It’s fair to take Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst’s words from his end-of-season press conferences with a grain of salt. He all but guaranteed running back Aaron Jones would be back two years ago, and then let Jones go after the Packers agreed to a deal with Josh Jacobs.

Gutekunst had some interesting things to say about defensive end Rashan Gary at his recent presser. The consensus among fans and analysts was that Gary would be a cap casualty, but Gutekunst pushed back on that. That still seems improbable, but even taking Gutekunst at his word, it can’t be an option to bring Gary back on his current deal.

By now, you’ve heard this familiar tale of statistical woe: Gary had 7.5 sacks in 2025 but didn’t have a single sack or tackle for loss after the seventh game of the season. As his production dipped, so did his snap-count totals. By the end of the season, Gary was getting out-snapped by Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness.

Fast-forward to reporters asking Gutekunst about Gary and his interesting answer about all the players under contract for next year — Gary specifically.

I expect all these guys who are under contract to be back. … I thought he started out really, really strong. He had a lot of production early. … I did think toward the end he wasn’t as productive as he was at the beginning. Certainly, that’ll be something I’m sure he looks at personally, and we look at as a team how we can make sure that his production level is the same at the beginning and end of the season.

Rashan Gary has a $28 million cap hit in 2026 if they don’t alter his contract at all. That would be the second-highest on the team. Gary can still be productive, but not to the tune of a $28 million cap charge. The Packers would be asinine to let that play out without restructuring his deal.

For many, Gary is as good as gone. But, thankfully, those fans aren’t in charge of the operations at 1265 Lombardi Ave. When cooler heads prevail, bringing back Gary would be fine. It just can’t be on his current deal.

Micah Parsons won’t be ready for the start of the season. Enagbare will be an unrestricted free agent. Van Ness hasn’t been able to piece it together consistently. Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver are still wet behind the ears, entering Year 2.

The Packers need bodies at defensive end. Having Gary back in the fold wouldn’t be a bad solution to that problem. He’s been a vocal leader, has worn the captain’s C on his jersey for a reason, and he showed in the first half of the season that there’s gas left in the tank — at least some.

On the other hand, if the Packers release Gary after June 1, they will reap $19.5 million in cap savings. A release before that date would still give Green Bay close to $11 million in savings.

Is the money worth releasing Gary over? That’s a highly debatable topic. What isn’t worth discussing is bringing Gary back with a $28 million cap hit that would be behind only Jordan Love‘s in 2026.

Gary spoke up when the Packers lost Parsons for the season, and many believed it would be Gary who would deliver in the absence of their All-World player.

I told him to keep his head up and we’re gonna finish strong for him. That’s what I told him. I’m gonna keep in contact with him throughout what he’s doing. That was my first message to him. It hurt. It hurt. … We can still write our story. Guys that’s been out the season – Tuck, D-Wy, (Parsons) – are going to be a reason why we’re going to finish strong, keeping those guys in mind.

Unfortunately for Gary and Green Bay’s defense, Gary’s impact was the same after Parsons’ injury as it was for countless weeks before it: invisible.

Rashan Gary has been a solid player for Green Bay across his seven years with the Packers. Now there’s a fork in the road with his current contract. If he agrees to a restructuring, by all means, bring him back. It’s a real possibility. Otherwise, chalk Brian Gutekunst’s assessment in his press conference as a pleasant platitude, like his claim that they would likely retain Aaron Jones.