There’s been a lot of speculation over the futures of Head Coach Matt LaFleur and General Manager Brian Gutekunst since the Green Bay Packers’ epic 4th quarter collapse against the rival Chicago Bears on Wild Card Weekend. Regardless of whether Team President Ed Policy stays the course for year 8 of the LaFleur era or not, whoever’s leading this team is going to have to rely on “building block” players. These are the guys that are worth giving the bag to, often at a market-setting rate.

For the purposes of this exercise, I’m not considering a player’s potential for more than the next 4 seasons. I’m also asserting that the typical NFL team can only afford to seriously pay 11 guys given cap constraints. I arrived at this number by analyzing how many veterans are currently set to have a larger cap hit in 2026 than a team’s top earner on a rookie contract, and I limited my analysis to the NFC North teams, the team with the most 2026 cap space, the team with the least 2026 cap space, and the most recent Super Bowl champions. So who are the 11 guys that Green Bay should build around?

Locked and Loaded

• Micah Parsons

• Zach Tom

• Jordan Love

• Xavier McKinney

The current contracts, ages, and overall performance of Micah Parsons, Zach Tom, Jordan Love, and Xavier McKinney all but guarantee that they’ll be the anchors of the team for the next 3-4 years. Jordan Love and Micah Parsons will need extensions to make their contracts palatable by the end of this window, but Green Bay’s not letting them go anywhere. Safety Xavier McKinney is the one iffy guy on this list, as his current deal ends after the 2027 season and he’ll be 29 years old heading into 2028, plus he plays a less premium position than the other guys. That said, he is elite and safeties tend to play well into their 30s.

Promising and Paid For

• Matthew Golden

• Anthony Belton

NOTE: These two are worth calling out as building block players, but they DO NOT count toward the 11 paid veterans criteria, given their rookie contract status.

The Packers’ 1st and 2nd round picks from the 2025 NFL draft are both tied up with affordable rookie deals for the next three years, and WR Matthew Golden could warrant the club’s 5th year option as he eats up the snaps of the many receivers that will be departing Green Bay over the next two years. While neither of these players have proven themselves to be difference-makers yet, both showed a lot of promise when given opportunities by a coaching staff that’s notoriously averse to playing rookies.

Back Up the Brink’s Truck

• Tucker Kraft

• Evan Williams

• Javon Bullard

• Edgerrin Cooper

You won’t find many Packers fans who weren’t impressed with the 2025 performance of Tucker Kraft, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, and Edgerrin Cooper. Every one of these youngsters has shown elite capability for stretches and have proven that they can at least be relied upon as consistent, above-average starters. Kraft’s torn ACL carries some concern with it, but given his role as an emerging leader on the team and how dire Green Bay’s tight end situation has been for the majority of the 21st century, I think it would be unwise to wait on an extension and risk losing Tuck after the 2026 season.

Probably Stuck with Them

• Aaron Banks

• Nate Hobbs

Now the not-so-fun part. Assuming that the Packers pay any of the guys from the preceding section of this article, they’re probably already parting ways with most or all of Elgton Jenkins, Trevon Diggs, Josh Jacobs, Keisean Nixon, Isaiah McDuffie, Rashan Gary, and Brandon McManus over the next two years. Each one of these aging and/or under-performing players has a contract out where cutting them would offer cap savings significantly greater than the dead cap hit. 2025 free agent disappointments Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs? Technically they could both be cut for very minimal savings in 2026, but when you factor in the cost of replacing them, even with players on veteran minimum contracts, it just doesn’t make financial sense. Green Bay is likely stuck with these signings for at least another couple years and will just have to hope that injuries were the reason for such lackluster performances this past season.

Choices

• Christian Watson

• Jayden Reed

• Jordan Morgan

• Rasheed Walker

• Quay Walker

For those of you who’ve been keeping tabs, we’ve accounted for 10 veterans that the Packers are likely to invest in. So which of these 5 guys deserves the final paycheck? Christian Watson unquestionably ascended to WR1 in the Packers’ offense this past season, but he’s never been a high volume guy and he has a looooonnnng history of injury. Jayden Reed looked like an unconventional WR1 for parts of his first two years, but has also completely disappeared for months at a time, has dealt with drops, and is now racking up his own injury history. Would you feel comfortable handing either of these guys a deal in the range of Tee Higgins’ $28,750,000 annual average, or even Chris Godwin’s $22,000,000? These are the going rates for borderline WR1s. 

