The Green Bay Packers had a relatively quiet start to NFL free agency. However, they still managed to retain some players, as well as sign a couple of free agents from outside the organization. Here are the Packers free agency grades at the start of the 2025 NFL league year.
Green Bay Packers Free Agent Signings
Aaron Banks – OG
4 years / $77 Million
Any offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link. For the Packers in 2024, that weak link was at center. Yet, Green Bay’s biggest free agency splash in 2025 was for an offensive guard.
Aaron Banks comes from San Francisco, so he has experience in the Kyle Shanahan/Matt LaFleur zone running scheme. In addition to that familiarity, Banks is certainly an improvement over Josh Meyers, who left via free agency. For a team that always preaches putting the five best linemen out there, this fits.
The problem, however, is that this signing does not directly help the center position. After adding Banks, the Packers now have three legit NFL guards along with Elgton Jenkins and Sean Rhyan.
One of Jenkins best traits is his ability to play all five offensive line positions, a rare trait in the league. Therefore, the likely scenario right now is that Jenkins moves full-time to center.
While Jenkins is an upgrade over Meyers, this does negatively affect the guard spot. Jenkins is a better player than either Banks or Rhyan, so this does weaken the guard position to an extent.
Is that worth it? Should Green bay have signed a natural center instead and kept Jenkins at left guard where he dominates? That may have been best, if there were any center upgrades available. Clearly, the Packers front office thought this was the best path.
Over the previous two seasons, Banks has had overall PFF grades of 54.9 and 65.4 respectively. Interesting, in these most recent two seasons, his run blocking grades were better than his pass protections scores. Given how run-heavy Green Bay was last year, the team appears to prioritize Banks’ 2024 run blocking grade of 68.9.
Grade: C-
Nate Hobbs – CB
4 years / $48 Million
Cornerback has been a drama-filled position for the Packers in recent years. Yes the talent is there, but the team never seems to have that position operating at full force.
Jaire Alexander is a former All-Pro but he has been plagued with injuries, and he started to become a distraction. This resulted in the Packers suspending Alexander for a game in 2023. There have been trade talks this offseason. So while he is currently on Green Bay’s roster, that might not be the case come Week 1.
If Alexander is on his way out, cornerback depth is suddenly lacking in Green Bay. That is until the team signed Nate Hobbs. He projects to come in and immediately earn a starting spot with the Packers.
According to PFF, Hobbs brings excellent tackling to the Packers, and underrated aspect for defensive backs. In each of the first three years of his career, Hobbs had PFF run defense grades between 75.1 and 78.8. That dropped to 62.4 last season, but it still remains the strongest aspect the Hobbs’ game.
The big question right now is where will Hobbs line up primarily? Will he play in the slot as a nickel corner? Or will he be moved to the outside in order to favor Keisean Nixon as the slot corner? Because of his run defense skill set, perhaps the Packers want Hobbs as a nickel to get him in the middle of the action.
All of that depends on what the team decided to do with Jaire Alexander. Either way, signing Hobbs gives the Packers much needed depth at cornerback.
Grade: B+
Packers Re-Signings
Up to this point, Green Bay has only brought in two players from outside the organization. Instead, the team has focused on retaining key individuals.
Isaiah McDuffie – LB
2-year contract
Bringing back Isaiah McDuffie basically locks in the three main linebackers for the Packers (provided health works in their favor). The linebacker spot will have a three-man rotation of McDuffie alongside Edgerrin Cooper and Quay Walker.
It is unclear who will play middle linebacker for the 2025 season. In 2024, it was Walker who began the season in that role. However, after being injured for a portion of the season, Walker did not look the same upon returning. Alignment and tackling mistakes were something that plagued both Walker and last year’s rookie Cooper.
McDuffie demonstrated consistency from that linebacker spot, even if he does not have the same athletic upside as Cooper and Walker. He was an important piece for the Packers to re-sign him.
