The Green Bay Packers were Super Bowl favorites for most of the 2025 season and held a 21-3 lead over the Chicago Bears in a Wild Card matchup on Saturday night. But just like that, the Packers collapsed and are suddenly heading into an offseason where difficult decisions will be made.
The status of head coach Matt LaFleur will make the front page in the aftermath of Saturday’s loss. But there are plenty of Packers who could be holding their breath if they want to return to Green Bay next season. With several players likely to walk out the door, there’s a long list of Packers who may have played their final game with the team and won’t be back in 2026.
1. WR Romeo Doubs
It seems like Doubs has been escaping the blade throughout the final year of his rookie contract. When the Packers drafted Matthew Golden in the first round of the 2025 draft, Doubs figured to be the odd man out. Still, he continued to buy time as LaFleur vouched for him during the preseason and got off to a fast start, including a three-touchdown performance in a Week 4 tie against the Dallas Cowboys.
That start helped the Packers begin extension talks with Doubs last October, but there may not be a way to bring him back. Spotrac projects Doubs to command a contract worth $12 million per season when he hits free agency this spring. With Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Golden, Dontayvion Wicks, and Bo Melton under contract, the Packers may look to use that money to shore up weaknesses along the offensive line and in the secondary.
2. LT Rasheed Walker
The Packers shook up their offensive line last offseason, signing Aaron Banks and moving Elgton Jenkins to center. While those moves didn’t pan out, the offensive line could undergo another overhaul this offseason as they try to find the best combination for the future.
This means that Walker could be shown the door. Walker was serviceable at left tackle, posting a 64.6 overall grade according to Pro Football Focus. But that grade was the lowest of his career, and he allowed 34 pressures and five sacks on 572 pass-blocking snaps.
With a projected market value by Spotrac of $20.4 million, the Packers would be best served letting someone else pay the bill for mediocrity and let 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan compete for the starting spot on the blindside next season.
3. C Elgton Jenkins
This was the type of situation that Jenkins was trying to avoid last spring. When the Packers signed Banks in free agency, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said that he believed that Jenkins could be an All-Pro at the center position. The only problem was that Jenkins was running out of guaranteed money on the four-year, $68 million extension he signed in 2022.
While Jenkins denied that his minicamp absence was related to the contract, it’s hard not to think about it now. The 30-year-old earned the lowest PFF grade of his career at 62.0, and he never looked comfortable at center until he suffered a lower leg fracture that ended his season in a Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Packers do not have a surefire replacement for Jenkins. However, that could be solved by grabbing someone in the draft or free agency. With Banks locked in at left guard and 2025 second-round pick Anthony Belton looking like the right guard of the future, Jenkins may not have a spot unless he agrees to restructure the final year of his contract, and it may not be worth the trouble for the Packers to meet him halfway.
4. EDGE Rashan Gary
Few defenders had a bigger downfall than Gary had for the Packers this season. The 28-year-old thrived early across from Micah Parsons, logging 26 pressures and seven sacks through his first seven games, but went missing in action in the second half of the season with no sacks over his final nine games. The most incredible part is that Gary didn’t record a tackle for loss in the final stretch and had just one tackle and a quarterback hit in Saturday’s loss to the Bears.
With Kingsley Enagbare cutting into his snap count, it could make more sense for the Packers to release Gary and save $10.9 million against the salary cap in 2026. Even if Enagbare doesn’t return, Green Bay still has plenty of capable pass rushers including Parsons, Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell and Colin Oliver to make Gary expendable.
5. OL Sean Rhyan
Rhyan has been a serviceable depth piece for the Packers in 2025 after starting all 17 games one year ago. But despite making 11 more starts this season, it appears the 25-year-old’s time in Green Bay has run its course.
In addition to being an awful pass blocker with 27 pressures, including a sack allowed on 462 snaps this season per PFF, he may have committed one of the worst mistakes in Saturday night’s loss to the Bears, going down with an injury and causing a 10-second runoff because the Packers were out of timeouts.
Former Packers center TJ Lang was one to criticize Rhyan, saying, “You better have a broken neck or leg” to go down in that situation, and even if the injury was legitimate, it may be the final straw that boots Rhyan out of Green Bay.
6. LB Quay Walker
Over the first couple of weeks of the season, Walker appeared to make the Packers second-guess their decision to decline his fifth-year option for 2026. A Week 3 performance may have been his best in a Green Bay uniform, posting an 81.0 overall grade and 10 total tackles according to PFF, but everything went downhill from there as he finished the year with an overall grade of 48.5.
To make matters worse, Isaiah McDuffie was a significantly better player. This was especially true in coverage, where Walker allowed five touchdowns and a 120.0 passer rating on 74 targets this season. While he owned a starting role opposite Edgerrin Cooper, some may argue that he didn’t earn it, and with a projected $9.7 million price tag, the Packers would be wise to move on.
7. CB Keisean Nixon
Nixon may believe he’s a CB1 in his mind, but he wasn’t anything close to it on the field. Nixon was frequently on the wrong end of big plays this season, allowing 48 catches for 548 yards and seven touchdowns on 80 targets. When he wasn’t allowing big yardage, he was holding on for dear life as his 12 penalties (two declined) were tied with Denver’s Riley Moss for the most in the NFL this season.
There are some avenues where Nixon could return to the team, and one of them may have opened up when Nixon ran out for kick return duties late against the Bears. But even with questions in the secondary, Nixon could be released, and Green Bay might opt to try something else.
8. QB Malik Willis
Not every departure for Green Bay is going to involve a starter, and that’s especially true for Malik Willis. The Packers acquired Willis in a trade with the Tennessee Titans shortly after training camp in 2024, and he’s been strong insurance for Jordan Love the past two seasons, completing 78.7% of his passes for 972 yards and six touchdowns while running for 261 yards and three touchdowns.
It would be nice to keep Willis around, but there are plenty of teams that will pay for that level of production. With a potential chance to start somewhere else, Willis is likely to cash in and leave the Packers searching for a new backup quarterback.
9. RB Emanuel Wilson
Things looked good for Wilson’s future when he ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns during a Nov. 23 win over the Minnesota Vikings. But as the season dragged on, it was clear that the Packers only trusted Wilson when Josh Jacobs was either banged up or out of the game entirely.
Saturday’s game was a microcosm of Wilson’s situation. With Jacobs completely healthy after battling a knee injury over the month of December, Wilson had just one carry against the Bears and was replaced on kick return by Jacobs late in the loss. If the writing wasn’t on the wall before, it’s in bold, red letters now, as Wilson will look for a better opportunity elsewhere.