Paul Bretl | 4/4/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers’ pass rush has to improve and become more consistent in the 2025 NFL season. However, in order to accomplish that, an addition may not be a must, at least according to GM Brian Gutekunst. Instead, the opportunity for growth and improved play can come from those already on the roster.
“I think we can do everything we need to do with the players we have on our roster right now,” Gutekunst said at the NFL league meetings. “I think there’s a significant amount of improvement for those guys, not only in Year 2 of a scheme but just individually as well.”
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On the stat sheet, the Packers finished the 2024 season ranked top 10 in sacks and around the middle of the pack in terms of pressures–not bad. But those figures don’t tell the entire story either.
This was a Packers’ pass rush that was either feast or famine, often posting some big days against lesser opponents, but going quiet against the NFC’s best, like Minnesota, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley also helped manufacture some of that pass rush production through blitzes and simulated pressures.
So perhaps a more accurate portrayal of the success that the Packers’ front four had rushing the passer is ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric, which measures how often a defender is winning his matchup against the offensive lineman. In that category, the Packers ranked 26th.
“We had some pretty good moments with the pass rush last year,” Gutekunst added. “It just wasn’t consistent enough. I think when you’ve shown it, the ability to pass rush at a high level, you know you can do it. It’s just a matter of, at that point, being able to do it week in and week out.”
Regardless of whether or not the Packers add to this unit in the NFL draft, internal improvement is still going to be a must. Individually, by PFF’s pass rush win rate metric, only two Packers defensive linemen, Devonte Wyatt and Rashan Gary, ranked in the top 100 in that category, and only Wyatt was inside the top 50, ranking 48th.
A second year in Hafley’s defensive scheme can hopefully help facilitate that growth, but as Gutekunst said at the NFL combine, the pass rush has “gotta be better,” adding that the Packers have to find ways to more consistently affect the quarterback with only four rushers.
Despite there being a need for improved play, it’s not a surprise that this position wasn’t addressed in free agency. For one, this is a position group that the Packers have already invested heavily into from a salary cap perspective. Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark are both top-four on the team in salary cap hits this season, not to mention a decision about Devonte Wyatt’s future has to be made soon as well.
That important factor, to some degree at least, probably had some sort of impact on Gutekunst’s willingness to spend on the defensive line in free agency. This is also an incredibly deep defensive line draft class. So when it comes to adding to the roster at this position, if the choice is between a veteran with a hefty cap hit or a high-upside draft pick on a rookie deal, we all know what Gutekunst would prefer.
“We’ve invested in that quite a bit already and I’m excited to see the growth that those guys will have,” Gutekunst said. “If the draft happens to bring us some more ammunition in that caliber great but I don’t think it’s something that’s necessarily that we’ll have to go chase.”
Perhaps an added challenge that the Packers face when deciding if or how to add to this position group is that they have a strong foundation along the defensive front already on the roster. I’m not sure how much help they get from signing a middle-tier veteran in free agency or drafting a player on Day 2 or Day 3. The Packers don’t need rotational depth–they have that. They need a higher-impact presence, and there are only so many of those players out there.
As we saw in the Super Bowl, when the defensive line is able to create steady havoc on its own, the entire defense benefits and everything becomes much more difficult for the offense. On the flip side, without consistent pressure, the quarterback has time in the pocket and now the job of the second and third level defenders has become a lot more challenging.
The ceiling for what this Packers’ defense can be is ultimately going to be determined by the play of the defensive line because the potential impact that position group can have on a game is staggering. But one other potential, not to be overlooked perk of more steady play up front, is that we may then see more of what Hafley’s defense can truly be.
“I think we all came in with a vision of being one thing and it transitioned to something totally different,” said Matt LaFleur at the NFL league meeting about Hafley’s defense. “Initially we were gonna jet off the football with our front and try to create havoc that way and then we started to play a lot more technique, playing with our hands and doing a better job in that regard and then from a coverage standpoint.
“I think the basis was gonna be more your 3-deep and we played a ton of split safety, but I think that’s — you gotta constantly evolve and adjust to the pieces that you have and I think that’s what coaching is, is trying to maximize each individual, put ’em in the best position possible to help the team win.”