The Green Bay Packers caught the NFL world off guard by trading for Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin over the weekend, securing a 2024 Pro Bowler and Quay Walker replacement in exchange for defensive tackle Colby Wooden. It wasn't just other teams and the league in general. Star Packers pass rusher Micah Parsons was also taken by surprise.
"Oh s---," he responded to the initial report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Hard to fault him for being amped. Opposing ball carriers will echo Parsons' remark if Franklin rediscovers his prior self, a wood chipper of a tackle machine adorned with helmet and shoulder pads.
Before struggling in 2025, the Syracuse alum was one of the league's most productive linebackers. Over the past three seasons, he racked up 519 tackles and led the NFL in that department during his Pro Bowl campaign.Â
Imagine that version of Franklin out there with Edgerrin Cooper. Oh, s---.
A bounce-back is mandatory, but that's what the Packers are banking on by buying low. For fans who believe Franklin deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's difficult not to be excited along with Parsons.
Taking a flyer on Zaire Franklin is the definition of a buy-low swing
Parsons wasn't as thrilled about losing his teammate, Wooden, in the trade. That detail drew a long "Nooooooo" from the Packers' All-Pro first-teamer. From the business side of things, though, it's a decent move for both sides, mainly due to Wooden's youth and cheap contract.
It certainly feels as if Green Bay received the immediate surplus in upside. Although Franklin is 29 and coming off a poor season, producers like the guy he was in his prime don't grow on trees.
And if Franklin's prime was intact as recently as 2024, it seems unfair to write him off as washed up.
That said, let's just get it over with: Pro Football Focus paints a gruesome picture of his '25 season. Franklin's overall grade ranked 87th out of 88, and he ranked no higher than the bottom 30 percent in any of PFF's major categories: pass rush, run defense, and coverage. In the last area, especially, Franklin's grade of 29.9 flatters Quay Walker's own maddening coverage flaws.
PFF isn't everything, of course, and its advanced metrics don't necessarily account for the value of having a steady contributor in the middle of the field, like Franklin not so long ago. For the most part, that's also what Walker was in Green Bay last season, despite grading out as a bottom-15 linebacker. The Packers value that type of player and reportedly wanted him back. When negotiations stalled, they pivoted to Franklin.
For better or worse, his decline for the Colts was not due to significant injuries. As he has done in three of four seasons, he started all 17 games. The other time, he started 16. Whatever else Franklin isn't, he is definitely durable.
The obvious reality is that the Packers did not trade for the 2025 version of Zaire Franklin. For the price of Colby Wooden, ideally a borderline starter at best, Green Bay is gambling on some degree of positive regression.
Aside from leading the league in tackles, the guy they traded for compiled 11 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, two picks, and six passes defensed just a season ago. From a sheer production standpoint, that's more than what Cooper did during his stellar rookie season.
Now, envision Cooper takes a step forward and Franklin goes back to being anything close to his old self. Don't forget about Isaiah McDuffie, Ty'Ron Hopper, and any linebacker the Packers take in a deep 2026 draft class. They'll need to do something at defensive tackle. Then turn that nooooooo into one definitive yessssss.