Tuesday Cheese Curds: Packers Setting Up For Season Ahead

The new NFL league year is less than a week old. Have we figured out the 2026 Packers yet?

Obviously not, but we’re well on our way. The Packers made a series of fairly conservative moves leading up to and during the league’s (deep sigh) “legal tampering” period, shoring up depth at linebacker, cornerback, and on the defensive line while more or less preserving their incoming compensatory picks for next spring. True, their crop of comp picks looks like it won’t be quite what we expected (thanks mostly to Rasheed Walker’s disappointing deal), but the Packers didn’t have any self-inflicted losses of major picks, either.

All that work sets the Packers up for the 2026 NFL Draft, where they will largely have free rein to pick the best available player whenever their slots come up. True to his historical form, Brian Gutekunst made moves that prevented him from being boxed in when the draft rolls around; there won’t necessarily be any obligation to make a pick for a specific position early. That’s a good place to be in, and at least they’ve managed to do that.

But the eternal caveat applies: championships aren’t won in March. There’s still a lot of work to be done, and the Packers will need a lot of internal growth to achieve their ultimate potential this year. But by handling their weaknesses proactively, they’ve positioned themselves well to handle the draft in the best way while setting up for the year ahead.

Packers make smart free agency bets, preserve future comp picks | Packers Wire

The Packers had a fairly conservative week of free agency, but they’ve set themselves up well for the present and future.

2026 NFL free agency grades: Justin Fields, Rasheed Walker | ESPN

Here’s a league-wide look at how the NFL’s spending spree grades out.

Win-now? Rebuild? What NFL teams’ initial free agency moves revealed | The Athletic ($)

It’s one thing to do grades, but what is the story teams are telling us (and themselves) with the moves they’ve made?

Six Free Agents Still Available Who Could Start for Packers | Sports Illustrated

There are still options on the free agent market, but nobody likely to produce major headlines.

Jerry Jones on improved D: Had Cowboys played a ‘lick of defense,’ we could have made a real playoff run | NFL.com

Imagine that! Trade away your best defensive player and your defense gets worse.

Britain’s first elephant shrew pups, ‘the Snootlets,’ born at zoo | UPI

“The Snootlets” sounds like a lost Dr. Seuss book, and elephant shrews look like they belong in one.