NEWSLETTER
The NFL offseason is upon us, and teams will begin working to craft their 2023 rosters in the coming months. In this series of offseason previews, we will look at what each team has to work with and their biggest needs. Today we continue with the Green Bay Packers offseason preview.
As a reminder, here are dates to keep in mind for the 2023 NFL offseason:
You can find previous team’s offseason previews here: Bears | Bengals | Browns | Lions |
2022 Summary
The Green Bay Packers missed the postseason for the first time since 2018 and the first time in the Matt LaFleur era last season. While all signs point to Aaron Rodgers time in Green Bay ending this offseason, we’ve been down this road before.
Rodgers and the Packers finished 8-9 in 2022 and, despite a late-season surge, missed the playoffs thanks to a loss to the Lions at Lambeau Field in Week 18. Green Bay was middle of the pack on both sides of the ball in 2022.
The Packers 14th in scoring offense (21.8 points per game) and 17th in scoring defense (21.8 points per game).
Green Bay struggled to find consistency early in the season, with Aaron Rodgers having difficulty replacing the connection that he had with Davante Adams in a young Packers wide receiver core.
Key Positional Needs
Here’s where the Packers need to find help this offseason:
Key Free Agents
Here’s a look at the Packers upcoming key free agents:
Salary Cap & Draft Capital
Here’s a look at the salary cap room and draft capital that the Packers have to work with this offseason:
Offseason Outlook
Everything for the Packers starts with Aaron Rodgers’ decision to stay in Green Bay, retire (highly unlikely), or request a trade. But even if the Packers trade him, they’ll be saddled with $40,313,570 in dead money per OTC.
Green Bay has already decided to keep running back Aaron Jones. Jones helped the Packers’ cap situation by agreeing to trim his total salary from $16 million to $11 million by creating an $8.5 million signing bonus.
With or without Rodgers, the Packers have limited financial resources and many holes to fill. With Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and both tight ends (Tonyan, Lewis) set to hit free agency, the Packers have many questions to answer on offense.
Green Bay needs to either retain or replace interior defensive linemen Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed on defense. Lowry and Reed played about 60 percent of the Packers’ defensive snaps in 2022. Safeties Adrian Amos and Rudy Ford are also free agents.
While it looks like the Packers have plenty of draft capital, five or their 11 picks are seventh-rounders. But again, the first order of business is figuring out the Aaron Rodgers situation.
If you’re looking for more offseason reading, Sam Hoppen at 4for4 (our sister company) is previewing each division:
