It isn’t an overstatement to say the Packers’ promising season ended with Micah Parsons’ torn ACL after 40 defensive snaps into the Week 15 game against the Broncos. The Packers lost that game and their next four games, including a wild-card playoff loss to the Bears to end their season.
Parsons, 26, has rehabbed in Dallas since Dr. Neal ElAttrache repaired Parsons’ torn ligament on Dec. 30.
The Packers recently sent head athletic trainer Nate Weir to Texas to check in on Parsons’ rehab.
“Everything’s good,” General Manager Brian Gutekunst said Monday at the NFL owners meetings, via video from Ryan Wood of USA Today. “We had our trainers down there with him not too long ago and came back with really good. It’s daily communication. He’s an exceptional athlete, and we’re hoping that takes over here pretty quick and the healing process goes fast.”
Gutekunst would not put a timeline on Parsons’ return.
“No, we’re really early in this,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, we invested quite a bit in him, so we will be very protective of that investment as we go forward.”
Parsons proved worth the investment the Packers made in trading with the Cowboys for him and with the contract they gave him. He had 12.5 sacks and 79 pressures in 14 games, earning first-team All-Pro honors for a third time.
Back in January, there was some speculation as to whether or not Matt LaFleur would continue as head coach of the Packers.
That entire issue was put to rest quickly when word emerged that LaFleur had agreed to a contract extension on Jan. 17 — a week after Green Bay’s postseason loss to Chicago.
Was there ever any concern from his part that he wouldn’t be back?
“That was out of my control, so I tried not to worry about it too much,” LaFleur said at the annual league meeting in Phoenix on Monday. “I was confident in what we’ve been able to do. And certainly, are we satisfied? Hell no. Not even close. I mean, we always want more. Until you’re hoisting that Lombardi, you’re not going to be satisfied — and even then, you’re going to want to do it again.
“So, I’m certainly grateful for the opportunity. I love this organization. I love the city, the people, the community. But, I love our players, too. And going to work with Jordan Love every day is a pretty cool deal. I think he’s an unbelievable quarterback and an even better guy.”
But the Packers haven’t been able to get over the proverbial hump with LaFleur, particularly over the last few years. The club has been the NFC’s No. 7 seed in each of the last three seasons, falling in the wild card round in 2024 and 2025.
Part of that is playing better in the regular season so that the Packers aren’t on the road to begin the playoffs.
“You’ve got to capitalize on the opportunities,” LaFleur said. “I think if you look back last season, there were multiple instances where we didn’t get it done where we were in a position — whether it was Cleveland, Dallas, Carolina, Philly, both Chicago games — where a play goes different and you have a different result. But it didn’t.
“So, you’ve got to own it, you’ve got to try to learn from it, and just move forward. But I just think it’s going to take a consistent approach.”
This story is not about Packers safety Xavier McKinney. It’s about someone posing as McKinney to swindle $4.375 million from a lender, and the effort by the lender to get the money back from the broker who was duped.
In an item for the Guardian, veteran sports business reporter Daniel Kaplan writes that Aliya Sports Finance Fund has sued Sure Sports for alleged negligence in failing to perform due diligence when introducing the McKinney imposter to the lender for a seven-figure loan.
Kaplan notes that, per the lawsuit, the FBI is investigating the transaction.
The civil complaint was filed a year ago in Florida, where both companies are based. Trial is set for July 13, 2026.
Sure Sports made $87,500 for introducing the fake McKinney to ASFF for the loan.
From the lawsuit: “ASFF has come to learn that the borrower apparently was not McKinney, but rather a third party who impersonated McKinney to facilitate the disbursement and theft of the Loan proceeds.”
McKinney had signed a four-year $67 million contract with the Packers on March 14, 2024. The deal included a $23 million signing bonus. The loan closed on April 2, 2024.
And here’s the kicker: Kaplan reports that McKinney was one of the victims of the person about whom the NFL Players Association recently warned NFL agents, following the recent indictment of Kwamaine Jerrell Ford for allegedly posing as an adult film star to scam NBA and NFL athletes. The reporting does not link Ford to this specific theft.
McKinney is not a party to the current lawsuit. His agency, Athletes First, declined Kaplan’s request for comment.
New Panthers left tackle Rasheed Walker was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 23 after telling an airline employee he had a firearm and ammunition in his baggage. He was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm.
Walker, via David Newton of ESPN, said Thursday that the charges will be dismissed.
During his introductory news conference on Thursday, Walker referred all other questions to his attorney,
The gun was licensed in Wisconsin, and Walker’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, told the New York Post in January that Walker was unaware he couldn’t travel with a licensed firearm in a locked box.
Walker, who started 48 games in four seasons with the Packers, signed a one-year deal worth up to $10 million with the Panthers in free agency.
The Packers and head coach Matt LaFleur signed a contract extension in January, and quarterback Jordan Love couldn’t be happier.
LaFleur is the only head coach Love has had in the NFL, and Love said he’s thrilled at the prospect of only having one head coach for years to come.
“Being able to keep Matt around is awesome, and I’m very happy about that,” Love told Kyle Malzahn of WFRV. “It’s a lot to learn a whole new system and new terminology. As a quarterback, being in the same system, the same terminology, it definitely helps me out.”
This will be the seventh season that Love, the Packers’ 2020 first-round pick, has had LaFleur as his head coach. The only starting quarterback who has been with his head coach longer than that is Patrick Mahomes. Love has had good stability in his NFL career, and he hopes that doesn’t change.
