Green Bay Packers: 15 greatest pass rushers of all-time

Best pass rushers in Green Bay Packers history: 12. Bryce Paup

• Pro Bowl w/Packers (1994)


• 32.5 career quarterback sacks w/Packers


• 11.0 quarterback sacks in 1993


• 225 career combined tackles w/Packers

Bryce Paup was a former sixth-round pick out of Northern Iowa in the 1990 NFL Draft. Though unheralded coming out of college, Paup would go on to be a four-time Pro Bowler in his NFL career with four teams. This includes the 1995 Buffalo Bills, where he would lead the league in sacks and be First-Team All-Pro. That being said, Paup’s NFL pass-rushing prowess got its start in Green Bay.

Paup spent his first five of 11 professional seasons in Green Bay. After playing sparingly as a rookie in 1990, Paup had 7.5 quarterback sacks in his sophomore campaign in 1991. That season included a play where he wrecked then-Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham’s knee and ended the signal-caller’s season.

In 1992, Paup played his full season, amassing 6.5 in 16 games. His breakout season came in 1993, when he had 11.0 quarterback sacks. This would be the first time he had double-digit sacks in his career, and the only time it was with the Packers. Interestingly enough, this would not lead the 1993 Packers, as newcomer defensive tackle Reggie White had 13.0 in his first season away from the Eagles.

Though he only had 7.5 quarterback sacks in 1994, Paup made his first career trip to the Pro Bowl. However, that would be his last season with the Packers. From 1995 to 1997, Paup was a perennial Pro Bowler for the Bills, accumulating 33.0 quarterback sacks in those three years alone in Orchard Park. It’s a shame really that Paup didn’t get to spend the bulk of his prime in Green Bay. Buffalo would beg to differ.

After his fourth-straight Pro Bowl nod in 1997, Paup made his way to North Florida to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his second of two seasons in Jacksonville, the Jaguars made it back to the AFC Championship for the second time in four years in 1999. By then, Paup was a shell of himself. After a lackluster year with the 2000 Minnesota Vikings, he retired and went into coaching.

Paup finished with 32.5 career quarterback sacks with the Packers over five seasons. He ended up with 75.0 in 11 years on four different teams. Paup might have been one of the most underrated pass rushers of his era. Despite playing on the Packers and the Bills for seven seasons in the 1990s, it’s odd that he never once made it to the Super Bowl. Green Bay and Buffalo went to a combined six during the same decade.