According to PackersWire, it is a two-year deal for McDuffie. That extra year allows Green Bay some flexibility. This offseason, the team will need to make a decision on Walker’s fifth-year option. With McDuffie now under contract through 2026, all options are on the table regarding Walker.
Grade: B
Brandon McManus – K
3 years / $15.3 Million
Since Mason Crosby retired, the Packers had been trying to find an adequate place kicker. Halfway through last season, it appears the team has finally found that player. Brandon McManus signed mid-season after Green Bay went through three other kickers just in the 2024 season alone.
McManus came in a immediately impressed. In fact, he made all of his point after attempts, and missed only one field goal during the regular-season (he also missed one in the playoffs).
His 95.2% field goal percentage in the regular-season is the best mark of McManus’ career. Now the question is, will he continue to be as efficient? The Packers certainly hope so. Even he if drops off a little, that will still be much better than what Green Bay has been dealing with since Crosby left. This was a smart, and necessary, re-signing.
Grade: A
Restricted Free Agents
The Packers chose to tender six different restricted free-agents. The only “starter” from that group is one of the team’s specialists, punter Daniel Whelan. By placing the tender on Whelan, and by re-signing McManus, Green Bay has solidified their special teams core. Whelan has been an good punter for the Packers, and having all three specialists go through a full training camp together would certainly be a benefit.
The other restricted free-agents the Packers chose to tender include safety Zayne Anderson, wide receiver Bo Melton, defensive end Aaron Mosby, offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort, and running back Emanuel Wilson. All of those players play key depth roles on the team.
Anderson was part of Green Bay’s safety overhaul in 2024. Either in-free agency or the draft, the Packers added three starting safeties, with Anderson operating as the main safety backup. He can play either free safety or strong safety, which is important as a primary backup. When called into action last season, Anderson held his own rather well.
With Christian Watson’s knee injury, there is a risk he missed the entirety of the 2025 season. That likely moves Melton into the primary backup role for the outside wide receivers. While he has not played a ton of snaps for the Packers, whenever he is called upon to run routes, Melton can get open and earn targets.
After continuing the impress in training camp and the pre-season, the running back Wilson was finally given a true opportunity last season. Before 2024, Wilson only had a total of fourteen regular-season rushing attempts in his career. With the Packers going extremely run-heavy in 2024, Wilson’ role expanded as he was asked to spill Josh Jacobs for carries. This resulted in Wilson having over one hundred touches, something that could occur again in 2025.
Overall Packers Free Agency Grades
Overall, Green Bay’s free agency could be described as underwhelming. They made logical moves, to a certain extent. However, it was the positions they left unaddressed in free agency that will hurt their score.
Brining back key starters was important. Isaiah McDuffie plays an important role on defense, but locking in special teams players Brandon McManus and Daniel Whelan was just as key.
Adding Nate Hobbs helps the cornerback depth which was a big need. Given his long-term contract, Hobbs will have every opportunity to start. Whether he plays inside or outside, adding a talented player like Hobbs is certainly a positive for the Packers.
Now for the negatives. Arguably, Green Bay’s biggest needs were in the heart of the trenches, on both sides. While Aaron Banks is a good player, he does not directly fill the center position, which was the weak link on the offensive line last year. This certainly hurts the Packers Free-Agency Grades. And it could hurt the guard position if standout Elgton Jenkins is forced to move to center to fill that gap.
Flipping to the defensive side, Green Bay did nothing to address the middle of the line. Even since Kenny Clark was drafted, he has been a start defensive tackle. The Packers problem has been getting a second elite player in the middle of the defensive line to take pressure off of Clark and allow the defense to play well when Clark is not on the field.
Another year has passed without any significant addition to defensive tackle. Outside of Clark, that is a position that is lacking playmakers. More than anything else, that is why the Packers Free-Agency Grades are so low.
Overall Free-Agency Grade: C+
