Are the Green Bay Packers still in a Super Bowl window? | Mailbag
Updated March 1, 2026, 9:11 a.m. CT
GREEN BAY − Green Bay Press-Gazette (https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/sports/) and PackersNews (https://www.packersnews.com/) columnist Pete Dougherty (https://www.packersnews.com/search/?q=%22pete+dougherty%22) responds to reader questions on the hot topics of the Green Bay Packers (https://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/) ' offseason.
The following is an excerpt from this week's story (https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/chat/2026/02/26/pete-dougherty-packers-mailbag-talks-free-agency-targets-rashan-gary/88824996007/) . For the full story, click here (https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/chat/2026/02/26/pete-dougherty-packers-mailbag-talks-free-agency-targets-rashan-gary/88824996007/) .
Jack: Have the Packers lost their Super Bowl window given their pending free agent losses, limited draft capital and salary cap? Seems like this year was a peak chance given the weakness of the league.
Dougherty: I think their window is still wide open.
Their likely free-agent losses don't strike me as bad even though they'll be losing several guys who played a lot.
RomeoDoubs and Rasheed Walker are replaceable with players already on the roster. The odds of finding a backup QB as good as Malik Willis are extremely low, but in the end, he was a backup. Quay Walker is a talented guy who brings a lot to the table because of his speed, but he has his warts, too. He'll be the hardest to replace.
Still, the Packers can create enough salary cap room to be active in free agency. Not having a first-round draft pick of course hurts, that's one big bite at the draft apple they won't get. But you never know what they might uncover in the rest of the draft. It's up to Gutekunst and his staff to find a couple of good players in there.
In other words, the Packers can still add significant players to their roster. Their cap limitations are real but hardly severe.
I also tend to think last season is closer to the NFL norm for Super Bowl races. Since 2005, there's been only one back-to-back SB winner (Kansas City in the '22 and '23 seasons). Patrick Mahomes still lurks as a guy who could go on a SB run. He and Tom Brady are the dominant players of the past 20 years.
But the NFL is built for parity with the draft, cap, and free agency. More seasons than not in the past two decades, there's been no real dominant team, just a team that plays well and then peaks in the postseason. That's what Seattle did this year.
The Packers showed last season they're not there yet. But if a good infrastructure is in place, all it takes is a couple of good additions or some big improvements by a couple of players on the roster, and a team can make a nice jump. The Packers have a pretty good quarterback and an elite (though injured) pass rusher, so that's a good start. They also have some work to do this offseason.
Dave: GB is in a championship window because of high-level players like Jordan Love, Tucker Kraft, and Micah Parsons. MLF [Matt LaFleur] and BG [Brian Gutekunst] surely feel urgency after an offseason where they could have been fired. The rookie talent pool will be depleted with the loss of the D1 picks. Given this, would you expect the team to mortgage the future and go for it like they did at the end of the Aaron Rodgers era?
Dougherty: No, I don't think they'll do an all-out mortgage like they did in Rodgers' last two seasons, or like the Saints did in Drew Brees' last few years.
I don't mean to suggest they won't mortgage some contracts. They should. They've been building to the next couple of seasons since making Love their starter in 2023. They traded for Parsons. They should push.
But maxing out cap restructures to the hilt isn't their way, and it's not a great strategy in the NFL. There's a big price to pay a couple of years down the road, and it's not like Love is an older QB. They'll want to give themselves a chance in three or four years, as well.
They went all-in financially with Rodgers in his last two seasons because he was still good but nearing the end. It was also an exceptional (as in uncommon) time in the league's cap history because of the revenue losses from COVID-19. They had to mortgage to the hilt just to keep their roster together, let alone add to it.
If I'm them, I'd mortgage some contracts to upgrade the roster, but by no means would I go to the hilt. They're going to want some cap flexibility in the next few years as well.
