On the eve of free agency, the Packers are bringing in a linebacker.
According to multiple reports, Indianapolis has agreed to trade Zaire Franklin to Green Bay in exchange for defensive tackle Colby Wooden.
Franklin, 29, recorded 125 total tackles with seven tackles for loss and six quarteback hits in 2025. He also had 2.0 sacks, five passes defensed, and a forced fumble.
Franklin led the league with 173 total tackles in 2024, earning his first Pro Bowl berth. He was also a second-team AP All-Pro selection.
Franklin has been remarkably durable in his eight-year career, missing just one game for which he was eligible since entering the league as a seventh-round pick in 2018.
He has two years remaining on his contract.
Wooden appeared in all 17 games with 16 starts in 2025. A fourth-round pick in 2023, Wooden has appeared in 47 career games with 17 starts. He’s entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Green Bay acquiring Franklin likely means the club will not retain pending free agent Quay Walker.
Packers Clips
Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary posted on Instagram a farewell message to Green Bay. And then he deleted it.
Now, someone is getting out the word that Gary’s account was hacked. Multiple reports have tweeted the claim, citing an unnamed source.
If it was, Gary quickly regained control of his account. If it was, someone took the time to make a graphic with a five-paragraph message that reads like a legitimate goodbye.
As hacks go, then, this one was about as boring as they get.
Gary is due to earn a non-guaranteed base salary of $18 million in 2026, with $800,000 in per-game roster bonuses and a $700,000 workout bonus. He has a cap number of $28 million.
There’s no trigger that would require the Packers to make a quick decision on his future once the 2026 league year begins.
Packers defensive end Rashan Gary is on the way out of Green Bay. Maybe.
Gary posted on social media that he is leaving the Packers, although he later deleted the post.
It seems likely that Gary was told he will be released unless the Packers can find a trade partner willing to take on his $19.5 million non-guaranteed pay for 2026. But he may have thought better of making that public while he and his agent try to determine the best deal they can get elsewhere.
In his deleted post, Gary said it had been an honor to be a Packer.
“Green Bay — When I got the call in 2019, it was one of the greatest moments of my life, and it always will be,” Gary wrote. “The opportunity to represent Green Bay and Packers Nation across the country and around the world is something I will never forget. Like all chapters in life, this one has come to an end. I want to thank everyone who supported me and my family throughout the years. The love, the energy, and the memories mean more than words can explain. On to my next stop nowhere near done yet. All 6'5", 275 can’t wait.”
Plenty of teams will be interested in the 28-year-old Gary, who has played all seven of his NFL seasons in Green Bay.
Bob Harlan, who served for 19 years as president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, has died. He was 89.
The team announced Harlan’s passing on Thursday.
“The Packers family was saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Harlan,” Packers president and CEO Ed Policy said. “Bob was a visionary leader whose impact on the franchise was transformational. From his inspired hiring of Ron Wolf to turn around the club’s on-field fortunes to his tireless work to redevelop Lambeau Field, Bob restored the Packers to competitive excellence during his tenure and helped ensure our unique and treasured flagship NFL franchise was on sound footing for sustained generational success.”
Harlan was hired by the Packers in 1971, as the assistant General Manager. He became the team president and CEO (the highest position in the publicly-owned franchise) in 1989. The team quickly reversed two decades of on-field struggles, becoming a perennial contender and appearing in two Super Bowls before his retirement in 2008.
For 13 straight seasons, from 1992 through 2004, the Packers finished at .500 or better.
Harlan is survived by his wife, Madelaine, and six children. His son, Kevin, is a prominent sports broadcaster. Another son, Bryan, is a sports agent whose clients include Giants coach John Harbaugh.
Preseason practices will be a family affair for the Cardinals and Packers.
The Packers are planning to host a joint practice with the Cardinals in Green Bay before the teams meet in the final week of the preseason, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN. That means new Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur will be on the practice field with his brother, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
The full preseason schedule has not been announced, but the league sometimes gives an initial heads up to teams about what to expect, and the Cardinals and Packers have apparently been told they’ll be meeting in the final preseason game.
The LaFleur brothers will not face off in the regular season, as the Cardinals and Packers don’t play this year. Jim and John Harbaugh are the only brothers ever to have coached against each other in the regular season, and also the only brothers ever to have coached against each other in the postseason.
The Packers have made a move for some cap room.
Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Green Bay has restructured safety Xavier McKinney’s contract, converting $4.25 million in salary to a bonus.
McKinney is under contract through 2027 after signing a four-year deal with Green Bay in free agency during the 2024 offseason.
In 2025, McKinney recorded 107 total tackles with 10 passes defensed, one forced fumble, and two interceptions in 16 games.
Hopefully, Ben Johnson has an alibi.
Via Fox 11 in Green Bay, Lambeau Field was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon due to a fire in one of the locker rooms.
Sprinklers had activate before firefighters arrived, and most of the blaze had been extinguished. The rest of the fire was quickly neutralized.
A crew from Fox 11 observed the removal of a burned plastic storage bin from the stadium.
The fire remains under investigation. It happened in a third locker room, used neither by the Packers nor by the visiting team, that was built in 2024 at a cost of roughly $5 million.
The Packers are retaining one of their pending restricted free agents.
Green Bay and running back Chris Brooks have agreed to a two-year contract, according to agency One West Sports Group.
Brooks’ deal is worth $4.85 million. If the Packers had extended a right of first refusal tender on Brooks, they would have owed him $3.52 million for 2026.
Brooks appeared in all 17 games for Green Bay in 2025, rushing for 106 yards and catching 13 passes for 91 yards.
He spent most of his time on special teams, playing 55 percent of snaps on the unit.
Rams backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is due to become a free agent next week. The Cardinals and Packers reportedly are interested. Are the Rams?
“Absolutely,” coach Sean McVay told reporters on Tuesday. “I love Jimmy. I would absolutely want him back. I did see those reports too on [Cardinals coach] Mike [LaFleur] trying to steal our guy, but no, Jimmy’s a really good player and so we would love him back.
“I’m sure he’ll have multiple opportunities and then we’ll see where we’re at. He’s been tremendous for the last couple of years. We’ve loved everything he’s about. You guys know how I feel about him when we’ve spoken about him and we would love him back. I’m also not naive to the fact that he’ll probably have a lot of opportunities and if those are things that he wants to pursue that give him a chance to play, I would understand that.”
If they really wanted him, they would have extended his deal before he got close enough to sniff free agency. Garoppolo will now hit the open market — and possibly will hit the road.
Should Garoppolo leave, the Rams will need a new No. 2 quarterback. Stetson Bennett, a fourth-round pick in 2023, enters the final year of his contract. He was entrusted with the backup job for two games in 2024, when Garoppolo was serving a suspension under the NFL’s PED policy.
Rich Bisaccia stepped down as the Packers’ special teams coordinator on Feb. 17. It came after his assistant special teams coordinator, Byron Storer, took a job as the Browns’ special teams coordinator.
Bisaccia is not retiring, though.
He has agreed to terms to join Clemson’s staff, Tiger Illustrated reports, pending the school’s board of trustees approval of the deal.
Bisaccia has a house in South Carolina.
The Tigers do not have a vacancy, with Mike Reed still on staff. He served as assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach last season.
Bisaccia has worked 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.
