Green Bay Packers

The Packers have found their new special teams coordinator.

Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports that they will hire Cam Achord to fill that position on Matt LaFleur’s coaching staff. Rich Bisaccia stepped down in February after spending the last four seasons in Green Bay.

Achord spent the last two seasons as the assistant special teams coach for the Giants. He had a four-year run as the special teams coordinator in New England before moving on to the Giants and spent two other years as an assistant special teams coach for the Patriots.

The Packers will also have a new defensive coordinator in 2026. Jonathan Gannon was hired to fill that spot after Jeff Hafley left to become the head coach of the Dolphins.

Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.

The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.

The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:

1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).

Having completed his rookie contract with the Packers, receiver Romeo Doubs is set to hit the open market in March.

Coming in at No. 23 on PFT’s top 100 free agents of 2026, Doubs could be in demand as one of the top available receivers.

Green Bay G.M. Brian Gutekunst noted the possibility Doubs may move on, but the door certainly isn’t closed on the receiver returning to the franchise.

“We haven’t lost anybody yet, right?” Gutekunst said at the scouting combine this week. “We’re still kind of going through that process. Romeo’s done a fantastic job for us over his four years with the Green Bay Packers — very consistent, his work ethic is second to none.

“Again, we’d love to have him back. And if we do, he’ll be a big part of our football team. And if we don’t, I’m sure he’ll be very successful wherever he goes.”

Doubs, a fourth-round pick in 2022, finished the 2025 season with 55 catches for 724 yards with six touchdowns. He’s caught 202 passes for 2,424 with 21 touchdowns in his 59 career games.

The Packers are getting closer to hiring a new special teams coordinator.

Per Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Cardinals assistant special teams coach Sam Sewell is interviewing for the role in person on Thursday.

Sewell completed his third season with Arizona in 2025 after joining the club under former head coach Jonathan Gannon in 2023.

He previously spent four seasons with Eastern Michigan, coaching running backs and adding special teams coordinator to his duties in 2022.

New Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan previously worked in Green Bay, as did new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley, which means both of them got an up-close look at quarterback Malik Willis. They may be interested in bringing Willis to Miami.

Sullivan has previously acknowledged the possibility of moving on from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and at the Scouting Combine, Sullivan said that he thinks every team looking for a new quarterback is looking at Willis, who becomes a free agent next month.

“Any team that is potentially in a needy quarterback situation, if they tell you they’re not talking about Malik Willis, that would be a lie,” Sullivan said, via Packers.com. “Very happy for Malik on a personal level, the situation he’s put himself in. It’s a testament to him and how he played in the opportunities he got. . . . I wish Malik the best. A lot of like for the human being. He’s a great kid.”

The Dolphins don’t have a lot of salary cap space, and they’ll have even less if they cut Tagovailoa and take a $99.2 million cap charge. That might make it hard to make a competitive offer for Willis. But Sullivan isn’t hiding the fact that he’s interested.

The Packers don’t have a first-round pick, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be evaluating first-round prospects at the Scouting Combine.

Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said the Packers won’t ignore the top players they know will be gone before their own first pick, which is No. 52 overall after they sent their first-round pick to the Cowboys in the Micah Parsons trade.

“It’s important that we don’t skip any of those steps,” Gutekunst said, via Packers.com. “Getting to know these players inside and out, whether it be for this draft or going into free agency and their professional career is really, really important for us. So the groundwork that our scouts do on these players in college really does carry over quite a bit into our pro scouting staff and how we look at these players.”

The Packers made a win-now move when they traded for Parsons, and Gutekunst said they’re still in win-now mode. As an example of that, Gutekunst said they’re ready, willing and able to make moves in free agency even if that potentially costs them compensatory picks next year.

“It’s about winning now,” he said. “If there’s players who we can sign that give us the opportunity to win now more so than holding out for a compensatory pick in 2027, that’s the decision we’re going to make. It’s a factor, but the most important thing is our ability to win in 2026.”

The Packers have a decision to make on the fifth-year option on the contract of defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness. Do they or don’t they?

