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.”
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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 following are PFT’s top 100 free agents for the start of the 2026 league year. The rankings include prospective unrestricted free agents and released players. The list will be updated as events warrant, with signings, tags and re-signings denoted when announced and/or reported. Players released after initial publication may be added and all 100 players initially on the list will still be listed after any additions.
1. Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens.
2. Colts quarterback Daniel Jones.
3. Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum.
4. Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd.
5. Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
6. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.
7. Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce.
8. Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson.
9. Jets running back Breece Hall.
10. Packers quarterback Malik Willis.
11. Bucs cornerback Jamel Dean.
12. Seahawks WR/KR/PR Rashid Shaheed.
13. Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker.
14. Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker.
15. Colts offensive tackle Braden Smith.
16. Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean.
17. Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe.
18. Packers linebacker Quay Walker.
19. Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal.
20. Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans.
21. Seahawks defensive back Coby Bryant.
22. 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
23. Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs.
24. Jaguars running back Travis Etienne.
25. Broncos edge rusher John Franklin-Myers.
26. Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
27. Eagles edge rusher Jaelen Phillips.
28. Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
29. Bills center Connor McGovern.
30. Jets guard Alijah Vera-Tucker.
31. Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen.
32. Chiefs safety Bryan Cook.
33. Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright.
34. Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa.
35. Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb.
36. Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely.
37. Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh.
38. Steelers offensive guard Isaac Seumalo.
39. Lions defensive tackle D.J. Reader.
40. Browns linebacker Devin Bush.
41. Bears safety Jaquan Brisker.
42. Rams safety Kamren Curl.
43. Bills offensive guard David Edwards.
44. Patriots edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson.
45. Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
46. Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor.
47. Chargers offensive guard Zion Johnson.
48. Browns offensive guard Joel Bitonio.
49. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.
50. Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone.
51. Panthers center Cade Mays.
52. Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack.
53. Bears safety Kevin Byard.
54. Colts edge rusher Kwity Paye.
55. Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss.
56. Ravens edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones.
57. Browns offensive guard Wyatt Teller.
58. Lions edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad.
59. Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner.
60. Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson.
61. Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins.
62. Cowboys edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
63. Saints linebacker Demario Davis.
64. Panthers running back Rico Dowdle.
65. Falcons edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie.
66. Titans offensive guard Kevin Zeitler.
67. Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins.
68. Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson.
69. Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton.
70. Saints edge rusher Cameron Jordan.
71. Seahawks cornerback Josh Jobe.
72. Giants offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.
73. Texans wide receiver Christian Kirk.
74. Browns tight end David Njoku.
75. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
76. Giants offensive guard Greg Van Roten.
77. Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota.
78. Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown.
79. Falcons defensive tackle David Onyemata.
80. Bucs linebacker Lavonte David.
81. Bengals guard Dalton Risner.
82. Vikings safety Harrison Smith.
83. Giants quarterback Russell Wilson.
84. Ravens wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
85. Jets safety Andre Cisco.
86. Buccaneers running back Rachaad White.
87. Packers edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare.
88. Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen.
89. Dolphins cornerback Rasul Douglas.
90. Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins.
91. Titans tight end Chig Okonwko.
92. Eagles safety Reed Blankenship.
93. Raiders offensive guard Dylan Parham.
94. Browns safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
95. Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton.
96. Broncos outside linebacker Justin Strnad.
97. Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco.
98. Colts cornerback Mike Hilton.
99. Bills defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.
100. Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier.
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.
The Packers have hired Will Redmond as a college scout, the team announced Friday.
This is Redmond’s first NFL job.
He joins the Packers after two years as the General Manager at Auburn University.
He previously worked at LSU as the director of player personnel from 2021-23. While at LSU he was named Player Personnel Director of the Year for 2022 by FootballScoop.com.
Redmond also served as the director of player personnel at Middle Tennessee State University (2016-18) before he landed at the University of Kansas as the director of recruiting (2019-20).
He earned his undergraduate (2013) and graduate degrees (2015) from the University of Tennessee in sport management while working with the university’s athletic department in multiple capacities.
The Packers got a late start on searching for a special teams coordinator after Rich Bisaccia decided to step down this week.
The team will interview Patriots special teams coordinator Cameron Achord, Saints assistant special teams coach Kyle Wilber and former Raiders defensive coordinator Tom McMahon for the job, Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated reports.
