The arms race is on in the NFC North Division, where the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears are all primed to make major personnel moves in either free agency, the NFL draft or both.
The Green Bay Packers have more than $44.5 million in 2025 salary cap space as of Monday, Feb. 10, which is 13th in the NFL but still behind all three of its divisional opponents by a significant margin. The Packers may have a tradable piece in the secondary in cornerback Jaire Alexander, but they will also have to replace both he and cornerback Eric Stokes in a defensive backfield that struggled with injuries and performance over the past two seasons.
But it isn’t just the secondary that Green Bay has to get right this offseason if the team hopes to reclaim the division from Detroit while also holding off a Minnesota squad that won 14 games in 2024. The Packers also need to figure out a way to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks and wreak more havoc in the process.
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Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network linked Green Bay to a potential trade for star defensive end Maxx Crosby, should the Las Vegas Raiders decide to truly commit to a rebuild this offseason.
“Crosby wants to win and be a big reason behind the success. While the hiring of Super Bowl winner Pete Carroll was a step toward stability, the Raiders still don’t have a franchise quarterback and have a ton of work to do to field a competitive roster,” Rapoport and Pelissero wrote on Sunday, Feb. 9. “Trading Crosby for a bounty of picks would be one way to expedite that process, and Crosby might welcome the change, particularly if it’s to a playoff team where he knows people (e.g. Green Bay). Crosby has two years and about $44 million remaining on the contract extension he signed in 2022.”
The deal Crosby signed was worth a total of $94 million, which is actually a bargain based on his consistently high-end production. Crosby, 27 years old, has tallied 59.5 sacks and 105 tackles for loss across his six-year career (95 games).
He has earned Pro Bowl honors in each of the past four seasons after finishing second in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2019.
