GREEN BAY — While the NFL’s new league year doesn’t officially begin until 3 p.m. Wisconsin time on March 11, it unofficially kicks off on Monday in Indianapolis for the annual NFL scouting combine.

And as it does, you can bet that Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball will have more than a few conversations with the representatives for the team’s nine unrestricted free agents, eight restricted free agents and four exclusive-rights free agents.

Among those free agents are backup quarterback Malik Willis, who figures to be among the hottest free agents to hit the market, and five members of the Packers’ 2022 draft class, players who have a combined 204 regular-season starts and 16 playoff starts.

Gutekunst, of course, said what he is supposed to say about those 21 players when he spoke with reporters earlier this month.

“It’s unfortunate you can’t keep all of them, but that’s the way it works in the National Football League,” Gutekunst said. “Certainly, every year there’s guys that you have to move on from that you don’t want to just because of the choices you have to make. This year will be no different; next year will be no  different than that.

“It’s just a constant look at, how do you give your team the best chance to win year in and year out? Certainly, Russ and I spend a lot of time just looking at ’26, ’27, ’28 and how everything [fits].

“If you decide to sign a guy to an extension, how that’s going to affect everything else? But those aren’t easy choices, because you can’t predict the future. But at the same time, it’s better to have a lot of those choices than not [have] many.”

With that reality in mind, here are the Packers’ 21 free agents-to-be, and what their 2025 seasons with the Packers looked like.

Unrestricted free agents (9)

QB Malik Willis: After leading the Packers to victory three times in 2024 after coming over from the Tennessee Titans in a trade shortly before the season, Willis saw action in four games (one start) as Jordan Love’s backup and  in four games and completed 30 of 35 passes (85.7%) for 422 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions (145.5 passer rating) while rushing for 123 yards and two TDs on 22 carries (5.6 avg.).LT Rasheed Walker: Started 16 games and the team’s playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, playing 988 regular-season snaps. Heads into free agency having started 52 games (including playoffs) in four years.C/G Sean Rhyan: Took over the center position after Elgton Jenkins’ season-ending leg injury. Played in all 17 games with 11 starts — seven at center and four at right guard.WR Romeo Doubs: Started 15 games and finished the year with 55 receptions for a career-high 724 yards and six touchdowns. Caught 23 touchdown passes (including playoffs) in four seasons.LB Quay Walker: Said he had an offer on the table from the Packers early in the season after not getting the fifth-year option as one of two 2022 first-round draft picks. Voted as a team captain, Walker finished the season with a career-high 128 tackles (No. 1 on the team), 58 solo tackles (tied for No. 2 on the team), 2.5 sacks (No. 4 on the team), eight tackles for a loss (No. 2 on the team), five passes defensed (tied for No. 3 on the team), and 12 quarterback pressures.DE Kingsley Enagbare: Played 468 defensive snaps (41.8%) in the regular season, seeing action in all 17 games (three starts) while recording 38 tackles (16 solo), two sacks, six tackles for a loss, 25 QB pressures and a career-high nine quarterback hits.TE John FitzPatrick: Caught 12 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown before a season-ending torn Achilles’ tendon.LB Kristian Welch: Wisconsin native and key veteran special-teams player who had three tackles on special teams before a season-ending ankle injury.LB Nick Niemann: Picked up after final roster cuts at the end of training camp following his release by the Houston Texans had had an NFL-best 11 special-teams tackles before suffering a torn pectoral muscle.

Restricted free agents (8)

RB Emanuel Wilson: The primary backup to Josh Jacobs the past two seasons, running for 496 yards and three touchdowns in 2025 as Jacobs battled a knee injury.RB Chris Brooks: Reliable veteran backup running back and key special-teams contributor who had 197 total yards from scrimmage as the No. 3 back.DE Brenton Cox Jr.: Missed most of the season with a groin injury but came back late in the year. Managed five tackles (two solo), a sack, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble, three quarterback hits and six QB pressures in only four games.S Zayne Anderson: Special-teams stalwart who suffered a season-ending ankle injury but had a career-high 14 special-teams tackles (tied for the team lead) before the injury.DE Arron Mosby: Played only 17 defensive snaps but a whopping 221 on special teams, where he had eight tackles.OL Darian Kinnard: Backup offensive lineman who started four regular-season games (two at right tackle, two as a sixth offensive lineman) and even caught a Love pass for a 6-yard gain (before fumbling) in the playoff loss to the Bears.TE Josh Whyle: Signed to the practice squad and later promoted to the 53-man roster, where he caught five passes for 36 yards and a touchdown after Tucker Kraft’s season-ending knee injury.DT Jonathan Ford: A 2022 seventh-round pick who rejoined the team off waivers late in the season after being cut by the Bears and played in two games, including the playoff game in Chicago.

Exclusive rights free agents (4)

WR/CB Bo Melton: Converted from wide receiver to cornerback during the offseason program and training camp but never played a defensive snap. Key special-teams contributor who had four tackles, averaged 24.6 yards on kickoff returns and caught four passes for 107 yards and a touchdown before a season-ending knee injury at Minnesota in Week 18.CB Kamal Hadden: Played in 10 games on special teams before finally seeing extended action late in the season at cornerback before a significant ankle injury against Baltimore ended his season.G/T Donovan Jennings: Backup offensive lineman who was poised to start the regular-season finale at Minnesota before suffering a throat injury in practice that ended his season.C/G Lecitus Smith: Spent most of the season on the Packers’ practice squad but started the regular-season finale against the Vikings and played three snaps at the end of the playoff loss to the Bears after Rhyan was lost to a knee injury.

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