Packers Get To Work At NFL Combine

In partnership with

Brian Gutekunst on Rich Bisaccia Stepping Down and All Things Green and Gold

On Tuesday, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst held his annual session with local reporters where he touched upon a lot of aspects of the Packers’ offseason.

The big topic of initial conversation was Rich Bisaccia stepping down. Gutekunst said the move caught the organization by surprise, and the simplest reason offered was that Bisaccia wanted to explore other opportunities. Gutekunst went out of his way to praise Bisaccia’s impact—calling him a fabulous coach and admitting he hadn’t fully appreciated just how important Rich was to the culture until stepping back and reflecting.

Losing a veteran like that is a hit, but Gutekunst emphasized confidence in Matt LaFleur’s process to replace him. He also framed the timing as “glass half full”: instead of rushing through the usual coaching-cycle scramble, Green Bay can be thorough, do deeper homework on candidates, and take the right fit rather than the quickest fit.

Be sure to catch up on everything Gutekunst had to say.

Packers 2nd-Round Pick History under Brian Gutekunst

With the NFL in Indianapolis this week for the NFL’s Scouting Combine, the Green Bay Packers are one of four teams who will not have a first round pick in April’s draft.

As of now, the Green Bay Packers first pick will be pick No. 52. Since becoming the Green Bay’s general manager in 2018, Brian Gutekunst, the Packers have had 10 second round picks from 2018 through 2025. Of those 10 picks, six of the picks were selected between 34 and 50, and four of the picks were between 54 and 62.

Let’s take a look at where Gutekunst has used those previous 10 second-round picks.

Decoding Gutekunst with Matt Schneidman

CHTV co-founder Aaron Nagler welcomes in The Athletic's Packers beat reporter Matt Schniedman to break down what they heard from general manager Brian Gutekunst, what it means, and whether meaningful adjustments are actually on the horizon.

Feel Better, Without Overthinking It

Most of us don’t need a complicated routine. We just want to feel good, stay energized, and not think too hard about it.

AG1 Next Gen is a clinically studied daily health drink that supports gut health, helps fill common nutrient gaps, and supports steady energy. One scoop in cold water replaces a multivitamin, probiotics, and more, so your routine stays simple.

Start your mornings with AG1 and get 3 FREE AG1 Travel Packs, 3 FREE AGZ Travel Packs, and FREE Vitamin D3+K2 in your Welcome Kit with your first subscription.

Get started today

Get to Know Green Bay's New Secondary Coach: Bobby Babich

"He knows the game, to me, better than anyone I know.”

Defensive back Taron Johnson had strong words about his former defensive coordinator, who is now Green Bay’s new defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach. 42-year-old Bobby Babich will assume the roles previously held by Ryan Downard and Derrick Ansley. Babich was the Buffalo Bills’ defensive coordinator the last two seasons. He also coached defensive backs, safeties, and linebackers during his time in Buffalo.

The Packers have undergone a massive overhaul of their defensive coaching staff since the season ended. They were forced to find a new defensive coordinator after Jeff Hafley landed a head coaching job in Miami. Hafley also brought several assistants from Green Bay to Miami, including Downard. Head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t waste any time in hiring Babich to replace him.

There are plenty of people who would've been excited if Babich were the new defensive coordinator, so the fact that they were able to add him as an assistant seems like a win. He comes to Green Bay with over 20 years of coaching experience, including 14 at the NFL level, with a vast majority as a defensive backs coach.

The Packers first interviewed Babich back in 2024 for their vacant defensive coordinator position. LaFleur chose to hire Hafley, but Babich ended up becoming the defensive coordinator in Buffalo anyway. Babich’s defensive coordinator experience and wealth of knowledge coaching defensive backs will be a huge asset to Green Bay’s new defensive coaching staff.

From the NFL Combine: Gregg Rosenthal on Malik Willis And Packers Free Agents

CHTV co-founder Aaron Nagler catches up with Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Media at the NFL Combine to talk quarterback evaluations, league-wide trends, and where things stand for Malik Willis as he and several other Packers head into free agency.

Could the Packers Restructure Rashan Gary’s Contract?

From the Packers’ side of things, Rashan Gary had a disappointing season by his previous standards, but it was still quite a bit better than what Preston Smith did back in 2020 before the team agreed to a restructure with him.

Gary had 60 pressures and seven sacks in 2025. His production early in the year was pretty solid. He was also a team captain so is clearly a valued member of the locker room. Lukas Van Ness showed signs of breaking out last season, and they have young pass rushers in Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver to try to work into the mix with Micah Parsons, but retaining Gary would give them more depth and security.