The Packers face a May 1 deadline to exercise the option for 2027, which would guarantee him a projected $15.381 million.

The 13th overall pick in 2023 has 8.5 sacks, 23 quarterback hits and 84 tackles in 43 games in three seasons. He has made only two starts and played only nine games in 2025 due to a foot injury.

“It’s about what we think he’s going to do in the future, not what he’s done in the past,” Gutekunst said Tuesday, via Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated. “So, that’s kind of how we look at things. We did that with Devonte [Wyatt] last year. If that’s the decision we decide to do, I won’t have a problem with that at all.”

Van Ness has never played more than 40 percent of the snaps in a season despite playing all 17 games his first two seasons. They need better production from him this season in what would be a contract year if the Packers decline the fifth-year option.

“I would’ve liked to get those games back that he missed this past year because he was playing at such a high level for us,” Gutekunst said. “Anytime you miss those kind of games in a year, it kind of stunts you a little bit.

“He was playing very well for us. It’s always tough to get back to that level when you have that pause in the season. No, we feel really good about him, where he’s headed, what he’s done for us so far and what he’ll do for us in the future.”

The Scouting Combine is mostly for players who are draft eligible, but this year at least one quarterback who has already been on an NFL roster will have scouts checking him out in Indianapolis.

Free agent quarterback Taylor Elgersma, who spent three months on the Packers’ 90-player roster last summer, was invited to throw at the Combine, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Elgersma will be there primarily to throw in drills to help the scouts evaluate the wide receivers, tight ends, running backs and defensive backs who are eligible for the 2026 NFL draft. But he hopes that if he throws the ball well, he’ll catch the eye of an NFL team that will bring him to camp this year.

Elgersma went undrafted by the NFL after being named first-team All-Canadian following his final season at Laurier University in Ontario. He’s been drafted by both the Canadian Football League and the United Football League, but he’ll keep trying to make it to the NFL.

The 6-foot-5, 227-pound Elgersma completed 16 of 23 passes for 166 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions while playing for the Packers in the preseason last year.

If you’re a Packers owner, they can’t take away your stock certificate. They can, however, take away your season tickets.

The Packers have issued another warning to folks who own season tickets and sell them on the secondary market.

“Our Season Ticket Holders are central to Lambeau Field’s significant homefield advantage and gameday experience,” Packers vice president of sales and business development Craig Benzel said in an item posted on the team’s website. “We continue to emphasize the purpose of having season tickets, which is to attend games and contribute to that atmosphere. Simply put: Packers Season Ticket Holders who purchase their tickets with the sole intent of reselling them should not be Packers Season Ticket Holders.”

While the Packers have not applied a magic number that will lead to revocation of season tickets, the article states that “Season Ticket Holders who repeatedly resell their season tickets, whether on the secondary market or through ticket brokers (directly or indirectly), may have their renewal ability impacted without further warning.”

Citing a waiting list of more than 155,000, the Packers want as many seats as possible to be filled with Packers fans.

Each team controls its tickets. And while some franchises rely on fans of the visiting team to fill a stadium that would otherwise have empty seats, the Packers have more than enough fans to overload Lambeau Field with people wearing cheeseheads. For anyone who re-sells to someone who’d be more inclined to wear a cheese grater, the outcome eventually will be not great.

The 2025 offseason featured a vote on banning the tush push, but the proposal put forth by the Packers failed to get the 24 votes needed for the rule to be enacted.

The play continued to be featured by the Eagles and others during the season. The way things like false starts and forward progress were officiated continued to generate chatter, but defenses had some more success stopping the play than they had in the past and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said in November that it was “becoming tougher and tougher” to run the play after losing a fumble in a loss to the Bears.

That change may have also cooled plans to revive the debate about eliminating the play. Competition Committee co-chairman Rich McKay said on Sunday that he has not seen a proposal from any team similar to the one that fell short last year.

“There’s no team proposal that I’ve seen from it,” McKay said, via longtime NFL reporter Mark Maske. “So I wouldn’t envision it. But you never know.”

Further discussions on possible rule changes by the committee will take place this week and any proposals for the full league will be voted on at league meetings later in the offseason.