The Green Bay Packers probably should have won their Divisional Round matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Jordan Love and Co. made six trips inside San Francisco’s 25-yard line on Saturday night but walked away with just two touchdowns and two field goals in a 24-21 loss, squandering an opportunity to upset the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
The 49ers have eliminated the Packers from the postseason in three of Green Bay’s last four playoff games. But this defeat doesn’t feel as monumental, if only because expectations for Matt LaFleur’s club were relatively muted following their offseason trade of future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
A Round 2 playoff appearance was probably more than most Packers fans had hoped for entering the 2023 campaign. Not only that, but Green Bay is set up to compete for the foreseeable future.
Packers’ Offseason To-Do List Following Divisional Round Exit
The Packers already boast one of the most exciting young cores in the NFL, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Green Bay had the league’s youngest overall roster and youngest offense by snap-weighted age in 2023.
Love had just one pro start entering this season, but he was the wizened veteran in an offense full of first and second-year pass catchers like WRs Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, and Dontayvion Wicks and TEs Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft.
How should LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst continue to build Green Bay’s roster this offseason?
Extend Jordan Love
The Packers circumvented Love’s fifth-year option decision last May, instead extending the former first-round pick on a modified one-year extension to keep him under contract through 2024.
Love, who finished second in the league with 32 touchdown passes, undoubtedly gave up some money by inking that deal. Imagine how much leverage Love would have if he’d called Green Bay’s bluff and forced the club to decline his 2024 option. The Packers would’ve had no choice but to franchise tag him at a cost of nearly $36 million.
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Green Bay instead controls Love’s 2024 rights for roughly a third of that total. The Packers now hold the leverage; with two franchise tags at their disposal, Green Bay could hold onto Love through 2026 without ever extending him. But the two sides should find a reasonable middle ground this offseason ($50 million per year?) and lock in a long-term agreement.
Make Tough Choices on Franchise Icons
David Bakhtiari was arguably his generation’s best pass-protecting left tackle, earning first or second All-Pro appearances in five consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2020. However, repeated knee issues cost him significant time over the past three years, when he appeared in just 13 of a possible 51 games during that span.
Bakhtiari will be 33 next season. It’s probably time for the Packers — who already have a replacement in 15-game starter Rasheed Walker — to move on. Green Bay will take on over $19+ million in dead money by releasing Bakhtiari but will create almost $21 million in additional cap space.
Running back Aaron Jones accepted a pay cut to return this season and will likely need to do so again in 2024. Jones was still dynamic when healthy during the regular season and averaged six yards per carry on Saturday night. But he’s 29 and has a $17+ million cap charge — the numbers just don’t add up.
Use the Savings on Free Agent Defenders
Cutting Bakhtiari and Jones would leave the Packers with roughly $25 million in cap space. Restructuring defensive tackle Kenny Clark and cornerback Jaire Alexander’s deals and releasing pass rusher Preston Smith could give Green Bay more than $40 million to play with this offseason.
The Packers can go cheap at running back to fix their only offensive need. Instead, Gutekunst should use any new cap room to add talent on the defensive side of the ball.
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Green Bay could use reinforcements at nearly every spot on its defensive depth chart, but the secondary needs the most help. Even if Alexander returns in 2024, the Packers will have to find another outside cornerback and potentially two starting safeties.
While Green Bay would have to be willing to spend up to sign a premier CB like L’Jarius Sneed, the 2024 free agent safety class is full of options. Antoine Winfield Jr., Geno Stone, Kamren Curl, Kyle Dugger, and Xavier McKinney are just a few of the back-end defenders scheduled to reach the open market. That overflow of competent safeties could reduce asking prices and allow the Packers to grab two starting-caliber players.
Consider a New Defensive Coordinator
Give Joe Barry his credit. Green Bay’s defense played well in its two postseason games, picking off Dak Prescott before giving up garbage time yardage in its Wild Card win over the Dallas Cowboys before holding the 49ers — the most efficient offense in the NFL — to 24 points.
But two games do not a season make. Despite fielding as many as seven first-round picks, the Packers’ defense ranked just 26th in DVOA and allowed opposing offenses to score on 38.7% of their drives, the eighth-worst rate in the league.
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LaFleur called Green Bay’s Saturday night defensive effort “fantastic” and may not want to part ways with Barry. But the Packers don’t necessarily have to fire its incumbent DC. Instead, Green Bay could do what the Philadephia Eagles are reportedly doing — making calls around the league to “evaluate” potential coordinator candidates.
If the Packers think they could land a big fish like Ejiro Evero or Patrick Graham to lead their defense, they could consider making a change. If not, LaFleur might stick by Barry for a fourth season.
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