8 Packers players (and coaches) that will not be back in 2024

Joe Barry

Remember after the Week 4 loss to the Detroit Lions when Matt LaFleur said the defense keeps making the same mistakes? He promised change, yet here we are five weeks later, and it's the same old story.

Defensive coordinator Joe Barry is still holding the defense back. Sure, you can point to the fact they held their opponents to an average of 18 points over the past three games, but it's important to look closer than that. Two of those games were against the Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos. Las Vegas just fired their head coach and general manager.

Situationally, the Packers' defense is a disaster. When they took a one-point lead against Denver, Barry called plays like the Broncos needed to score a touchdown in less than a minute. He played the softest coverages, allowing Denver to move into field-goal range with ease.

In Week 8 against Minnesota, those same soft coverages crushed the Packers. Green Bay allowed conversions on nine third downs of 8+ yards. On one example, a third-and-8, Barry had Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas sat 10 or more yards off. The Vikings gladly accepted the easy eight yards and first down.

Another Barry classic came in the first quarter. Minnesota faced a third-and-1, so Green Bay sent a two-man rush. The idea was to flood the secondary with players, giving the receivers no room to get open. That didn't prevent tight end T.J. Hockenson from getting wide open immediately and picking up 23 yards.

It's inevitable that Barry won't be back in 2024, but LaFleur's decision to stick with him may cost him his own job, too.