Packers' coaching hire could lead to Green Bay signing new defensive pieces to help struggling area

Last year, the Green Bay Packers had to rebuild almost the entire defensive coaching staff when they moved on from Joe Barry and hired Jeff Hafley as the new defensive coordinator. In 2025, though, the staff will mostly remain the same on both sides of the ball.

The Packers lost some pieces, but replaced them with internal promotions. Sean Mannion as the quarterbacks coach to replace retired Tom Clements, and Sean Duggan as the linebackers coach in the place of Anthony Campanile. The big external hiring was DeMarcus Covington, the former New England Patriots defensive coordinator, hired by the Packers to be the defensive line coach after the firing of Jason Rebrovich.

Covington spent four seasons as the Patriots' defensive line coach under Bill Belichick before being promoted to DC under Jerod Mayo last season. With the coaching change in New England, he became available and the Packers got him.

And anytime a new coach arrives, there could be potential opportunities to add players that he knows well. This comes at an interesting time for the Packers, because the team could certainly add pieces to the defensive front, an area that struggled at times in 2024. Amongst the Patriots free agents, two worked under Covington.

Deatrich Wise Jr.

Wise, 30 years old, was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2017 and was a part of the Super Bowl LIII championship team. He is an edge defender, which both the Patriots and the Packers now list as a defensive end.

In 2024, he was the third edge rusher with the most snaps for the Patriots (36.49%), and close to Jeremiah Pharms (40.88%). The leading piece was Keion White (74.15%). Even though Wise struggled at times as a run defender, he was a decent rotational rusher from the edge, generating 20 pressures (the same number that Lukas Van Ness had).

Wise presented alignment versatility, with significant snaps out of the tackle and over tackle, and some even in the B-gap. He has had 17 sacks over the last three seasons, including five in 2024.

Daniel Ekuale

Ekuale is 31 and has been around the league, with previous experiences for the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars. He has been with the Patriots since 2021, where he is a defensive tackle. A former undrafted player, he led the Patriots' interior defensive linemen in snaps (64.58%) last season.

He is not an exciting interior rusher, having only nine pressures and one sack last season. However, Ekuale would become an interesting option if the Packers lost TJ Slaton in free agency. The veteran is a solid run defender, and he had 26 stops and 36 tackles in 2024. Born in the American Samoa, he can play in the B-gap or over the tackle.