The Green Bay Packers are entering the 2026 offseason with fairly obvious positions of need on the roster, and correcting these positions while operating with limited offseason resources may end up determining if the Packers are Super Bowl caliber in 2026.
Can the brain trust of Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst and Russ Ball work some roster-building magic over the next few months?
Fixing everything on the roster usually isn't possible. There are no perfect rosters in the NFL. The Packers will have to prioritize certain positions of need and hope others don't become fatal flaws into December and January.
So, which position of need is most important to solve this offseason?
The crew at Packers Wire make their picks:
Zach Kruse: Center
One could easily make the case for cornerback or defensive tackle, two positions where obvious issues helped create fatal flaws for the Packers to end the 2025 season and two positions where the current roster doesn't have great answers for 2026 and beyond. But I'm going to go with center. Elgton Jenkins is going to be released. Sean Rhyan, who was benched multiple times at guard and was an emergency option at center, is going to be a free agent. The only true center guaranteed to be on the roster come March is Jacob Monk. The Packers must improve along the offensive line to be a true contender in 2026, and while it is conceivable that Jordan Morgan provides an upgrade at left tackle, Anthony Belton improves in Year 2 at right guard and Zach Tom and Aaron Banks enjoy better injury luck next season, it's difficult to see the path to improving at center. Re-signing Rhyan and hoping he takes to center is one option, but not a great one. The draft class doesn't have many slam-dunk starting candidates, so it's possible free agency is the best option. No matter the path, the Packers must get the center position right to take a necessary step along the offensive line in 2026.
Brandon Carwile: Cornerback
During his season-ending press conference, Brian Gutekunst said he didn’t think the Packers needed to make wholesale changes at the cornerback position. Is that because he’s confident in the current group or because he knows the team won’t be able to address the position like he would like to during the offseason? Gutekunst can praise Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine’s 2025 campaigns all he wants, but that doesn’t mean they met the team’s expectations. They didn’t, and one of the biggest concerns remains a lack of consistency. Nixon and Carrington are low-end starters, and the Packers signed Nate Hobbs to a lucrative, four-year deal that appears to be a poor investment. Could a new defensive scheme help? Possibly, but the team needs to bring in some competition that elevates the floor of a position that isn’t good enough to win a Super Bowl as currently constructed.
Mark Oldacres: Defensive tackle
The Packers need to make serious investments on the defensive interior this offseason to add to a unit that was down to the bare bones by the end of 2025. They could’ve used an early draft pick at the position last year, having only taken one defensive tackle in the first three rounds of the draft since 2018. That was before Kenny Clark left, and now the need to address the defensive tackle position is even more pressing. None of Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks or Colby Wooden are under contract for 2027, so Brian Gutekunst needs to be aggressive in restocking the cupboard not only for the upcoming season, but for the long term as well.
Brennen Rupp: Defensive tackle
The Packers need more disruption from the interior of their defensive line. They should be looking for their own version of Byron Murphy. The Seattle defensive tackle and former draft crush of yours truly is a wrecking ball. The Packers need an active presence in the middle of their defense. Obviously landing a player like Murphy is a pipedream, but even a discounted version would suffice for a team that needs to desperately improve in the trenches.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Which need position is most important for Packers to solve this offseason?