The ink is still wet on Jonathan Gannon's contract, but that hasn't stopped the Green Bay Packers' new defensive coordinator from fleshing out his staff to get a jumpstart on the offseason.
On Wednesday morning, NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that the "Packers are hiring Bobby Babich as their defensive pass game coordinator/secondary." The 42-year-old coach has plenty of experience after spending nine seasons with the Buffalo Bills, which includes roles as an assistant defensive backs coach, safeties coach, linebackers coach, and, most recently, defensive coordinator.
It'll be intriguing to see what type of impact Babich will have as a member of Gannon's braintrust. Not only because of what the former Bills coach can execute on the field, but because of the names he could lure to Titletown during free agency, including defensive end A.J. Epenesa.
AJ Epenesa Must Be on Packers' Offseason Radar Following Bobby Babich Hire
After signing a two-year extension with the Bills almost as many years ago, Epenesa is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in March. Considering how much the former 2020 second-rounder thrived under Babich's watch in Buffalo, Epenesa must be someone who could help the Packers' pass rush next season.
As solid as Green Bay's defense was last season, especially with Micah Parsons in the mix, pass rushing was one of the unit's weakspots. The Packers' 36 sacks were tied for the 12th-fewest in the NFL last season, as Parsons (12.5) and Rashan Gary (7.5) were the only players to finish with more than four.
With how competitive the NFC is, a performance like that isn't good enough. That's where Epenesa comes in.
Even though the 2025 season wasn't his most productive, the ex-Iowa Hawkeye still finished with 17 solo tackles, four defended passes, 2.5 sacks, and a pair of interceptions in 16 outings, despite only starting twice. He also recorded 28 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, which was more than he had in 2024 (22) despite playing 152 fewer pass-rushing downs this season.
That's without mentioning how he had three consecutive seasons of at least six sacks before the 2025 campaign.
With Parsons and Devonte Wyatt's offseason recovery up in the air, along with Gary's potential exit, adding a reliable veteran like Epenesa — who has history with Babich — makes a ton of sense. It'd also be interesting to see what he could do under Gannon. After all, Epenesa has a similar frame (6'6", 260 lbs) to Josh Sweat (6'5", 265 lbs), who just had a career-high 12.0 sacks with Gannon as his coach in Arizona last season.
Spotrac is projecting Epenesa to earn $9.2 million annually on his next contract. Even though the Packers are more than $3.4 million over the cap, Epenesa's projected value is still affordable, especially if general manager Brian Gutekunst can free up some space by restructuring and cutting contracts.
The Packers simply can't afford for their pass rush to be a concern next season. Using Babich's Bills history to sign Epenesa would go a long way to help avoid that issue, ensuring that opposing quarterbacks have another threat to worry about when Gannon's defense is on the field.