What about Jordan Morgan? He does have 2 more years under contract, as well as the 5th year option if the Green Bay brass thinks he’s worth paying top-15 tackle money, but this is a guy who got benched for a rookie earlier this season and who’s never impressed when he has seen the field. Can the Packers really feel comfortable just giving Morgan a pat on the behind and praying that he’ll look like an NFL-caliber player protecting Jordan Love’s blindside just because “that’s his natural spot”?

That brings us to this offseason’s marquee free-agents: LT Rasheed Walker and MLB Quay Walker. Both have helped this team play winning football and started a lot of games for the green and gold. Both have also looked woefully below-average in key areas of their game. It’s difficult to call either a difference-maker based on the 4 years of tape they’ve produced.

Maybe none of these five players are worth paying? Maybe rolling the dice on free agent gold like Xavier McKinney or Josh Jacobs is the way to go, even if it requires some kicking of the cap can down the road this year or simply waiting a year for a pretty loaded 2027 free agent class.

Where Are the Shelves Bare?

So where does that leave Packers Nation? These are the core guys:

• Micah Parsons - DE

• Zach Tom - OT

• Jordan Love - QB

• Xavier McKinney - FS

• Matthew Golden - WR

• Anthony Belton - OG

• Tucker Kraft - TE

• Evan Williams - SS

• Javon Bullard - NB

• Edgerrin Cooper - LB

• Aaron Banks - OG

• Nate Hobbs - NB

• Predicting home-grown Christian Watson gets extended - WR

It’s clear that whoever’s leading the Packers for the next few seasons is going to have to count on slam-dunk rookies, sleeper veterans, or dramatic internal roster growth to provide game-changing snaps at center, offensive tackle, running back, defensive tackle, outside cornerback, and kicker, at the very least.

The good news is that Micah Parsons, Zach Tom, and Jordan Love give the Packers a rock solid foundation at the sport’s most important positions. And the prospect of paying big bucks for another 4 studs actually isn’t that bad of a position to be in. How does that outlook compare to the team’s NFC North rivals?

Compared to the Bears

The Bears do have QB Caleb Williams under contract for the next 2 years with the 5th year option extending that window to 3 years, but they’re going to have to pay OT Darnell Wright big money before 2028 and they don’t have a young pass rusher worth paying. As if that weren’t bad enough for Bears fans, here’s their list of the rest of their above-average or promising starters whose contracts expire within the next 2 years: SS Jaquan Brisker, CB Nahshon Wright, NB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, RB D’Andre Swift, DE Montez Sweat, CB Jaylon Johnson, OG Joe Thuney, OG Jonah Jackson, DT Grady Jarrett, C Drew Dalman, LB TJ Edwards, and DE Austin Booker. Including Williams and Wright, that’s a total of 14 starters who will be expecting new contracts. The Bears are going to lose a lot of talent very soon.

Compared to the Lions

The Lions are in good shape at the most critical positions, as Jared Goff, Penei Sewell, and Aidan Hutchinson are all locked up for years to come. Having said that, here’s the list of major upcoming free agents that they’re going to struggle to retain over the next 2 years: DT DJ Reader, LB Alex Anzalone, TE Sam LaPorta, SS Brian Branch, OT Taylor Decker, RB David Montgomery, CB DJ Reed, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, and LB Jack Campbell. 9 starter-level players. Do you think the Lions will regret giving WR2 Jameson Williams nearly $27,000,000 per year if they lose Jahmyr Gibbs over it?

Compared to the Vikings

Things don’t look so good for the Vikings if QB JJ McCarthy doesn’t turn things around in year 3. They’ve got OT Christian Darrisaw locked up, but none of their edge rushers are elite and their starters are 31 and 29 years old entering the 2026 season. Taking a peek at the talent exodus coming in Minnesota, here are some of the more notable expiring contracts in the next 2 years: OT Brian O’Neill, DT Javon Hargrave, OLB Andrew Van Ginkel, RB Aaron Jones, C Ryan Kelly, LB Blake Cashman, RB Jordan Mason, TE TJ Hockenson, DT Jonathan Allen, OLB Jonathan Greenard, CB Byron Murphy, K Will Reichard, and WR Jordan Addison. 13 starter-level players.

What Does it All Mean?

When compared to their most important competitors, the Packers are actually in pretty good shape over the next several years. Sure, they’re going to lose some key starters, and they’re probably stuck with one or two bad contracts, but a talented core is there and any coach would be thrilled to lead a team with so many key building blocks in place. At the positions of upcoming weakness for the Packers, it’s not uncommon to find day 2 and 3 offensive linemen and running backs in the draft who can start from day 1, or close to it. Finding quality defensive tackles and cornerbacks to build around will likely be Green Bay’s biggest challenge in the near future, but in the salary cap era, every team has at least one Achilles’ heel.