GREEN BAY — Given the rave reviews Emanuel Wilson’s first NFL start received — from head coach Matt LaFleur, quarterback Jordan Love, veteran running back and team captain Josh Jacobs, and his first mentor, Aaron Jones — it’s reasonable to wonder whether the Green Bay Packers will regret losing their No. 2 running back in free agency on Thursday.
“It’s pretty cool to watch his progression since he got here and how far he’s come,” LaFleur said after Wilson carried 28 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns — all career highs — in a 23-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings (and Jones) on Nov. 23 at Lambeau Field.
“E is a big, powerful back. He’s kind of unassuming at times, but he’s powerful, and when you run with the right pad level, it just shows you what he’s capable of doing.”
Early touchdown for Emanuel Wilson and the Packers!MINvsGB on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/TeQCGxwkyM
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Added Jacobs: “I love the guy, man. As much as he works, how hard he works … He’s very coachable. I mean, he comes up to me every day and asks me something that I think he should work on. What did I see on this play? Or, how do I view certain plays? Things like that.
“He’s willing to learn, and he always tries to implement that into his game. I always try to tell him, ‘Man, just be who you are. Keep running how you’re running. Make sure you’re running hard and just be who you are.’”
The 26-year-old Wilson, who became an unfettered free agent after he — like the rest of the Packers restricted free agents — did not receive a qualifying offer from the team, signed a one-year, $2.1 million deal with the defending Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, as general manager John Schneider works to replace Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III after Walker’s free-agent departure for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Packers strategically decided against issuing right-of-first-refusal qualifying offers to Wilson and their other RFAs — safety Zayne Anderson, offensive lineman Darian Kinnard, tight end Josh Whyle, defensive tackle Jonathan Ford, running back Chris Brooks and defensive end Brenton Cox.
Cox, Brooks, Ford, Whyle and Kinnard all re-signed with the team for less than $3.5 million tender, while Anderson left for the Miami Dolphins and now Wilson is joining the Seahawks.
“Our pro staff did a great job evaluating [and] identifying Emanuel and just saying, ‘Hey, here’s this 230-pound guy with great feet,’” Schneider said Thursday on his radio show on KIRO-AM radio in Seattle. “And you sign a one-year deal like that, it’s kind of like a, ‘Come on in, come be part of our culture, come prove it, see what you can do and compete with a group.’
“He gives us a little bit of something different. He’s a heavy runner.”
Wilson does join a crowded Seahawks backfield that includes Zach Charbonnet, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, Cam Akers, Velus Jones Jr. and Jacardia Wright. Charbonnet, who shared the starting running back job with Walker last season, is coming off a torn ACL sustained in the Seahawks’ Jan. 17 NFC divisional playoff win over the San Francisco 49ers.
But his departure from Green Bay leaves the Packers thin at running back behind Jacobs, who spent most of the 2025 season battling through a myriad of injuries, including a troublesome bruised knee that hampered him throughout the second half of the season.
Although Brooks is an option as the No. 2 back behind Jacobs, he was used more as a fullback and third-down pass-protector than as a runner this past season, and 2024 third-round draft pick MarShawn Lloyd has battled injury issues of biblical proportions during his first two NFL seasons.
Lloyd has played in only one of a possible 36 games (including playoffs) because of hip, ankle, hamstring and calf injuries and underwent an emergency appendectomy as a rookie just as he was about to return to game action. This past season, he spent most of the year on injured reserve with a calf injury and sustained a hamstring injury shortly after he returned to practice.
“It’s one of those things that’s very, very, very unfortunate because this guy has worked his ass off to battle back,” LaFleur said. “To be in that spot again, it’s just, what do you say to him?
“We’ll continue to investigate and try to figure out why this keeps occurring but it’s certainly unfortunate, and I feel bad — I really do. I feel extremely bad for MarShawn.”
The Packers’ only running backs currently under contract are practice-squad backs Pierre Strong and Damien Martinez. They could certainly use a Day 2 or Day 3 draft pick on a running back in next month’s draft, but without a first-round pick and with other holes to fill, GM Brian Gutekunst might have to go with what he has or find a diamond-in-the-rough undrafted free agent.
Over the past two seasons as Jacobs’ main backup, Wilson carried 232 times for 1,007 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 27 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown on 34 targets.
For his part, Wilson went into the offseason knowing he might not return but confident in what he’d put on film.
“I felt like I did a good job, taking care of my role and taking care of my opportunities, the chances that I got,” Wilson said as he cleaned out his locker two days after the team’s season-ending playoff loss to the Chicago Bears on Jan. 10. “There’s still stuff I couldn’t improve on, [but] I’m just proud of what I put out there.
“I’m trying to stay more consistent next year and stay locked in on pass protection, just to be an all-around back, a third-down back as well and just be an elite at that.”
Asked if he thought he thought he might get the chance to start in Green Bay at some point, Wilson replied, “I really don’t know, but I know if they need me to be that guy, I can be that guy for them.”
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