After many were gloomy about their prospects going into the 2023 season, the Green Bay Packers have every reason to feel optimistic about their immediate future.
They won seven out of their last 10 games in the regular season, and they upset the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round of the playoffs before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.
While young quarterback Jordan Love has gotten much of the credit for their success, they also have some young studs on defense, including linebacker Rashan Gary.
Per Tom Pelissero, the Packers have restructured Gary’s contract in order to save some money.
The 26-year-old had a strong 2023 campaign by posting 9.0 sacks, 22 quarterback hits, and seven tackles for loss, although he failed to record a single sack or tackle for loss in two playoff games.
He bounced back nicely after tearing his ACL in Week 9 of the 2022 season and looked to be much the same player he was in 2021 when he had career-highs in sacks, tackles, quarterback hits, and tackles for loss.
Thanks in part to him, the Packers ranked 10th in the league in points allowed during the 2023 regular season.
Gary recently was given a contract extension that will be worth $96 million over the next four years.
Green Bay does need some help in the secondary though, and they will have 11 picks in this April’s draft that they could use on some reinforcements there and elsewhere on their roster.
But for the first time in a while, they’re a team on the rise with a pretty bright future.
Leave a Reply