Achord has served as the Giants’ special teams coordinator for the past two seasons.
He began his NFL career with the Patriots in 2018 as assistant special teams coach. The team promoted him to special teams coordinator in 2020, and he held the job for four seasons under Bill Belichick.
Wilber worked for the Packers from 2023-24 as a special teams quality control coach under Bisaccia. He was with the Saints last season as assistant special teams coach.
McMahon replaced Bisaccia as special teams coordinator of the Raiders in 2022 and served in that role through the 2025 season. He has also worked as the special teams coach of the Rams (2009-11), Chiefs (2012), Colts (2013-17) and Broncos (2018-21).
McMahon was the assistant special teams coach of the Falcons in 2007-08.
Four years ago, Malik Willis was favored to be the first quarterback in the draft. He wasn’t.
At pick No. 86, Willis went third among all quarterbacks, behind Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder.
It never really clicked for Willis in Tennessee, and he became expendable after two seasons. The Packers obtained Willis for a seventh-round pick not long before the start of the 2024 season.
While he has been the clear No. 2 to Jordan Love for the last two years, Willis has made the most of his limited opportunities.
In 11 appearances with four starts for the Packers, Willis completed 70 of 89 passes (78.6 percent) for 972 yards (10.92 yards per attempt), six touchdowns, and no interceptions. His passer rating was 134.64. He also has 261 rushing yards on 42 attempts (6.2 yards per carry) for three touchdowns.
Yes, the sample size is small. But, yes, the impact has been significant.
And he’s less than three weeks away from free agency.
Where he goes, and what he’ll get, becomes one of the more intriguing questions of free agency. The coming class of free-agent quarterbacks is headlined by Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones. One is 42, and the other is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Both are generally expected to return to their current teams (Steelers and Colts, respectively).
Other current free-agent options for quarterback-needy teams include Russell Wilson, Marcus Mariota, Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, Pickett, Zack Wilson, and Jimmy Garoppolo.
The Kirk Cousins contract adjustment from January guarantees he’ll be cut on March 11 or 12, so he’s essentially a free agent. Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa likely will be released, unless a trade can be worked out for either or both. The Jets also could move on from Justin Fields. And Mac Jones looms as a potential trade option, if the 49ers are willing to move him. (They say they’re not, but ‘tis the season for posturing.)
Then there’s Geno Smith, who already has $18.5 million fully guaranteed from the Raiders in 2026, with the remaining $8 million vesting on the third day of the 2026 league year. He could be available for trade, or he could be cut. (The Raiders also could keep him as the bridge to Fernando Mendoza, if they make him the first overall pick in the draft.)
Willis’s numbers are undeniable. Is he ready to be a full-time starter? And is a team ready to give him a starter-level contract?
As starter-level contracts go, the range is broad. The market tops, generally speaking, at $60 million per year. The bottom of the veteran starter market, as of last year, was $10.5 million for Russell Wilson (who started only three games). Fields has a $20 million average, and he received $30 million guaranteed on a two-year deal. (Fields also was eventually benched, after being publicly bad-mouthed by his thin-skinned owner.)
Sam Darnold, with only one viable suitor, received $33.5 million per year on a three-year deal from Seattle, which has quickly proven to be a steal. (In hindsight, he should have signed a one-year deal, like Jones did in Indy. With no other options, however, it wouldn’t have been easy to insist on a one-year commitment.)
Where will Willis fit? Much of it depends on the number of teams that pursue him. The Dolphins, who are now run by a pair of former Packers employees, are a team to watch — if they can wedge Willis’s contract into the cap wreckage of the Tua contract. The Cardinals, where Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s brother, Mike, is now the head coach, could make sense, too.
The Steelers could be an option, but they seem to be content to wait for Rodgers to make a decision. Which would take them out of play in the early days of free agency. The Vikings will be looking for a veteran to compete with J.J. McCarthy.
And don’t rule out the Ravens. If (and it’s not a big if but it’s still on the radar screen) they trade Lamar Jackson, they’ll need a quarterback, too.
Other teams that will or at least could be looking for a veteran quarterback include the Jets, Browns, Colts (if Jones leaves), and Falcons.
Someone surely will want Willis. The more teams that want him, the more money he’ll make.
