What advantages can packers gain as we enter 2025?

In the NFL, you are either better or worse.

Jordan Love at least believes the Green Bay Packers aren’t headed in the wrong direction after being eliminated in Sunday’s wild-card round against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I don’t know if I would say it’s pointing down,” Love said of the Packers’ trajectory after the 22-10 loss.

Green Bay’s loss to Philadelphia was further proof that the Packers were too young and undisciplined and were still just shy of being a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Losing three starters on offense and one on defense due to injuries during the game didn’t help. But a missed field goal, three interceptions, a foul on the first play and two avoidable unnecessary roughness penalties.

Green Bay will have to really look for something this offseason. The 2023 season, which ended with a competitive run in the divisional round against the eventual NFC champions, provided higher expectations for 2024.

Ultimately, 2024 was not a season in which Green Bay continued to grow from what sprouted the year before.

Next season will be an important one for everyone if Green Bay hopes to win in the current window.

Only one starter will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason – center Josh Myers. However, after the 2025 season, team staples Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Zach Tom and Rasheed Walker will become unrestricted free agents.

The Packers will need to overhaul some position groups in the upcoming offseason, but there is a piece on the roster that could push this team to the next level.

Here are the areas where the Packers can hang up their hat and move forward.

Improved run defense

The addition of Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator led to Green Bay’s defense allowing 3.96 yards per carry, the third-lowest mark in the NFL.

The run defense was one of the Packers’ biggest weaknesses in the years before Hafley’s arrival. With Joe Barry as defensive coordinator, the Packers ranked 30th in 2021-2023 with 4.72 yards allowed per carry. They were 31st in 2021, 29th in 2022 and 23rd in 2023.

The unit didn’t perform at its best against the Eagles, allowing Saquon Barkley to rush for 119 yards on 25 carries.

However, this was only the fifth time Green Bay had allowed a rusher to exceed 100 yards in a game, with Barkley also doing so in Week 1. Over the final seven games of the regular season, Green Bay allowed an average of 70.4 rushing yards per game.

Hafley’s unit is not completed. With all of the defensive plays ending in stoppages, the pass rush was ineffective in many key games, with only one foul in games against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17 and the Chicago Bears in Week 18. After Jaire Alexander was injured, the secondary was clearly in need of repair.

But for the first time in a long time, Green Bay can go into next season counting on a reliable defense.

A duo of defensive playmakers

Based on a one-year sample, general manager Brian Gutekunst made one of his best free agent signings and one of his best draft picks in the 2024 offseason.

The signing of backup Xavier McKinney and the second-round draft selection of defenseman Edgerrin Cooper proved to be two significant additions to Green Bay’s defense.

Cooper was the most disruptive Packers defender in recent history. His 13 tackles for loss led all off-ball linebackers, and he had 86 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble.

Fortunately for the Packers, he still appears to have plenty of room to grow.

“I think he’s very talented and I think the sky’s the limit for him,” LaFleur said on December 30. “I love having him, but the only thing that matters is consistency. … I think there’s another level here for him to continue playing.

McKinney, who was named to the first-team All-Pro for the first time in his career, had eight interceptions in 2024, the most of any Packers defender since Charles Woodson grabbed nine in 2009 en route to being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year .

It may be unrealistic to expect McKinney to repeat his interception numbers. However, a second year in Hafley’s system for McKinney, along with another year of development for the raw linebacker, should be significant.

Stability on the offensive line

For the most part, Green Bay’s offense has taken a step back in 2024.

A prolific passing attack that gained momentum in the second half of the 2023 season was a shadow of its former self for much of 2024 due to slumps and an inexplicable drop in timing between Love and his receivers.

However, Green Bay took a step in the right direction on the offensive line with five young players: Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Myers, Sean Rhyan and Tom. According to Pro Football Focus, the group has allowed 151 tackles, which is seventh-lowest in the league.

Myers, who had to be cut from the team after suffering a leg injury in Philadelphia, will become an unrestricted free agent. But the trio of Walker, Rhyan and Tom are completing only their third year in the league. The group has more to be desired in terms of run blocking, but the Packers seemed to have built a solid protection unit for Love for years to come.

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The #Packers I wasted another season. It’s been 14 years without a Super Bowl.

A season that started with high hopes and talk of the Super Bowl ended with two more wins and a one-time playoff appearance. https://t.co/ANVTpUyG4Z

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 13, 2025