Packers' Early Report Card for Most Impactful Offseason Decisions
The Green Bay Packers front office has been a whole lot more busy in the 2024 offseason than they were in 2023.
This time last season the Packers had barely made a ripple in the free-agent pool and were still more than a month away from trading Aaron Rodgers.
Coming off a strong first season with Jordan Love as the full-time starter at quarterback, the Packers made some major moves this offseason. That includes hiring a new defensive coordinator, reshaping their backfield and locking down one of the top free agents at the safety position.
Now that we've seen how good Jordan Love can be, the expectations are going to be raised for 2024 and beyond. Let's take a look at their most impactful offseason decisions and give them a grade based on the risk, potential value and general wisdom involved.
Hiring Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hafley
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It was time for Joe Barry to go.
The Packers were 23rd in EPA allowed per play. Head coach Matt LaFleur publicly acknowledged that he was taking on a larger role on defense and, if De'Vondre Campbell's account is accurate, a leader of the defense was having private meetings with the head coach to convince him to be more aggressive.
Campbell isn't coming back either, but it's hard for a coach to come back after he's lost the trust of his unit.
There's no doubt the Packer deserve a positive grade for moving on from Berry. The only question is whether they made a good hire with Jeff Hafley.
The Packers tabbed Hafley their defensive coordinator after interviewing several candidates including former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley and new Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.
Hafley, meanwhile, is coming from the college ranks where he was most recently the head coach at Boston College. He does have experience as an NFL position coach, though. He has stops with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers on his resume.
Perhaps most importantly, Hafley has drawn rave reviews from players for his scheme and ability to adapt. "I think 'Haf' is a great coach that focuses on the details. Always has a great plan and adjustments," Richard Sherman said, per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
That's as good as an endorsement as the Packers could hope for considering how Barry's tenure ended. Of course, a former NFL coordinator or head coach would be a little closer to a sure thing but this seems like a good hire.
Grade: B+
Signing Josh Jacobs, Releasing Aaron Jones
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There was some inevitability to the changes that took place in the Packers backfield over the last week.
Aaron Jones was set to have a cap hit of more than $17 million. AJ Dillon was set to become a free agent and Jones was injured for much of last season so paying out that kind of dough for a running back in today's NFL economy was a longshot.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Silverstein, the Packers approached the star running back about taking a paycut that would have brought down his cap number while remaining competitive with what he could get on the open market.
They ultimately released him and signed Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million contract. Jacobs will cost $5.3 million this season while Jones signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings for $7 million.
When the dust settled, the Packers wound up with a running back who is 26 instead of 29 for around the same cost.
As for the long-term investment, the Packers could release Jacobs next season and take on a dead cap charge of $9.4 million. Essentially, it could be a one-year deal pretty easily if Jacobs doesn't perform.
That's the only concern with this move. It made sense to target a slightly younger back who can do many of the same things that Jones does. But Jacobs is coming off a disappointing year.
One season after leading the league in rushing and gaining over 2,000 total yards Jacobs was much less efficient and already has over 1,300 career carries.
From a roster management perspective this move made sense but Jacobs is still questionable.
Grade: B
Signing Xavier McKinney
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There's a lot to like about this one.
The Packers made a good decision by bringing in a new defensive coordinator. They made an even better one by giving him a player who will make it much easier to execute his scheme.
Xavier McKinney was the third safety in our free-agent rankings, coming in as the 25th ranked player overall.
McKinney was stuck playing on a bad Giants defense, but he put together his best season yet. He allowed a passer rating of just 69.8 when targeted and picked off three passes with 11 more defended.
Safety has been a need for the Packers for two seasons now. They attempted to find a short-term fix with a series of short-term signings in the second and third waves of free agency. Yet, they still found themselves with a need at the position.
They could still use a running mate for McKinney, but they now have an excellent safety who should be a force multiplier for the secondary.
Grade: A
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