The Green Bay Packers told us a lot this offseason — both with words and action.

Most importantly, this is a team that believes it is worthy of competing for championships right now. More specifically, general manager Brian Gutekunst made it clear he wanted to create big competitions to propel improvement at two important position groups on offense, and he’s banking on internal improvement and a few unexpected additions to fuel the improvement at two important positions on defense.

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Here are some big things the Packers told us this offseason:

Demanding more at wide receiver

The Packers wide receivers built incredible expectations entering the 2024 season but came up well short of meeting them. Drops and inconsistency were major issues. The Packers are returning everyone from the receiver room last year, but the depth chart is going to look different and competition will be fierce in 2025. That’s what adding a three-time Super Bowl champion (Mecole Hardman), a first-round pick (Matthew Golden) and a third-round pick (Savion Williams) to a single position group will do. In a not-so-subtle way, the Packers are demanding more at a key position in the passing game. Even with Christian Watson still recovering, there is too much talent in the room for the Packers to deal with recurring problems at receiver in 2025. Collectively, they must be better.

Not content along the offensive line

The Packers had a top-10 offensive line during the 2024 season and could have easily stayed the course, but Gutekunst had other ideas. Instead of re-signing Josh Myers and keeping the same five starters, the Packers gave a big deal to left guard Aaron Banks, shifting Elgton Jenkins to center and possibly providing a big upgrade to the interior of the line. At tackle, the Packers are insisting on Jordan Morgan getting a shot to compete with Rasheed Walker at left tackle, and behemoth tackle Anthony Belton was picked in the second round to provide even more competition and depth. Considering Morgan missed all but six games of his rookie season, the Packers are essentially adding three new and talented pieces to what was already a very good offensive line in 2025. And Jenkins could be a big-time upgrade at center. Big games are so often won in the trenches, and the Packers weren’t content with good up front on offense.

Expecting improvement along the defensive front

The Packers didn’t make a big signing and then waited until Day 3 of the draft to add an edge rusher. The only big change? Firing defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich and replacing him with veteran assistant DeMarcus Covington, who might be the biggest addition to the defensive front of the offseason. Can he get more out of a talent group featuring Pro Bowlers Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark and first-round picks Devonte Wyatt and Lukas Van Ness? The Packers are banking on internal improvement created by Covington’s ability to teach and develop what was already built at an important defensive position. To truly be a Super Bowl contender, the Packers must be more consistently disruptive against top quarterbacks. If Clark can rebound from a season-long foot injury, Wyatt can stay healthy for 17 games and Van Ness improves in a meaningful way, the defensive front will be a strength.

Belief in top 3 cornerbacks

Even with Jaire Alexander’s future in limbo, the Packers kept confidence in Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine as legitimate starters at cornerback. The big addition of the offseason was Nate Hobbs, a multi-year starter for the Raiders who is expected to play inside and out for the Packers. Gutekunst had opportunities to add in the draft (although injuries played a big part in the evaluation of the top of the cornerback draft class) and didn’t until the seventh round, and he’s expressed confidence in Nixon, Valentine and Hobbs as his starting trio now that Alexander is in Baltimore. The Packers barely had Alexander on the field over the last two seasons, which provided a considerable evaluation of Nixon and Valentine as players. The Packers believe they can handle what is in front of them in 2025. It’s a gamble for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: What big things did the Packers tell us this offseason?