The Green Bay Packers entered Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears to not only retake the lead in the NFC North, but also sit in pole position for the No. 2 seed in the NFC. All Green Bay had to do was take care of business at home and beat the Bears.
Luckily, for the fans at Lambeau Field, Green Bay did just that, winning 28-21, as Packers CB Keisean Nixon secured the game-sealing interception in the late stages of the fourth quarter. It was a huge win for the Packers, who are a perfect 4-0 in division play.
However, for all the positives that came out of the win, Packers fans were not pleased with the performance of Rashan Gary once again. The veteran pass rusher had a rather quiet game, as he almost played the same number of snaps (40) as Kingsley Enagbare (39), who had the only sack for Green Bay.
According to Pro Football Focus, Gary had two four pressures, solo tackles, and a quarterback hit. For a player who just signed a four-year, $96 million extension two years ago, Packers fans are expecting more and better from Gary. And at this point, a lot of fans wouldn’t be opposed to Green Bay moving on from the 28-year-old to free up some money to re-sign other guys on the squad.
Rashan Gary's Future in Green Bay Is Uncertain After Quiet Week 14
Earlier this season, Green Bay fans were excited with what they were seeing from Gary, who was playing like an All-Pro alongside Micah Parsons.
Between Weeks 1-8, Gary got off to a torrid pace, racking up 13 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, and 7 tackles for loss (7 games). This is exactly what the Packers were hoping to see from Gary, who had already surpassed his sack total from last season (7.5).
At the pace that he was putting up sacks, Gary was projected to finish with 18, which would be out of this world and solidify his extension. However, that hasn’t been the case as the veteran’s production has fallen off.
In Green Bay’s last six games, the 28-year-old defender has three quarterback hits, zero sacks, and zero tackles for loss. With Gary struggling, it has opened the door for Kingsley Enagbare to step in and carve out a role for himself.
Over that same span of time, Enagbare had four quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. Enagbare isn’t much of a sack artist (11.5 career sacks across four seasons), but he plays with a high motor and is effective in stopping the run, giving him an edge over a guy like Gary in the eyes of some Packers fans.
Enagbare is set to become a free agent at the end of this season, and the growing consensus is that the team needs to do whatever it takes to re-sign him, especially with Gary’s struggles and Lukas Van Ness banged up.
Moving on from Gary, possibly through trade, would help as the Packers would gain $11 million in cap savings, per Ken Ingalls. Green Bay shouldn’t just trade him for anything, but if they could get a Day 2 pick, for example, it might be worth it. At the same time, you'd have to find a team to take on the rest of Gary's contract, as he has a $28 million cap hit in 2026 and $31 million cap hit in 2027.
There was a lot of promise at the start of this season for Gary, but during this current slump, it makes you wonder if a change of scenery would be best for the pass rusher.