Wes, when approximately does the NFL announce the per team salary cap for the upcoming season? Does it happen before the UFA insanity begins?

Correct, because NFL teams need to know how much money they have to spend before free agency begins. The league announced the 2025 cap on March 1 last year.

Bill from Bloomfield Hills, MI

Super Bowl streaks. Six different winners first seven Super Bowls, then only eight different teams won the next 24, then five new winners over six years, but then only two new winners the past 22 years. Which perennial recent contenders – Chiefs, Eagles, Lions, Bills, Rams, Packers, Niners and Ravens might be done vs. new ones who will be around awhile: Seahawks, Broncos, Bears, new Pats and Texans.

New England appears to be back, and Eliot Wolf doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves for his role in that. Wolf made the call to draft Drake Maye in 2024, and it’s given the Patriots their franchise quarterback for the next decade. I am interested where Kansas City goes from here. The Chiefs have perhaps the best quarterback in the game, but Patrick Mahomes now is rehabbing from a torn ACL. They’ve also had some bad drafts and cornerstones are getting older.

Leave it to Wes to redefine life as we know it in his close Tuesday. With all of the changes starting to occur with coaches and players staying and going, it’s nice to know besides death and taxes we can always count on the II being there for us. We saw what happened to Detroit this year after losing their OC and DC and we will have more turnover than they did when all is said and done. Any concern with the impact of our turnover?

The best is still yet to come for Green Bay in my opinion. There’s obvious pressure to improve in 2026, but the Packers have a serious championship window the next two years. As we saw with Hafley, sometimes you can build Rome in a day with a new coordinator. Stay tuned.

Not a question but an observation. While I do appreciate Wes’s astute insider knowledge of football, I’m gonna have to disagree with him on his measured response with regards to Jordan Love‘s “lack” of sideline emotion. He is the leader of this team and paid accordingly! He needs to lift others up when he senses things are not going well, it’s what great leaders do in trying times. Ice cool stares while sitting alone is not a trait of great leadership, it projects a sense of consternation to others.

And yet, many lambasted the last guy for being too demonstrative on the field. So, which is it? Maybe Love’s demeanor wouldn’t work for you, but he is the undisputed leader of this team. For all the reasons the Packers lost in Chicago, I don’t think Love’s performance or visuals rank very high on that list.

Gary from Chippewa Falls, WI

Is my memory correct that Gutekunst and Russ Ball were competing to be the GM? The signing of Gutekunst, Ball and Matt LaFleur together shows the Packers value continuity over emotional decisions. Have you ever done an article on RB for the Yearbook?

Spoff did one for the 2018 Yearbook when the new structure was announced. I’d love nothing more than to write something on Russ, but the man lets his work speak for him. I respect that. If you look up character and integrity in a dictionary, you’re likely to see Russ Ball under listed examples.

I’m so bewildered by the Sean McDermott decision. He has the longest active streak of playoff appearances and the most consecutive years with a playoff win. Depending where he lands it may be more likely he continues the streak than that the Bills continue the streak

If the Bills promote Joe Brady to head coach, the whole thing makes a lot more sense to me.

Michael from Lemgo, Germany

With all these coaching changes around the league, what do you think about this? “Dumb organizations are doing dumb things! And the Packers are not a dumb organization.” I thought a lot about this in the last days and in my opinion, it is absolutely true. Have a great offseason everybody.

Again, the pressure to win in this league can be suffocating, which is why you often hear Gutekunst talk about the importance of being principled and staying true to your process. I’m not going to opine on how other organizations conduct business. Everyone does things a little differently. But I think there have recently been some good examples out there about why it’s better to keep things in-house and not open the fourth wall to the outside. Stability is the concrete beneath the Packers’ winning foundation.