How Day 1 of legal tampering went down and where the Packers go from here

The Packers made some significant moves over the past few days. However, those pale in comparison to what might come next.

Officially, the new league year and free agency don’t arrive until Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT. However, anyone with even cursory knowledge of the NFL knows that the moves begin to surface two days earlier during the contract-negotiation window -- more colloquially referred to as the “legal-tampering period” -- even if many of the teams and agents had the deals effectively hammered out as early as the combine.

The Green Bay Packers made significant moves even before the legal tampering got underway. Over the weekend, they secured Sean Rhyan to a three-year, $33 million contract. The agreement provides continuity at the pivot where Rhyan started nine games in 2025. It also allowed the front office to sidestep a center market that exploded on Monday, with Tyler Linderbaum landing a three-year, $81 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. Linderbaum set a new record for average annual value for a center ($27 million) and guaranteed money for the position ($60 million), rendering Rhyan’s new earnings meager by comparison.

In addition to re-signing Rhyan, the Packers consummated the rare player-for-player swap, sending defensive tackle Colby Wooden to the Indianapolis Colts for linebacker Zaire Franklin. The move effectively confirmed that Quay Walker wouldn’t remain with the team, and indeed he didn’t. The former first-round pick agreed to terms with the Raiders on a three-year, $40.5 million deal that included $20 million in guaranteed money. For comparison, Franklin will cost only a little more than $7 million against Green Bay’s salary cap in 2026 and has no guaranteed money left on his contract.

That trade served as a preview of what would come on Monday. Before lunchtime arrived, the Packers agreed to another trade, sending embattled pass rusher Rashan Gary to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round draft choice. As with the de facto Walker-for-Franklin exchange, the Gary trade turned a player who didn’t appear to have a future in Green Bay into an asset that the team can use moving forward.

It wouldn’t prove to be the Packers’ only move of the day. As expected, they released Elgton Jenkins, freeing nearly $20 million in salary-cap space (more on that later). The team also re-signed multiple backups: reserve offensive lineman/occasional tight end Darian Kinnard and linebacker/special teamer Kristian Welch.

However, though those decisions directly affect the Packers, developments elsewhere in the league and moves still to come could have a greater impact on the team.