Green Bay will instead try to work on a longer-term extension.
On Wednesday, reports emerged out of Green Bay that the Packers will be picking up the 5th-year contract option on former first-round pick Devonte Wyatt. Thursday is the deadline for the Packers to make their decisions on the options for Wyatt and fellow 2022 first-round draft pick Quay Walker, and now we know the team’s decision on the starting linebacker.
Unlike Wyatt, the Packers have elected not to exercise the option on Walker, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. His option would have added the 2026 season onto his contract with a fully-guaranteed base salary of $14.75 million, an extremely high number for an off-ball linebacker. In fact, only six players at Walker’s position have contracts with an average annual value higher than that number.
The reason for the high number is that off-ball linebackers and 3-4 outside linebackers all get lumped together for the purposes of calculating 5th-year option values. As a result, much of the value is based on pass-rushers, who generally draw significantly higher-value contracts. While Wyatt’s option makes him the 26th-highest-paid defensive tackle, making Walker the 7th-highest-paid off-ball linebacker does not reflect the caliber of play that he has provided to the Packers through his first three years.
With that said, general manager Brian Gutekunst told the media last week that the team intends to keep Walker in their long-term plans. Demovsky’s report notes that the team will try to work on a contract extension for Walker this offseason, further confirming Gutekunst’s comments about the team’s view of Walker as a building block for the defense. For now, however, he is under contract only through the end of the upcoming season and is set to earn roughly $2.6 million in base salary for 2025.