The process will accelerate next week in Indianapolis, where every team will meet with every agent who represents every looming free agent in an annual swap meet of untraceable tampering that happens with no electronic footprints or popcorn trail.
Our guess is that Willis will land between $20 million and $30 million per year — unless a land rush emerges. If that happens, who knows? $35 million? $40 million? (While $40 million sounds like a lot, it’s still only 66.6 percent of the current market limit.)
Or maybe Willis will have the leverage and willingness to insist on a one-year deal that pays him a relatively modest salary but gives him another shot at free agency in 2027. (A no-tag clause would be even better, if not virtually impossible to finagle on a one-year deal.)
However it goes, it’s a story that isn’t getting the kind of attention it should, or that it will once teams start jostling for a chance to see whether Willis can do on a full-time basis what he did as a part-timer for the Packers.
His numbers suggest that he could be not just a capable starter but a potential superstar. With true franchise quarterbacks so hard to find, why wouldn’t someone roll the dice on the possibility of landing a player who could become one of the best quarterbacks in the league?
Rich Bisaccia has stepped down as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Packers.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur made the announcement Tuesday.
“While we are disappointed to lose a person and coach as valuable as Rich, we respect his decision to step down from the Packers,” LaFleur said in a statement. “Rich was a tremendous resource to me and our entire coaching staff who had a profound impact on our players and our culture throughout the building. We can’t thank him enough for his contributions to our team over the last four years. We wish Rich, his wife, Jeanne, and the rest of their family all the best moving forward.”
For the first time since 1983, Bisaccia is pausing his coaching career.
He has worked for as the special teams coordinator for the Bucs, Chargers, Cowboys, Raiders and Packers. He was also assistant head coach for each of those teams, and in 2021, was the interim coach of the Raiders.
Las Vegas went 7-5 under Bisaccia, earning a playoff berth. The Raiders lost to the Bengals in the wild-card round. It earned Bisaccia an interview for the full-time job in the 2022 offseason and won him the support of several players, including Maxx Crosby. The Raiders, though, hired Josh McDaniels.
“After taking some time to reflect over the last few weeks, I have made the decision to step down as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Green Bay Packers,” Bisaccia said in a statement. “I am incredibly grateful to Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, Ed Policy and Mark Murphy for their unwavering trust and support throughout my time in Green Bay. I am also thankful to the players for their consistent work and relentless effort to improve every single day. I would like to thank everyone in the organization for their dedication and commitment. The people in this building make it a special place to work.
“I want to also thank our fans and the people throughout the Green Bay community for their passion and love for this team. Coaching for the Green Bay Packers was truly an honor, and I will always be grateful for my time here. I look forward to whatever is next for me and my family, and I wish nothing but the best for everyone in the organization.”
The Dolphins are in a full blown Two Days After St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
The latest to go is receiver Tyreek Hill. And it’s the least surprising.
Even without the significant knee injury he suffered on September 29, this was coming. Even without the firing of G.M. Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel, this was coming.
Hill was due to make $35 million in 2026, the final year of his contract. He had a $5 million roster bonus that was due on the third day of the new league year.
He was always going to be released. He was always going to be available on the open market.
Now, for the first time, he’ll be free and clear to sign with anyone.
The question is whether Hill will be signed before he’s fully and completely healthy and, if so, whether his contract will include protections based on Hill eventually passing a physical. Sometimes, a player has enough leverage (like receiver Chris Godwin a year ago) to avoid such limitations on his pay.
Hill turns 32 on March 1. The best of his best days are likely behind him. If healthy, however, he’s still pretty damn good.
The most obvious potential destination is Kansas City. Last year at the Super Bowl, Hill expressed some regret for leaving in the first place. With Eric Bieniemy back as the offensive coordinator, the Chiefs could decide to bring Hill back, too. Which may have the added benefit of getting tight end Travis Kelce to return for another season.
The Chargers could become a potential destination, given McDaniel’s arrival there as offensive coordinator. They desperately need effective weapons for quarterback Justin Herbert — and a 32-year-old Hill would instantly be better than anything else they currently have.
Other teams with needs at the position should give Hill a look, including (to name a few) the Bills, Ravens, Steelers, Packers, Jets (who tried to trade for him four years ago), Patriots, and Seahawks (who need a strong, consistent complement to Jaxon Smith-Njigba).
