Last year, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst exercised the fifth-year option on Devonte Wyatt‘s rookie deal. He didn’t do the same with linebacker Quay Walker. This offseason, Gutekunst will have to make that decision on Lukas Van Ness.

The best route, albeit not the most popular one, would be to exercise Van Ness’s fifth-year option. That would cost around $15 million, and all of it would be guaranteed money. It’s not exactly cheap, but it doesn’t break the bank. It’s a happy medium.

Van Ness was a project coming out of Iowa in 2022. Van Ness never started a game for the Hawkeyes, so Green Bay took a calculated risk by selecting Van Ness at No. 13 overall in the 2023 draft. A raw talent that would need time to take shape; patience was part of the plan. However, three years into that project, Van Ness still has more questions than answers.

Van Ness played just nine games this season due to injury and has just two starts in three years. Still, some of his underlying numbers tell a brighter story than the more common stats, which aren’t great. Van Ness had just 1.5 sacks in nine games in 2025, but he ranked No. 22 out of 124 edge rushers in pass-rush win rate. He ranked fourth in stop rate against the run. Granted, 8.5 sacks in three years for a former first-round pick edge rusher is a concerning number. But a closer look shows that Van Ness did improve in 2025 compared to his first two seasons.

His play still left a lot to be desired, and those secondary statistics only carry so much weight. When you’re selected No. 13 overall as an edge rusher, at some point, you have to produce sacks and tackles for loss. That might lead you to believe the Packers have a tough choice to make, but when considering the broader context, picking up Van Ness’ option makes more and more sense.

Kingsley Enagbare is hitting free agency this offseason, and whether he’s back with the Packers remains uncertain. There’s no shot Green Bay can bring back Rashan Gary on his current deal. If the two sides can’t agree on a restructure, Gary will likely be a cap casualty.

Would those losses be enough to justify keeping Lukas Van Ness around for a proven option to work on the opposite side of Micah Parsons? Perhaps it’s not the most merit-based way of doing things, but it absolutely matters.

If the Packers don’t pick up the option, Van Ness will enter 2026 on an expiring deal. What if the deep-dive numbers prove to be true and Van Ness balls out as a starter for Green Bay next season? His price would skyrocket. So, what sort of long-term deal could be worked out right now? Finding the value on Van Ness, who missed half the season in 2025 and has been incredibly inconsistent (and often underwhelming), would be tricky.

That’s actually why the fifth-year option is ideal. Exercising it gives Van Ness the comfort of knowing he has another year. It’s a buffer of sorts for Green Bay to really stretch this thing out and see if their hopes for their first-round pick were well-founded, but without risking too much. Despite clearly outplaying Gary down the stretch in 2025 and playing around 45% of the defensive snaps when he was in the lineup, Van Ness remains a great mystery.

For what it’s worth, Parsons spoke glowingly about Van Ness before the start of last season.

I believe in him. I told him, I said, ‘I think you can be like a Cameron Wake, you could be like a Julius Peppers. You’re a 4.5 (40-yard dash) guy, and it’s time for you to show it.’ And we’re going to put it together. We’re going to keep working out together … and I’m excited to see how that turns out for him.

Van Ness hasn’t shown what everyone had hoped for at this point, and for those who don’t want the Packers to pick up the fifth-year option, we understand. There’s still enough of a sample size to warrant exercising the option. With Green Bay possibly out two contributors in Enagbare and Gary, having Van Ness under contract for two more years can’t be viewed as a bad thing.

View the fifth-year option being picked up for Lukas Van Ness as a compromise and a last chance for the former first-round pick to show he’s got the goods.