It’s clear which contract extensions that Green Bay wants to avoid
Going into the 2025 NFL Draft, you could have made a credible argument that the Green Bay Packers’ three biggest needs were all on the defensive side of the ball: defensive end, defensive tackle and cornerback. If you had told fans that none of those positions would be addressed by a single pick in the top 100, I’m not sure they would have believed you.
But that’s exactly where the Packers find themselves after two days of draft choices. Instead of pushing high draft choices like Lukas Van Ness or Devonte Wyatt out of the lineup in 2025 with an early draft choice, the team instead took offensive players who are now poised to take over for expiring rookie contracts in 2026.
Green Bay double-dipped at receiver with the selections of Texas’ Matthew Golden and TCU’s Savion Williams, a sign that the team is highly unlikely to extend Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, two players who are on the final seasons of their rookie deals. As a reminder, both Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks are under contract for two more seasons, which means keeping either of Watson or Doubs would push one of these names to the fifth-receiver spot long-term, a decision that seems unlikely.
In the second round, the Packers picked North Carolina State offensive lineman Anthony Belton, who projects best to guard at the next level. Belton’s ability to play guard means that he can push for playing time at right guard with Sean Rhyan in 2025, a player who is also entering the last year of his rookie deal.
With Belton and Rhyan battling at right guard, even if the Packers want to claim that Belton can compete at tackle (I’ve heard this story before!), it would allow 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan to focus at the left tackle position this year, Morgan’s natural position. Who is Green Bay’s current left tackle? Rasheed Walker, who, you guessed it, is on an expiring rookie contract going into 2025.
If you haven’t pieced two and two together yet, the message of this draft class is clear: The Packers won’t be paying market price to keep Watson, Doubs, Rhyan or Walker. Hello, 2027 compensatory draft picks.
At the same time, these decisions do give credence to Brian Gutekunst’s comments about wanting to keep linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt around long-term. As we’ve written before, each of their extensions should be in the ballpark of around $15 million per year, based on the current market. You can throw in an extension for right tackle Zach Tom into the mix, too.
The Packers didn’t seem urgent to find their Walker or Wyatt replacements, but furiously spent picks on offensive players who can replace their 2022 draft crop. If you can take a hint, Green Bay appears to have made their decision on which players they want to keep from that class.