Veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin, acquired by the Packers via trade with the Colts, is excited to play alongside Edgerrin Cooper this upcoming season.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t![\"Indianapolis](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_26821808-scaled.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIndianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin (44) walks up the field Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, during Indianapolis Colts Training Camp at Grand Park in Westfield.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrace Hollars\/IndyStar \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n
General manager Brian Gutekunst jumped ahead of the market to define the situation at off-ball linebacker for the Green Bay Packers this offseason. Knowing they would be priced out for former first-round pick Quay Walker, the Packers traded for veteran Zaire Franklin<\/a> \u2014 a player whom Gutekunst had already tried to acquire years ago.<\/p>\n Not only did Green Bay trade for him, the team also gave him a salary bump<\/a>. It\u2019s a two-year, $18 million deal. Now, the veteran will start alongside Edgerrin Cooper, and that\u2019s a big part of the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cI had an opportunity when we did joint practice last year against Green Bay,\u201d Franklin recalled to NFL Network. \u201cJust grabbing young Edge and telling him I respected his game and how he was growing in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n Process to develop Cooper<\/p>\n The Packers drafted Edgerrin Cooper<\/a> in the second round two years ago and he was explosive from the jump. Last year, however, Cooper had a more difficult time taking a leap. The plan now is to offer Cooper a steadier presence to help his development. Much more experienced, Franklin is the ideal partner at the position.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving been with him the past couple months or so, just seeing how he works, his athletic ability, man,\u201d Franklin added. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny when you\u2019re in Year 9, you\u2019re watching a young dude running and bend and dip and make all these moves. He\u2019s extremely talented. He\u2019s a playmaker.\u201d<\/p>\n For Franklin, the expectations couldn\u2019t be much higher.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I told him when I got traded is that we\u2019re going to be the best duo in the world,\u201d the veteran said. \u201cThat\u2019s the standard that I\u2019m holding ourselves to, that\u2019s the standard I hold myself to, and we\u2019re just going to continue to work and compete to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n In his final season with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> in 2025, Zaire Franklin had 19 pressures, 39 stops, and 80 tackles. The big issue for him was coverage, and Edgerrin Cooper can likely make up for it. The youngster had a solid 76.5 coverage grade via PFF last season, in addition to 12 pressures, 45 stops, and 85 tackles.<\/p>\n The Packers have invested more in the linebacker position lately. Hopefully for them, the new defensive coaching staff will take full advantage to reap the benefits of those investments with Franklin and Cooper on the field at the same time.<\/p>\n \t\t\t Green Bay Packers News<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t Edge defender AJ Epenesa left the Bills and signed with the Browns, but failed his physical and is still available on the market.<\/p>\n Edgerrin Cooper<\/a> Zaire Franklin<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin, acquired by the Packers via trade with the Colts, is excited to play alongside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[2998,7,41,345,2514,2513,6,428,4995],"class_list":["post-895420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-green-bay-packers","tag-edgerrin-cooper","tag-football","tag-green-bay","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-greenbay","tag-greenbaypackers","tag-nfl","tag-packers","tag-zaire-franklin"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116600922737639085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895420","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=895420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Jan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_27997959-1024x682.jpg\")
Jan 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; in Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) reacts after he takes down Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai (25) during an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field.Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n![\"Jan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_25288556-200x200.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPackers linked to intriguing free agent at premium position who could fix lingering concern left after first wave and the draft\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n