When you fly into Green Bay, Wisconsin, you descend from 35,000 feet and land in 1967. Such is the aura of Packers history that you half-expect to be leveled by the block of Jerry Kramer or Fuzzy Thurston as you exit the jetway. The team plays in Lambeau Field, on Lombardi Avenue. There is also (Mike) Holmgren Way, Brett Favre Pass and even Mike McCarthy Way.
The team’s approach to roster construction has been similarly old-fashioned over the years. They have been a draft-and-develop organization, which has often left the Packers with solid teams, but seldom great ones. And that is how they managed to parlay 31 years of superlative quarterback play, by Favre and Aaron Rodgers, into just two Super Bowl victories between 1992 and 2022. (That brought their Supe total to four; they also won the first two. Special kudos here to Max McGee, the hungover wide receiver who starred in the first of those.)
It is significant to note that those two most recent championships came in the wake of significant defensive additions – the signings of Reggie White in 1993 and Charles Woodson in 2006. Not immediately after, though. The Packers won a Lombardi Trophy in White’s fourth season with the team, and in Woodson’s fifth.
The point nonetheless is that big swings often lead to big things. And that is what the Packers are again hoping after trading for Micah Parsons on Thursday. In four years with the Cowboys Parsons – a Harrisburg native who played at Penn State – established himself as one of the NFL’s premier edge rushers, accumulating 52.5 sacks while making four Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams.
But he and Jerry Jones couldn’t play nice. They had been bickering for weeks over Micah’s contract, with Parsons taking the low ground when he decided to nap on the trainer’s table during a preseason game. Apparently Jerrah had finally had enough, and he greenlighted a deal that sent Parsons to Green Bay for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and first-round draft picks in 2026 and ‘27.
Then the Packers signed the 26-year-old Parsons to a four-year, $188 million contract, with $136 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Clark was a very good player for the Packers, and losing two first-rounders stings. But that doesn’t seem like a lot to surrender for a transcendent player like Parsons – especially considering both those No. 1s will likely be in the latter stages of the opening round.
(And in case you’re wondering, I wasn’t consulted on the deal, even though I am a part-owner of the team. Guessing the half-million or so others who own Packers stock weren’t brought into the loop, either. No matter – it was the kind of bold move the team has needed to make for years, and one that should put them on the short list of Super Bowl contenders.)
The defending-champion Eagles are still the NFL’s best team, in my humble opinion, and it’s possible the Packers are still not the strongest club in their own division. Detroit, which went 15-2 to win the NFC North a year ago (and which opens its season a week from Sunday in Green Bay), is still formidable. Minnesota and Chicago might be, too.
Elsewhere in the NFC, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles have a shot, and Kansas City, Baltimore and Buffalo figure to sit atop the AFC heap.
Certainly the Packers are not without question marks. Jordan Love, entering his third year as the starting quarterback, still has much to prove. Their overall youth has made them prone to inconsistency and boneheadedness. But Parsons moves the needle, makes all his new teammates (notably the other edge rusher, Rashan Gary) better.
In sum, Parsons gives them a seat at the table. And that is far better than what they had before – a spot in some back room, staring at reminders of the old days. Those dusty mementos might have been nice to look at, and might continue to give everybody warm fuzzies. But they simply don’t mean all that much anymore.