With the 2026 NFL Draft now in the books and the likelihood of Brian Gutekunst pulling off any more trades for the remainder of this offseason seemingly pretty low, the Green Bay Packers effectively have only one way to fill the remaining gaps on the roster, and that's from the remaining pool of free agents.
To that end, our friend Bill Huber over at SI recently compiled a list of five free agents he believes could, as he puts it, "push the Packers over the top," a group that included tight end Marcedes Lewis, which we think could actually work, running back Antonio Gibson, offensive tackle Kendall Lamm, and defensive tackle Calais Campbell. That last one, of course, is no longer an option, as Campbell is heading back to the Baltimore Ravens.
The fifth name on Huber's list is certainly one of the most intriguing, as his final entry is veteran edge rusher Haason Reddick. He has concerns about Reddick's lack of productivity over the last couple of seasons, but the intriguing aspect of this option is the fact that he had the best season of his nine-year career in 2022 with the Philadelphia Eagles when none other than new Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was his DC.
Haason Reddick finished fourth in the DPOY voting when Jonathan Gannon was his DC in Philly
Here's what Huber had to say on why Reddick could be a good fit in Green Bay:
"A 3-4 defense requires dropping the edge players into coverage. Not all the time. Not even most of the time. But some of the time. In 2022, Reddick starred in the Gannon-coordinated Eagles defense, finishing fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting with 16 sacks. Gannon joked that he might have had 20 sacks had he not dropped into coverage so often.
"Reddick had 50.5 sacks from 2020 through 2023. He had only 3.5 sacks the last two seasons, though. Last season with Tampa Bay, he had 2.5 sacks and six tackles for losses in 13 games (12 starts), though the pressure numbers from Pro Football Focus showed he made an impact."
Now, it bears mentioning that after Gannon left to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2023, Reddick still produced at a high level for Philly, posting 11.0 sacks en route to earning a second straight trip to the Pro Bowl.
As Huber said, the numbers the last couple of years haven't been nearly as strong, as the Temple alum tallied just a single sack in 10 appearances for the Jets in 2024 and only 2.5 this past year for the Bucs. The PFF reference is accurate, though, as Reddick racked up 60 total pressures over those two campaigns, so it's not as if he's not getting to the quarterback at all.
The addition of Dani Dennis-Sutton certainly doesn't make the need for another edge defender quite as necessary, but having another veteran in the locker room to help these young guys obviously wouldn't hurt. And not knowing exactly when Micah Parsons will be back has to play a factor as well.
Now, there could be a problem with money, as Reddick got a one-year, $14 million deal with Washington last year, and the Packers certainly won't be willing to pony up that kind of dough. But given where we are, Reddick likely won't be able to command that kind of money from anyone, so this is at least something worth looking into.
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