With the Super Bowl mercifully behind us, it’s on to the offseason, and the Green Bay Packers face some sobering roster realities.
A recent list, published by Greg Auman, highlights just how many Packers could hit the open market or become cap casualties. The list gathers a supposed top 100 free agents for 2026, and I’ll give you one guess as to which team tops it. Ok, that was facetious trickery, the Seahawks top the list — but the Packers rank second with five players.
Honorable mention to Emanual Wilson, who isn’t a “top 100” player on this list, but who has been a vital-at-times role player.
Now you may not be sad to see the backside of a handful of these players, but the fact is that GM Brian Gutekunst has his work cut out for him. Compounding that likely roster churn is a severely restricted salary cap outlook, as outlined recently by our own Justis Mosqueda. The TL;DR (though you should definitely read the article; we’ve got bills to pay) is that Green Bay ranks 25th in cap flexibility for 2026, and are only able to generate roughly $52 million through restructures. That’s a fraction of what other teams should be able to muster in the coming months.
Without letting guys walk in free agency and aggressive space creation via cuts or restructures (a possible necessity given looming cap hits for Jordan Love, Micah Parsons, and others), the Packers simply won’t have room to pursue marquee free agents — despite whatever yarn Brian Gutekunst may be spinning.
Add in significant depth needs across both lines and in the secondary, and you get a team that may lean heavily on its draft class and internal options. Rather than bolstering through free agency, Green Bay appears set to let several veterans walk, fill spots cheaply and hope its young core takes another step forward in 2026.
Somewhere in the ether, Ted Thompson is smiling.