{"id":182645,"date":"2025-07-05T05:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T05:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/182645\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T05:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T05:31:14","slug":"the-packers-wont-hedge-their-offseason-bets-by-adding-tj-watt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/182645\/","title":{"rendered":"The Packers Won’t Hedge Their Offseason Bets By Adding TJ Watt"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot of people don\u2019t know this, but the Green Bay Packers could have drafted T.J. Watt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By choosing cornerback Kevin King<\/a> and Watt\u2019s teammate Vince Biegel<\/a> in the 2017 NFL Draft, Ted Thompson<\/a> started a chain reaction that still reverberates to this day.\u00a0Watt became one of the league\u2019s best defenders, winning multiple All Pros and even Defensive Player of the Year. King \u2026 did not.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2025, and Watt, who is in the final year of his four-year, $112 million contract<\/a>, didn\u2019t go to mandatory minicamp as he seeks a new deal. The Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly<\/a> don\u2019t want to trade their star player, but you never know what can happen with frustrated superstars.<\/p>\n

Could the Packers make a move for T.J. Watt<\/a> eight years after they first passed on him?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more likely Kevin King finds his way back on the roster before Watt. Most fans probably know this, but sometimes I have to be the fun-killer.<\/p>\n

Ignoring whether or not Watt is actually available and Green Bay\u2019s historical reluctance to trade for aging players, Green Bay made it clear how they feel about their pass-rush group by making minimal changes this offseason. The Packers firmly believe<\/a> that new defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington can be the catalyst for internal growth and help make the returning group a more consistent attacking force in 2025.<\/p>\n

The pass rush was a consistent issue in 2024 despite appearing fine on paper. The Packers had a top-10 defense overall in Jeff Hafley\u2019s first season, ranked eighth in sacks, and had a middling pressure rate.<\/p>\n

But it was a feast-or-famine unit and didn\u2019t show up during impactful conference games. Sacking Will Levis<\/a> 9,000 times and shutting out a terrible New Orleans Saints team inflated the stats. However, you never knew which group you\u2019d get every week.<\/p>\n

Still, the unit is predominantly made of first-round picks with some exciting depth players. With T.J. Slaton<\/a>\u2018s departure in free agency, Green Bay\u2019s starting four is likely four first-round picks. On paper, the talent is there.<\/p>\n

The Packers seem to agree and didn\u2019t make any major moves save a change in leadership.<\/p>\n

DeMarcus Covington worked under Bill Belichick as a coordinator and has a strong track record of maximizing his players\u2019 potential. The same can\u2019t be said about former defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich, who was the lone holdover from former defensive coordinator Joe Barry\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

The Packers made no moves toward signing other disgruntled AFC North pass rushers like Myles Garrett<\/a> or Trey Hendrickson<\/a>, so they probably won\u2019t make a serious offer for Watt. Beyond the top guys, there were plenty of available pass-rushers in free agency, but Green Bay shopped elsewhere. It wasn\u2019t until Day 3 of the draft that they added to the line, bringing in a different build of rusher in the form of Barryn Sorrell<\/a> and Collin Oliver<\/a>, along with depth in Warren Brinson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every move (or lack thereof) shows Brian Gutekunst\u2019s faith in Jeff Hafley and Covington to inspire the current starters.<\/p>\n

The hope is that in Year 2 of the new defense with an upgrade at positional coach, Rashan Gary<\/a> will look more like his consistent, pressure-generating self, Lukas Van Ness<\/a> can take a leap forward and be a consistent starting force, Kenny Clark<\/a> can bounce back after his worst season as a pro, and Devonte Wyatt<\/a> can finish plays and become a key interior disrupter.<\/p>\n

With Gary and Clark, we\u2019ve seen enough highs to believe these veterans can get the job done. Wyatt has moments of greatness that we hope can become the norm. Van Ness has a lot to prove in Year 3, but we saw some flashes in the back half of 2025. The reasons for optimism are clear, especially if everyone can stay healthy (something that wasn\u2019t true last season).<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s probably the biggest question mark on the roster. Even with Jaire Alexander<\/a> on a new team, the pass rush is more concerning than the secondary. Their best run stopper, Slaton, is gone, and there\u2019s a lot of pressure on two first-round picks hoping for contract extensions. There are some promising new rookies, and Brenton Cox<\/a> and Kingsley Enagbare<\/a> had their moments, but the Packers are hoping for growth from their core of first-rounders.<\/p>\n

Attempting to trade for Watt might help in the short term. However, it would demonstrate a lack of faith in their current roster, which contradicts the team\u2019s approach to roster management this offseason. For better or worse, the Packers will bet on the internal growth of their defensive line, and the Watt\/King discourse will continue as it always has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lot of people don\u2019t know this, but the Green Bay Packers could have drafted T.J. Watt. By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[474,7,41,345,2514,2513,5394,3998,6,428,3996,8576],"class_list":{"0":"post-182645","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-devonte-wyatt","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-green-bay","11":"tag-green-bay-packers","12":"tag-greenbay","13":"tag-greenbaypackers","14":"tag-kenny-clark","15":"tag-lukas-van-ness","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-packers","18":"tag-rashan-gary","19":"tag-tj-watt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114798990794746920","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}