he has allowed six touchdown passes, picked off two passes and given up at least 635 receiving yards in two of those seasons.
So yes, the Packers are getting a linebacker who talks like a centerpiece. The question is whether the play matches the voice.
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