Good afternoon, everyone. Well, it’s almost time for the 2024 NFL season to begin. For the Green Bay Packers, they were so close to winning against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round last year. I hope that the Packers will get over that hurdle and win the whole thing. Before we focus on the current season, let’s take a look back at how the Packers did in the offseason.
After the Packers lost in the playoffs once again to the 49ers, they decided to let go of defensive coordinator Joe Barry after three seasons of frustration. Once that was done, the search was on for the next defensive coordinator. One thing that was clear was that the Packers wanted a defensive coordinator who would be more aggressive than the previous one. After some interviews and searching, the Packers made the decision at defensive coordinator: a former head coach at Boston College and defensive backs coach for the 49ers by the name of Jeff Hafley. When I first saw this news, I was a bit surprised about the pick. After some time though, I think that it will be a great selection for the Packers defense. With the talent that the Packers have on defense, including Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Preston Smith, Lukas Van Ness, Jaire Alexander, and Xavier McKinney (who was acquired from the Giants in free agency), I have no doubt that the defense will be better this year. It won’t be perfect by any means, but it should be more aggressive in terms of getting after the football. Hafley and all of his staff should be able to coach the defensive players to do their best.
In Free Agency, the biggest acquisitions were safety Xavier McKinney from the New York Giants and running back Josh Jacobs from the Las Vegas Raiders. When the news came in that the Packers got these two guys, I was excited because they have played well so far and they’re still young enough to play for a while. Also, McKinney and Jacobs will be in a situation where they can participate in a quest for a Super Bowl unlike the teams that they left. For a brief moment, I thought that the Packers were going to have a running back duo of Josh Jacobs and Aaron Jones. Unfortunately, Jones and the Packers couldn’t agree on contract/money terms and Jones was cut. Even more sad was that Jones signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings. I will miss Jones in Green Bay not just for his play, but for his character. He was a locker room leader and a great guy to be around with in Green Bay. I just wish that he was able to win a Super Bowl with Green Bay before he was cut. Even though he is now a Viking, I do hope that he plays well and stays healthy (but doesn’t score against Green Bay). Another sad departure was left tackle David Bakhtiari, who was cut by Green Bay during the offseason. I do feel bad for him concerning that he had a lot of complications with his knee after the torn ACL at the end of the 2020 season. To me, he was the biggest reason why the Packers didn’t win it all in Aaron Rodgers’ last years in Green Bay. At least he was able to give the Packers fans one last great moment: flipping off Bears fans in Week 1 of 2023. I wish him all the best if he gets to play in 2024 or if he decides to retire to be with family. Other departures for Green Bay included safety Darnell Savage to Jacksonville and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to San Francisco. Both of these players had good moments in Green Bay, and I wish them all the best.
In the draft, the Packers picked some players that I hope play well in the NFL. Some standout picks include LB Edgirren Cooper from Texas A&M and safety Javon Bullard from Georgia in the second round. Jordan Morgan from Arizona (1st round), Jacob Monk from Duke (5th round) and Travis Glover from Georgia State (6th round) were picked to help with the offensive line in the guard, center, and tackle positions respectively. They also picked RB Marshawn Lloyd from USC and LB Ty’Ron Hopper from Missouri in the third round. Surprisingly, the Packers selected QB Michael Pratt from Tulane in the 7th round (who has done a bit better than Sean Clifford in preseason). Other defensive players picked were safety Evan Williams from Oregon State in the 5th round and CB Kalen King from Penn State in the final round. No matter how well these players do their rookie year, I hope that they stay healthy and develop well.
After the draft and some minicamps, the Packers started their training camp on July 22nd. However, Jordan Love missed the first week of practices because he and the Packers were still discussing the terms of a potential contract extension (which should have been done way before training camp started). Thankfully, it was announced late on Friday July 26th that Jordan Love and the Packers agreed on a four year extension worth 220 million dollars, making him the highest paid QB in NFL history (for right now anyway). After that was done, I was full on excited about what is to come. It hasn’t been completely perfect for them during camp, but there is a lot of hope that Jordan Love and the offense be even more dangerous this season. The defense has done pretty well during camp as well, but there will be some issues early on due to the new system. As for Special Teams, I am worried about them again. Anders Carlson has had a kicking competition with Greg Joseph and Alex Hale (who is from Australia), but each of these kickers have had some misses during practices and games. Hopefully the kicking game is more consistent this season. Outside of that (plus Daniel Whelon hopefully being a good punter again), I am intrigued about the new kickoff format that was introduced earlier in the offseason. The new format is supposed to give returners, including Keisean Nixon, more chances to run with the football after years of mostly touchbacks. Granted, some touchbacks will happen, but the NFL is trying something new to not eliminate the kickoff entirely. Rich Bisaccia needs to make sure the special teams unit plays well and doesn’t mess up much. One thing that I never look forward to at all are the final roster cuts after the preseason games are done. Thankfully, for some players, there are 16 spots available on the practice squad. To those players who get cut, I hope that they find a spot somewhere in the NFL.
Overall, I am excited for what’s to come in the 2024 Green Bay Packers season. As long as everyone stays healthy (thanks to new strength and conditioning coach Aaron Hill) and they play each game to their very best, I have a great feeling that the Packers can make it all the way to the Super Bowl and win it. As always, it’s one game at a time, with the first one being on Friday September 6th in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles. This game is an away game, but there is a huge Packers fan base in Brazil. Because of that, I think that the stadium will be mostly Packers fans. Still, the Packers need to be ready for anything that the Eagles throw at them on all sides of the football to win in Brazil. I’ll be back to recap the game on Saturday the 7th. In the meantime, I am looking forward to the start of football season. Have a wonderful day, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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