Packers have more to evaluate than draft prospects at 2026 NFL Scouting Combine
The combine begins later this week, and the Packers have much more on their to-do list than just scouting the corners and defensive linemen.
Good morning!
The 2026 NFL Scouting Combine begins later this week, the first major event of the offseason. Today’s edition of The Leap looks at one of the Green Bay Packers’ personnel priorities besides those that will soon suck up all the oxygen in the room.
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The Packers will have more to consider than just the prospects on display during combine week
Jason B. Hirschhorn: From a Packers perspective, the arrival of the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine certainly means a spotlight for the cornerbacks and defensive linemen in attendance. The team has clear needs in those areas, and the draft provides the best (and perhaps only) reasonable avenue for improvement.
However, the conversation about which prospects from those position groups make sense for the Packers can wait until after they’ve worked out at the combine (or declined to test as an increasing number of players do with each passing year). While the incoming rookie class takes centerstage on the NFL Network, other important developments will happen this week away from the cameras.
In the hotel rooms and bars of Indianapolis, team decision-makers and player representation will meet for the first time this offseason en masse. That means the Packers will learn some valuable information about how the market sees their soon-to-be free agents. That includes backup quarterback Malik Willis, whose rookie contract expires in March.
“We’d love to have Malik back,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said during his season-closing press conference. “But at the same time, to be realistic, I think he’s going to have a lot of opportunities to maybe play more than he would here.”
Willis has almost certainly priced himself out of consideration for Green Bay, though any fans hoping he’ll sign the type of deal that could return a third-round comp pick might have to recalibrate their expectations. The Leap previously reported that, based on conversations with those in and around the league, Willis’ lack of starts (six total over four seasons) should limit him to a de facto one-year commitment from his next team.
Still, those discussions took place before the combine. Perhaps now, with an incoming QB class that appears to fall off precipitously after expected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and a veteran market headlined by the still-recovering free agent Daniel Jones and trade candidate Kyler Murray, Willis could command more interest than previously thought. Such a scenario wouldn’t help the Packers in their seemingly futile quest to keep the valuable backup. However, it could help them in a year via the compensatory system, provided that Gutekunst doesn’t negate the pick with an unrestricted free agent.
Regardless, the Packers will have to identify a replacement for Willis this offseason. Desmond Ridder, the street free agent added late in the 2025 season, could get a chance to state his case, but he likely won’t have the inside track to the job. Instead, Green Bay can look for an undervalued veteran à la Willis in 2024 or, as Gutekunst said he prefers, invest a Day 3 pick at the position in April.
In terms of the former, Anthony Richardson has surfaced as a reclamation project for a number of teams. Like Willis, he flopped during his original stop in the AFC South but offers intriguing physical upside. However, Richardson’s total cost makes such a move prohibitive for Green Bay. The former No. 4 overall pick has roughly $5.4 million in guaranteed salary this season -- more than double what Willis counted against the Packers’ cap over the last two years combined -- and the Indianapolis Colts would need something in return to make the trade.
For different reasons, several other notable veteran free agents also probably won’t end up in Green Bay. Kirk Cousins, whom the Atlanta Falcons intend to release before the 2026 league year begins, could plausibly have a shot to compete for a starting job and/or earn more money as a proven backup behind a young quarterback. Signal-callers like Marcus Mariota, Tyrod Taylor, and Russell Wilson might not have starting opportunities, but neither seems likely to settle for the type of contract that would make sense for the Packers. That doesn’t mean a reasonable veteran option doesn’t exist, but Gutekunst would probably prefer the low-cost, higher-upside path of a rookie.
The Leap annually publishes a watchlist of late-round quarterbacks who could end up on the Packers’ draft board based on historical trends and other indicative data points, a series we call “Hunting for Hasselbecks.” Our previous installments correctly identified future Green Bay selection Michael Pratt as well as a signal-caller who went on to garner a meaningful return via trade one year later.
That piece probably won’t come out directly following the combine. With quarterbacks more regularly foregoing workouts in Indianapolis, the necessary information for The Leap’s model will presumably have to wait for pro days.
Some QBs have already removed themselves from consideration, however. Since Ted Thompson took over as Packers general manager in 2005, signal-callers drafted by the team have almost exclusively received combine invites. An exception exists for certain non-combine quarterbacks to earn a draftable grade for Green Bay -- the Sean Clifford exception identified in previous editions of our series -- but that provides a narrow path at best.
And while combine measurements won’t take place until later this week, many prospects provided figures to NFL teams via the all-star games that took place following the 2025 season. That means a quarterback like Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, who came in under 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds at the Senior Bowl, will not end up on the Packers’ draft board based on their history.
That still leaves plenty of prospects at the position for Green Bay, but the real list won’t look as long as the Draft Industrial Complex™ might suggest. The Leap will publish the 2026 edition of Hunting for Hasselbecks later this offseason, so make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already to avoid missing it.