Packers quietly hand out contract extension

The Green Bay Packers have not made a ton of moves in to bring in players from outside the organization this offseason, instead opting to make moves to keep a lot of their key contributors around on both sides of the ball.

They did that once again, signing linebacker Isaiah McDuffie to a new contract extension, via 247 Sports. The one-year deal was agreed to on Thursday, keeping McDuffie around in a deep linebacker room that includes Edgerrin Cooper and new addition Zaire Franklin.

That is one of the better linebacker rooms in the NFC, and is a big reason why the Packers are touted with one of the best front seven units in the entire conference. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, that is a group that they can lean on throughout the season.

McDuffie has 80 appearances and 38 starts during his five seasons with the Packers up to this point. While he hasn’t evolved into a star player during that time, he has 320 tackles in those five seasons while also helping out on special teams, so Green Bay clearly values what he brings to the table and was keen on keeping him around as a result.

While McDuffie and the rest of the linebacker core will be one of the X-factors with this defense under new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Micah Parsons will still be the star of the show when he gets back from his torn ACL that cut his 2025 season short. It remains unclear whether Parsons will be healthy enough to get back by the time Week 1 rolls around, but whenever he does get back on the field, this Packers defense will be very tough to handle.

If Parsons is terrorizing opposing backfields again when he returns this fall, that will only make the job for McDuffie and the rest of the linebackers easier. With Morris now wearing the headset and calling the plays, the Packers’ defense will be one of the units to watch this season.