Old cleats, seldom used footwear, even new shoes get tossed into bins for donation to schools. Lockers are cleaned out. Hugs and high fives finish out the annual process for Green Bay Packers on the Monday after the season ends. The 2023 Packers season ended a lot later than everyone figured as Green Bay got knocked out of the playoffs in the NFC Divisional Round 24-21 to the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium last Saturday night.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur also put the surprisingly successful season to bed with his year end news conference in the media auditorium. It covered a host of topics over 33 minutes and he began by going over what he told the squad in the final team meeting of the year Monday morning:
There’s no question about that. Things looked bleak after a four game losing streak dropped the Packers to 2-5 at the end of October. A three game winning streak including victories against two teams still vying for the Super Bowl, Detroit and Kansas City, got the team and fans excited only to have the Packers stumble against the Giants and Buccaneers leaving their playoff hopes in serious trouble. The offense, led by Jordan Love, hit it’s stride and they carried a season ending three game run to a 9-8 record, clinching a playoff berth in the season finale against the Chicago Bears. Then came the stunning performance in the Wild Card round as the Packers became the first 7th seeded team to advance since the playoff field was expanded to 14 teams by routing Mike McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys 48-32. The end was hard as LaFleur’s team couldn’t hold a 4th quarter lead against the top seeded 49ers.
LaFleur said Monday was all about exit interviews with his players as his coaching staff offered each a couple of things to work on as the off-season begins. As for his staff, LaFleur said assistant coach evaluations will come later and he isn’t in a position to discuss the future of Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry just yet. He did make it known he’d love to have quarterback coach Tom Clements return after all the work he put in to Jordan Love from a first year starter at quarterback to one of the most exciting playmakers in the league down the stretch.
Among his concerns offensively is finding a way to solve the hamstring mystery with wide receiver Christian Watson. “We’ve got to get that figured out”, he said. Watson missed the first three weeks of the season and then sat out a six game stretch late with two serious hamstring pulls. LaFleur said the training staff has a plan for Watson to seek out team and outside medical advice on ways to prevent it from happening in the future. On the offensive line, the return of veteran left tackle David Bakhtiari is in doubt after another serious injury ended the All-Pro’s season on opening day. LaFleur said all options, cutting him loose with a big salary cap contract for next season, bringing him back and even restructuring his deal are all on the table.
LaFleur plans to bring in competition for rookie kicker Anders Carlson next year after he missed far too many kicks this season. His 13th miss was a key 41 yard field goal attempt that prevented the Packers from taking a 24-17 late against the 49ers. Fox reporter Tom Rinaldi shared a note during the game broadcast that LaFleur “prayed” every time Carlson lined up a kick. LaFleur bristled over that characterization that was brought up during the network’s production meeting with LaFleur the day before the game. He was very disappointed how Rinaldi portrayed what he thought was an off-the-cuff remark at the end of their discussion about the special teams. LaFleur said he’s been a part of a lot of production meetings over his years in the league and this is the first time something like this happened.
LaFleur also lauded his coaching staff for holding things together when the team was struggling. He admitted some “cracks” developed in the team chemistry during the year that he worried might result in a tailspin to the finish. Whether it was Bakhtiari making no bones about the team trading his best friend, Aaron Rodgers to the Jets, to the locker room grumbling from some over the trade of Rasul Douglas mid-season. Then there was De’Vondre Campbell making it known on social media he was through playing with injury and of course Jaire Alexander’s communication break down which led to his one game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. The squad survived it all to reach the NFL’s elite 8.
LaFleur also said Alexander came out of the suspension better. It was a hard thing to do, it hurt Alexander and the team, but he was able to finish out the year over the final three games despite dealing with a freak ankle injury the week before the Dallas game. The communication between coach and star defensive back has also improved dramatically for the better since.
The Packers knew they had a young team going in, they became the youngest team in nearly 40 years to make the playoffs and because they made it to the Divisional Round, LaFleur said they’ve gone to little or no expectations to a team that will have plenty placed on them when the 2024 season approaches.
LaFleur really had his heart set on preparing a game plan for the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship this weekend and the players were equally as disappointed over having to say their goodbyes. They all understand it will be a completely different locker room by this summer. Players will depart, others will be added, a new draft class will be brought on board. Among the 17 players who will become unrestricted free agents in guard Jon Runyan. A 6th round pick out of Michigan, Runyan started almost immediately but this season, wound up splitting time at right guard with last year’s third round choice Sean Rhyan. Runyan hopes to be back but can also see some handwriting on the wall and he got emotional Monday when asked about how special it is to wear the “G”.
The rest of the unrestricted free agent list includes the bulk of the secondary. Darnell Savage, Keiseasn Nixon, Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens and Core Ballentine. The others are A.J. Dillon, Josiah Deguara, Eric Wilson, Yosh Nijman, Tyler Davis and Kristian Welch. The Packers will have two restricted free agents in Patrick Taylor and Robert Rochelle with three exclusive rights free agents in Daniel Whelan, Caleb Jones and Emmanuel Wilson.
The Packers have quickly signed 14 free agents, all players who were on the team’s practice squad this year, including veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Ford, draft pick Grant Dubose, quarterback Alex McGough, fullback Henry Pearson and edge rusher Kenneth Odumegwu, the Nigeran native who spent the season in Green Bay as part of the NFL International Pathways Program.
The Packers opponents for 2024 have been set since the regular season finished. Green Bay will have nine home games next year, hosting their division rivals Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota along with Arizona, San Francisco, Houston, Indianapolis, New Orleans and Miami. The road trips will be to the NFC cities along with stops in Los Angeles to face the Rams, Seattle, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Philadelphia.
By reaching the NFC Divisional round, the Packers draft position has also been established. They will hold the 25th overall pick in the first round in April. The trades of Rodgers and Douglas will give Green Bay two choices in both the second and third rounds, the 9th pick in the second round from New York and their own choice at 41, plus their 83rd overall pick in round and Buffalo’s choice at number 88. The Packers have single picks in rounds 4, 6 and 7, giving up their fifth as part of the blockbuster Rodgers deal to the Jets.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst is expected to give his season summary press conference in the coming days. He’s off to scout the Senior Bowl squads this weekend in Mobile, Alabama.
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