Jan. 22, 2026, 9:59 a.m. CT

After the end of the Aaron Rodgers era, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst set about a quick rebuild of the roster, turning them from a veteran-heavy team to the youngest roster in the league in 2023; a feat Green Bay also repeated in 2024 and 2025.

The draft classes of the last four years have built the foundation of a team which looks ready to compete for a Super Bowl. It might now be time to add some grizzled veterans in free agency to help push the Packers over the top.

Green Bay has now reached the point in the cycle where some of those draft picks, such as Romeo Doubs, Rasheed Walker and Quay Walker, have reached the end of their rookie deals and are likely to leave the team in free agency. 

The team is now three years into the Jordan Love era. Gutekunst will have a pretty good idea of who the building blocks are, and where the weaknesses lie.

After constructing a team with a high floor in previous years, the Micah Parsons trade was a strong indicator Gutekunst believes his team is ready to truly compete for a title. Now looks like the moment to use free agency to fill specific holes ahead of a given season, with every one mattering.

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In general, Gutekunst’s MO in free agency has been to spend on second-contract players who in theory are still ascending, and he had joy with this strategy, with success stories like Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos, Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs.

This method fell flat in 2025 though, as Nate Hobbs and Aaron Banks failed to provide much value in their first year with the team.

Excluding special teamers, the Packers have not acquired a free agent aged 28 or older, or with more than four years of NFL experience on the day of signing since the 2022 season, when they signed Jarran Reed and Sammy Watkins before Rodgers’ last year in Green Bay.

On the current roster, Green Bay only has six players with at least six years of NFL football under their belt, excluding players primarily playing on special teams. They are Jacobs, Rashan Gary, Elgton Jenkins, Keisean Nixon, Xavier McKinney and Jordan Love.

Nixon has only actually played significant snaps in four seasons, while Love has only been the starting quarterback for three. There is also a good chance Gary and Jenkins are not on the team in 2026.

Experience is not the answer to everything. A team full of veteran players could not get over the hump in Rodgers’ final years, and plenty of older players the Packers signed during that era did not work out.

Reed was fine, Watkins did not bring much to the party, and then of course there was the Jimmy Graham misstep.

But signing older players would not be just for the sake of experience. It may also be the best way to take advantage of the current free agent landscape, with teams retaining any half decent players who are still young enough to potentially take another step.

It seems there are fewer free agents worth spending on than ever, but teams will let older players go, not always because of the quality of their play, but perhaps due to the team entering a rebuild or simply wanting to give a younger player an opportunity.

There are very few second-contract players projected to actually hit free agency and not be retained by their current team, who also fit positions of need for the Packers.

But if Green Bay is looking for help at defensive tackle, which would make sense given how decimated they were by the end of the year, the veteran options are far and away the most enticing.

There is a whole market to potentially find a fit from, including John Franklin-Myers, David Onyemata, Calais Campbell, Sheldon Rankins, Sebastian Joseph, Roy Lopez, Teair Tart, Larry Ogunjobi, DJ Reader and Shelby Harris.

They would not be blocking the path to playing time for a young player with bags of potential, as the Packers defensive tackles behind Devonte Wyatt are all former day three picks or undrafted free agents.

The likes of Karl Brooks, Colby Wooden and Warren Brinson would still have a role and rotate in, but placing an experienced innings-eater alongside Wyatt could make a lot of sense for this particular team, especially as they lost Kenny Clark last year in the Parsons trade.

A seasoned center could be of interest, with Jenkins likely on the way out, so Green Bay does not have to rely on Jacob Monk being ready, while a veteran pass rush specialist in the Jadeveon Clowney mold might be useful with Gary and Kingsley Enagbare possibly moving on.

Signing older players to one-year deals would also have the benefit of not compromising the team’s ability to extend their younger up-and-coming players down the line, like Tucker Kraft, Christian Watson and Jayden Reed, who are all entering contract years.

Gutekunst has built the core of a contender. This offseason could be the year to add some pieces who can help the Packers win in the here and now.