The Packers have generally held three big investments at the EDGE position at one time every year since Brian Gutekunst has been the general manager, going all the way back to when they signed Preston and Za’Darius Smith and drafted Gary in the same offseason. Perhaps the most obvious solution is the right one, and Gary ends up getting cut, but do not completely write his obituary in Green Bay yet.

Navigating The Pass Catcher Situation

In 2025, the Packers offense was many things. Somehow wildly effective, while still completely underperforming their own standard, might be a good way to put it. The lion’s share of the blame belongs to the offensive line, as has been explored a thousand ways by a thousand people. It’s there that we’d expect a good portion of the team’s attention to be spent over the offseason. But, in the interest of avoiding tunnel vision, we decided to take a look around the other positions on that side of the ball. In doing so, we recognized something pretty quickly: The one thing that the Packers should avoid expending energy or resources into would be to acquire any more options at wide receiver.

As an organizational practice, the Packers will tell us what they want to do a few years down the line, when making selections in the draft. We know that would likely be letting Rasheed Walker walk in free agency, after the selection of Jordan Morgan. We knew that the Packers could afford to let Aaron Rodgers leave after the selection of Jordan Love. By taking both Matthew Golden and Savion Williams in the 2025 draft, the team signaled the departure of Dobbs, and at least one other receiver to come next year when Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks are all up for extensions.

Conventional wisdom says that Watson will be extended sooner rather than later, which would leave Reed and Wicks as the last two receivers available for their own extensions. However, you have to remember that Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave will also be eligible for extensions as well. Again, this is an obvious choice: extend Kraft and let Musgrave walk.

With that in mind, there’s a much better chance for the Packers to add a tight end this offseason, either via free agency, the draft, or both. Considering the marked rise in usage of “heavier” positional groups across the league this season, I think there’s certainly an appetite in Green Bay to dip their toes into that world. But the superstar in the room, Tucker Kraft, will be coming off a torn ACL.

We’ve already addressed the Musgrave of it all, and Green Bay is extremely thin at depth behind him. FitzPatrick will be unavailable next year with an achilles injury, and mid-season pickup Josh Whyle will be a restricted free agent. I think there’s definitely a chance that the Packers could add a mid to low-tier free agent to bolster that situation a bit. Think Noah Fant for $3 million, or Tyler Higbee for $5 million. You know what’s an even better option though? Take a tight end late in the draft, pay them only $2.3 million to be the third tight end behind Kraft and Musgrave, learn for a year and be ready to step up to take Musgrave’s place in 2027. Hell, they could do both. A cheap veteran free agent to compete with Musgrave this year, and a late round TE to develop behind them? Sign us up.

Obviously, the Packers will need to be extremely wise about where they want to spend their limited resources this offseason, but staying pat at WR while making a few additions to hedge your bets on the tight end position makes sense. Whatever way they go, the Packers should first focus on locking down Watson and Kraft long-term, and fill in from there.

Packers Second-Round Strategy: Options At Pick 52

CHTV NFL Draft Analyst Newt Westen dives into why Pick 52 could be one of the most valuable spots on the entire board. When you’re sitting early in Round 2, you’re staring at a wave of first-round caliber talent that slipped through Thursday night.

What We Can Learn from the Packers Lack of Players in PFF’s Top 100 for 2025

Pro Football Focus released it’s postseason list of the top 101 players in the NFL on Friday. The Green Bay Packers placed three players on the list. With 32 teams in the league, that’s roughly average if the talent around the league was distributed equally. But what does this list tell us about where the Packers stand entering the 2026 offseason? There are two main lessons to be gleaned from this ranking.

The three Packers players who made the list included safety Xavier McKinney who finished 66th overall and fifth among safeties. McKinney earned second All-Pro honors this year after being named first team All-Pro in 2024.

Jordan Love also made the list, finishing 37th overall. Only three quarterbacks were ranked higher than the Packers signal caller. They were Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen and Drake Maye.

The final Packers player to earn a spot in the top 101 players was defensive end Micah Parsons. He finished 13th on the list with only Myles Garrett, Will Anderson, and Aidan Hutchinson ranking ahead of him among players at his position.

The good news would be that most experts consider quarterback the most important position on offense and edge rusher the move important position on defense. The Packers have players on the list at those key positions.

At first glance, having just three players on this list would indicate the Packers just don’t have enough top end talent to compete for a Super Bowl. But there’s more to it than that.

Check out exclusive Cheesehead TV merch!