The Green Bay Packers snagged a gem when they drafted Edgerrin Cooper 45th overall in 2024. Although he didn't take the hoped-for sophomore leap, he was still productive, probably more so than his statistics would suggest. And no one has forgotten Cooper's rookie season. That Pro-Bowl-caliber talent is still in there. Cooper is a keeper.
At some point in the not-so-distant future, the Packers will need to start thinking about an extension. While he still has two seasons left on his rookie deal, the market for his next contract is already developing. In fact, Green Bay might have just seen a glimpse of the future when the Detroit Lions signed their own off-ball linebacker stud, Jack Campbell, to a four-year, $81 million extension on Thursday. The contract includes $51.5 million guaranteed.
If Cooper can just return to his explosive rookie-year form, a similar deal should be waiting in the wings less than two years down the road.
Future Edgerrin Cooper extension could rival Jack Campbell's
Despite lingering somewhat below the national hype radar, Campbell is just about the best off-ball linebacker in the game, and the Lions are paying him like it. Last season, his third in the league, Pro Football Focus graded him second at his position with an overall score of 90.2.
Campbell racked up 176 total tackles, five sacks, and three forced fumbles, per Pro Football Reference. PFF credited him with a league-high 68 stops. It was enough to earn the former first-rounder his first Pro Bowl and a spot on the All-Pro First Team.
Cooper did not reach quite that level of dominance as a rookie, but he came close in many ways. Awarded an 85.7 PFF grade, Cooper came up with 3.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and an interception. That's in only 491 regular-season snaps (Campbell logged 1,096 snaps last year).
In coverage, Cooper allowed only a 78.8 passer rating and six yards per target, according to PFR. While Campbell's coverage numbers improved in 2025, Cooper was still a bit better in that regard.
His yards allowed per target actually dipped to 4.8, compared to 5.7 per target for Campbell. Those low numbers result in part from the off-ball linebacker's role in covering checkdowns and dump-offs near the line of scrimmage, but Cooper still has the edge. He owns a career pass rating allowed of 90.6 versus Campbell's 110.9.
Even last year, Cooper ended up with a PFF grade of 75.6, ranked 17th out of 88, and 118 tackles. If he looks more like his rookie self in 2026, and perhaps even improves upon that as a full-time starter, the Packers will have to start drawing up an extension in the same ballpark as Campbell's.
There is still plenty of belief in Green Bay that Cooper can be among the best inside linebackers in the NFL. This is, after all, only his third year as a pro, the same career point of Campbell's breakout.
The Lion's new contract, which kicks in next season, would rank second in annual value in 2026, trailing only San Francisco's Fred Warner at $21 million. Baltimore's Roquan Smith and Cincinnati's Boye Mafe both average $20 million per year. That's the going rate for top-tier off-ball linebackers, and it's what the Packers should plan on paying Cooper if he develops as hoped.
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