Although it was a relatively steady season for the Green Bay Packers in 2025, the team ultimately underperformed compared to the hopes and expectations of their fans. With Jordan Love under center and a wealth of talent at the skill positions, the offense generally hummed along as intended, but there were more questions than answers on defense.
The Packers hope the addition of Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon will address this; there's also the concern of roster composition to consider. With four defensive rookies entering the fold, there's a chance that alone will be enough to help them get back to their winning ways. But ultimately, Green Bay has one major issue that they need to fix if they want to compete for a Super Bowl.
So the question remains: have they done enough to address their turnover problem on defense?
The Green Bay Packers ranked in the bottom five in turnovers forced last year, and Jonathan Gannon alone might not be able to fix that.
The Packers were in a four-way tie for the fourth-fewest turnovers forced in the 2025 season with only 14. That's well below the league average of 19.7, and almost 2.5x fewer turnovers forced than the league-leader and their NFC North rival Chicago Bears.
Forcing turnovers is one of, if not the single most impactful way to break a game open. Thankfully, they did a solid job of controlling the ball and still finished as one of 13 teams with a net-positive turnover differential on the season. But just a few more mistakes along the way would've easily swayed that position, and mistakes like that could've cost the Packers a playoff appearance.
Green Bay did a nice job of bulking up its defense this offseason. Rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse is extremely promising through early returns, and trading for Zaire Franklin should theoretically give them a veteran leader who can control the field from the linebacker position. That, combined with the addition of Gannon, should bring a new, winning philosophy that could help the team rise in these rankings.
But none of their additions this summer necessarily screamed "turnover machine," and with star edge rusher Micah Parsons expected to miss the early stretch of the regular season, it would not be surprising to see the Packers start slow on defense once again next year.
It's far from a foregone conclusion that they'll finish as such. Green Bay's strength of schedule is expected to rank in the middle of the pack next season, and turnovers are such an unpredictable stat that they could easily surge up the rankings with a little bit of luck.
Even so, their offseason moves don't signal this was a huge priority for them during the offseason, which could either be a show of confidence in what they're building or a red flag that they lacked the self-awareness of what needed to be addressed. That outcome is in the eyes of the beholder, so you can decide what you think of it. To me, it doesn't inspire a ton of confidence, but enough signs are pointing in the right direction that Green Bay could overcome my suspicions.
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