The Green Bay Packers are about to embark on an offseason filled with free-agent departures. A few of them, such as Malik Willis, Romeo Doubs, and Rasheed Walker, are all but guaranteed to be continuing their careers outside of Green Bay. Others, such as Quay Walker and Sean Rhyan, could easily find their way back to Green Bay and be on the 2026 roster. One player who is headed for unrestricted free agency and is sort of in no man’s land is Kingsley Enagbare. Should the Packers seriously consider re-signing the former South Carolina Gamecock, or should they let him walk and start a remake of the edge rusher depth?

Just like his fellow soon-to-be unrestricted brethren, Enagbare was a part of one of Brian Gutekunst’s more impressive draft hauls in 2022. Over the years, he has slowly become a steadier contributor along the defensive line, playing right around 45% of the defensive snaps over the last three seasons. However, the decision to re-sign him is a bit more complicated than it may seem on the surface.

Case for Re-Signing

The easiest argument to make for bringing Kingsley back is the fact that he has played pretty well when given the opportunity. To start 2025, while he was receiving minimal snaps between Weeks 1–5 (roughly 25%), his stats were fairly nondescript. Turn the page to Weeks 7–13, when his playing time increased to 46%, and he registered 18 total tackles, five quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, and a sack. In the Thanksgiving Day game, while his counterpart Rashan Gary was virtually invisible, Enagbare was the second-best edge rusher on the field for Green Bay and finished with a half-sack, a tackle, and a quarterback hit across 27 defensive snaps. Nothing mind-blowing, but behind Micah Parsons, the Packers’ depth is pretty untested.

Rashan Gary is all but gone. The Packers stand to gain too much cap space by letting him walk, and he is unlikely to take a pay cut. Lukas Van Ness should be ready to replace him as a starter opposite Parsons, but that will be a new role for him. He also missed a large chunk of the 2025 season due to a foot injury. If Enagbare leaves, then next man up would be second-year players Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver. Sorrell only played 15% of the snaps as a rookie, so taking over Enagbare’s snaps would represent a 30% increase. Would he be able to sustain that over a 17-game season plus the playoffs? Oliver played even fewer snaps due to essentially redshirting his rookie season. Trusting the third- and fourth-edge rusher roles to them would be a lot to ask. An injury to Parsons or Van Ness would spell serious trouble.

Enagbare has been durable throughout his career, playing in 68 games, and the Packers could use someone they can count on to suit up every week. Yes, the team could address the position via the draft or by signing a different free agent, but the Packers tend to re-sign their own guys. Enagbare is only 26 years old, has been a productive edge rusher in the past, and is also a good run defender. He has given the Packers the kind of production that might make it hard to simply let him walk and hope for the development of younger players.

Case Against Re-Signing

The biggest case against re-signing Kingsley Enagbare is dollars and cents. Edge rushers play such an important role in today’s NFL that even halfway decent ones can clean up on the open market. While Spotrac is projecting just a two-year contract worth about $11.8 million (or $5.9 million per season), if teams miss out on their top options or a bidding war ensues and that contract value balloons, then Green Bay just won’t have the dollars to match. The team has work to do just to become cap-compliant, and shelling out big money for someone who hasn’t been a consistent starter in his career is likely a no-go.

Outside of money, the biggest elephant in the room—not only with Enagbare, but with all Packers edge rushers—is the lack of production after Micah Parsons was lost for the season with a torn ACL. During the Packers’ five-game losing streak post-Parsons injury, Enagbare registered zero sacks. At times, it seemed the Packers couldn’t even get close to the opposing quarterback without No. 1 (because they couldn’t). Now, that isn’t solely the fault of Enagbare, but he was out-snapping Gary at the end of the season and was basically neck and neck with Van Ness for most snaps played. If he had been able to take the next step and replace some of the production lost with Parsons, then re-signing him would be a no-brainer.

Lastly is the all-important compensatory pick. And boy, do the Packers love their compensatory picks. With Spotrac’s projected contract at two years, $11.8 million, the Packers would be in line to recoup a sixth-round pick if they let Enagbare leave. Considering he was originally a fifth-round pick in 2022, getting four solid seasons out of him and then receiving a sixth-rounder to replace him isn’t a bad trade-off. They also won’t have a first-round pick in the 2027 draft, so stacking picks to give added flexibility to move up the board will have added appeal to Gutekunst.

Weighing all the pros and cons, it makes sense to explore re-signing Enagbare. If that projected contract stays in that range, the Packers can make the numbers work. This year’s smaller-than-normal draft haul needs to be allocated toward fixing the cornerback, defensive line, and offensive line positions. With Parsons likely going to miss the first quarter of the season, relying solely on Van Ness, Sorrell, Oliver, and company could spell trouble. This is a roster that is Super Bowl–ready, and Enagbare is entering the prime age of his career, where he could still take the next step.