Green Bay Packers Draft: Linebacker Discussion

LAFAYETTE, LA - AUGUST 30: Linebacker, Jaden Dugger #3 of the Ragin' Cajuns celebrates after getting a sack during the first quarter of Louisiana and Rice Football at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium on August 30, 2025 in Lafayette, Louisiana. (Photo by Ragin' Cajun Athletics/University Images via Getty Images) The Green Bay Packers are oversigned at the linebacker position, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t add to their room in the hopes that they improve their 2026 roster (and beyond). Today, we’re going to take a look at the linebacker position, where the Packers stand and what options the team has in the draft.

Packers Linebacker Depth Chart Zaire Franklin Edgerrin Cooper Isaiah McDuffie Ty’Ron Hopper Nick Niemann Kristian Welch Jamon Johnson The big news at the position this offseason was that the Packers allowed starting Mike linebacker Quay Walker to hit free agency, where he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. In return, Green Bay should be rewarded with a fifth-round compensatory draft pick in 2027. To replace Walker, the Packers traded nose tackle Colby Wooden, who was on the final year of his rookie contract, for Zaire Franklin, who had been starting at Mike for the Indianapolis Colts.

Franklin is now on a two-year contract with Green Bay and is expected to start next to Edgerrin Cooper in the team’s new 3-4 defense. When the Packers have run a 3-4 defense in the past, the team has typically only rostered an average of four off-ball linebackers. With Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper returning, they seem to make the most sense as the team’s backups at the position.

With that being said, Nick Niemann and Kristian Welch are veteran special teams aces, and Jamon Johnson was one of the team’s bigger undrafted free agent signings from the 2026 class, so there is opportunity for a fifth linebacker to make the team, depending on what happens this summer. Linebacker Consensus Draft Board Rankings #5: Sonny Styles, Ohio State #36: C. J.