Packers Trade Rashan Gary And Blow Up Their Entire Draft Strategy Weeks Before The Pick

On March 6, 2026, Rashan Gary posted a farewell message to Packers Nation on Instagram — multiple paragraphs, emotional, detailed. “On to my next stop — nowhere near done yet,” he wrote. Then it vanished. His camp claimed the account had been hacked. The internet responded accordingly. “Hate when my Instagram gets hacked, and the guy posts a long heartfelt sincere goodbye to the city that drafted me,” one writer cracked. Packers analyst Peter Bukowski was blunter: “Lying to save face.” Three days later, Gary confirmed what everyone already knew. “All of a sudden I get a call from my agent, and he said a deal was done,” he told CBS Sports. The trade was real. The hack story wasn’t. And the fallout for Green Bay’s draft was just beginning.

Seven Years. Forty-Six Sacks. One Brutal Truth

Here’s what Gary actually was in Green Bay: better than he gets credit for now, and not as good as his contract demanded he be. Drafted 12th overall in 2019, he spent three years developing before becoming genuinely dangerous. Then came the torn ACL in November 2022. He came back, earned a Pro Bowl in 2024, and finished his career as a Packer with 46.5 sacks across 106 games, 111 quarterback hits, and 46 tackles for loss. He signed a four-year, $107.5 million extension in October 2023 that positioned him among the highest-paid edge rushers in the league.

The Trade That Shouldn’t Have Returned Anything

The brutally honest context: Green Bay almost certainly would have released Gary outright and gotten nothing in return. He was carrying a $28 million cap hit in 2026 and was considered a cut candidate leaguewide. When ESPN and The Athletic both reported the trade on March 8, the return — a 2027 Day 3 pick from Dallas — was immediately framed as a heist. That fourth-rounder isn’t glamorous, but it’s real. A Day 3 pick that hits, beats a clean release every single time. Jerry Jones reached for his wallet, and Green Bay happily took the money. The move freed up nearly $11 million in cap space for 2026 and cleared Gary’s $31 million hit for 2027.

The Bet That Started All of This

Nothing about the Packers’ current draft situation makes sense without going back to August 28, 2025. That’s the day Brian Gutekunst traded two first-round picks and Kenny Clark to Dallas in a single transaction for Micah Parsons, who immediately became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at $188 million over four years. It was a franchise-altering swing. Parsons was everything Green Bay needed: a three-time All-Pro, 26 years old, in his absolute prime. Then, in Week 15 at Denver, he went down with a torn ACL. The window cracked before it was ever fully open.

The Collapse That Sealed the Offseason Mood

Without Parsons, the Packers dropped their last four regular-season games and stumbled into the playoffs as the 7th seed. Against the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round, they built a 21–3 halftime lead and then lost 31–27, Caleb Williams and DJ Moore connecting for the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes, the defense surrendering 209 yards in the fourth quarter alone. Matt LaFleur said afterward his team got “disheveled.” That’s one word for it. Green Bay finished 9–7–1, one-and-done for the second straight year, and walked into the offseason carrying the weight of a bet that hadn’t paid off yet.

The Draft Board They’re Walking Into

Green Bay enters the 2026 NFL Draft with seven picks, ranked 30th in draft capital leaguewide according to Tankathon. Their first selection is No. 52 overall. Fifty-one players gone before they touch the board. Two seventh-round picks. No first. Thin depth everywhere it matters. The draft order was already set before the Gary trade — this isn’t new damage, it’s the same hole getting harder to ignore with each passing week. And they still need to fix the pass rush, the interior defensive line, and the offensive line depth before a single snap of 2026 football is played.

Lukas Van Ness Is the Most Important Person in This Story

With Gary gone, the weight of the entire Green Bay pass rush falls on a player the fan base has largely written off: Lukas Van Ness, 2023 first-round pick at 13th overall, owner of 8.5 career sacks and a lot of raised eyebrows. The “bust” label has followed him since year two. His underlying numbers were quietly improving in 2025 — 19th in PFF’s pass-rush productivity metric among qualified edge defenders, and fourth in stop rate against the run. Gutekunst said at the combine, “It’s about what we think he’s going to do in the future, not what he’s done in the past.” The fifth-year option, roughly $15 million for 2027, must be decided by May 1. Green Bay needs Van Ness to become what they paid for. There is no fallback plan.

The Draft Class They Can’t Fully Reach

This is one of the richest edge-rusher classes in recent memory, at the top, where Green Bay can’t go. Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. is a projected top-five pick. Texas Tech’s David Bailey racked up 14 sacks in 2025 alone and 29 across his college career. Neither will be within shouting distance of pick 52 on draft night in Pittsburgh. Green Bay’s realistic edge options live in the third round and beyond, prospects like Illinois’ Gabe Jacas, among the most productive edge rushers in the Big Ten over his final two college seasons, or developmental Day 3 fits the team has been quietly scouting out of necessity. They are shopping for the best steak left on the rack after the butcher has been open for six hours.

Gutekunst Has Never Done This Before

Brian Gutekunst has been Green Bay’s GM since 2018. In eight drafts, he has never once gone to the board without a first-round pick … until now. He addressed it at the combine without blinking: “Just because we don’t have a first-round pick doesn’t make me feel we have to change anything within that.” His Day 2 track record earns him some rope. Jayden Reed, Tucker Kraft, Edgerrin Cooper, and Christian Watson were all found after the first round, but those classes had first-round anchors underneath them. This time, he’s running the whole operation from pick 52 down, with a pass rush that needs a starter and a defensive line missing the anchor he traded to get Parsons. The margin for error is razor-thin.

One Window. No Net

Jordan Love is 27, in his prime, under contract, and ready to win now. When healthy, Micah Parsons is the most disruptive defensive player in football. The infrastructure around them needs to be built — or rebuilt — through a draft in which Green Bay picks 30th overall and doesn’t hear its name called until 51 other teams have already moved. The Franklin signing addresses linebacker depth but does nothing for the pass-rush void sitting at the center of this entire conversation. Gary is gone. The first two picks are gone. What remains is Gutekunst’s judgment, Van Ness’s potential, and a front office that made a franchise bet and now has to build around it with whatever’s left on the board. April 23 is when they find out if the house is holding.

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Sources:
ESPN — Sources: Packers trading DL Rashan Gary to Cowboys
The Athletic — Packers agree to trade DE Rashan Gary to Cowboys for draft pick
Packers Wire / USA Today — Full list of Green Bay Packers picks in 2026 NFL draft
CBS Sports — Rashan Gary contract extension: four-year, $107 million deal
Pro Football Network — NFL World Reacts to Rashan Gary’s Hacked-Account Claim
Wikipedia — 2025 Green Bay Packers season