The Green Bay Packers improved by two games in the win column from last season's 9-8 showing. Last year, Matt LaFleur’s club got hot when it needs to, and parlayed an impressive finish into a playoff berth. They opened eyes with a blowout win at Dallas in the wild card round before falling to the 49ers in the divisional playoffs.
This time around, the Pack settled for third place in the powerful NFC North. That’s because the team failed to beat either the Detroit Lions or Minnesota Vikings in a combined four meetings. All told, Green Bay dropped its final three outings, including a wild card loss at Philadelphia. Ironically, the season began with a loss to the Eagles in Brazil.
Biggest Positive from 2024
The decision to part ways with veteran running back Aaron Jones, and conversely sign 2022 NFL rushing champion Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million deal is hard to top. The Packers improved from 15th in the league in rushing in 2023, to gaining the fifth-most yards on the ground in the league this past season.
Jacobs finished sixth in the NFL with 1,329 yards rushing, and ran for 15 scores. He also totaled 36 grabs for 342 yards, and caught the first touchdown pass of his six-year career. You could also make a case for the signing of former Giants’ safety Xavier McKinney, who enjoyed a career-year with eight interceptions.
Potential UFA that needs to be re-signed
General manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t have a lot of decisions to make when it comes to potential unrestricted free agents. The Packers only have a dozen veterans whose contracts expire in mid-March. That includes running back A.J. Dillon, who missed all of 2024 with a neck issue. An interesting name on the list is linebacker Eric Wilson.
After regular-season stints with the Vikings, Eagles, and Texans, he has actually spent the past three seasons in Green Bay, and saw his most playing time (12 starts) with the club in ’24. He finished with 63 defensive stops and a pair of sacks, to go along with nine special teams’ tackles.
Needs Fixing
It’s been an interesting two-year run for quarterback Jordan Love, who had his ups and downs this past season after catching fire during the second half of the previous season. Including the 2023 playoff split with the Cowboys and 49ers, Love threw 23 touchdown passes and only three interceptions in his final 10 outings a season ago.
This season, the talented pro was picked off at least once in each of his first eight starts, connecting for 16 scores and 11 interceptions. In his final seven regular-season outings, there were nine TD passes and zero interceptions. Then Love threw three picks in the 22-10 playoff loss to the Eagles.