The arrival of Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers could not have come at a better time. The Packers lift the curtain on the 2025 season Sunday by hosting the Detroit Lions. For the past two years, the Lions have been the standard in the NFC North. They are the hurdle that must be overcome.
The Packers have lost five of the last six games to this team. In those five losses, Green Bay has a cumulative total of five sacks. The lone victory came on Thanksgiving Day of 2023. In that contest, Green Bay was able to sack quarterback Jared Goff three times, and pressure him relentlessly. There will be many keys to winning Sunday’s game, but certainly one of the most important will be getting to and disrupting Detroit’s poised and proven signal caller.
It can be done. Despite its reputation as being perhaps the best offensive line in football, the Detroit OL finished no better than middle of the pack last season in allowing quarterback sacks. Goff was taken down 31 times in seventeen games. That ranked sixteenth in the league. For perspective, consider Jordan Love was sacked just 14 times in fifteen games. Given time to throw, which Goff has received in those last five losses, he is deadly accurate, reads and anticipates defenses well, and has the arm to make all the throws.
What he doesn’t do, and doesn’t want to do, is run. He has the savvy to escape the pocket, but he is not quick nor fast, meaning he is not going to hurt you running downfield. He is not going to juke you and break tackles. If you get hands on him, he’s pretty well done. Last year Goff ran for a grand total of 56 yards on 35 carries, an anemic average of 1.6 yards per rush. And I would wager that very few, if any, of those rush attempts were called in the huddle.
In the Thanksgiving victory, all three sacks were by Rashan Gary, who also figures to be one of the top beneficiaries from the presence of Parsons. Opponents can’t double team everybody. Gary has never had double digit sacks in his six seasons in green and gold. His high was 9.5 in 2021. This should be his year, and the Lions should be his favorite victim. With offensive coordinators preoccupied with game planning to control Parsons, Gary should find himself one on one often.
Pressuring Goff and disrupting the Lions’ passing game is, of course, only part of the answer. The motor city gang can still come at you with their two-headed rushing punch of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montogomery. Green Bay’s ability to stop the run may be a bit compromised with the loss of Kenny Clark. But I’m guessing Jeff Hafley will take his chances with that, if it means taking big play receivers Amon Ra St. Brown and Jamison Williams out of the game.
A THREE YEAR WINDOW
There is a narrative out there that the historic contract given to Micah Parsons has ruined any chance the Packers have of signing, and extending, other players. But a look at the actual numbers reveals such is not the case. At least not for the next three seasons. According to overthecap.com, Parsons’ deal is structured such that his cap hit this season is just $ 9.97 million. That ranks no higher than sixth on the roster. Jordan Love, Rashan Gary, Xavier McKinney, Elgton Jenkins, and Josh Jacobs all have higher cap numbers than Parsons this year. Overthecap lists Green Bay as still having $14.55 million in cap space, which puts them in the middle of the league, ranking seventeenth.
Thus, they still have the flexibility to add a few key players this season, or to extend looming free agents, such as Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Romeo Doubs, Sean Rhyan and Rasheed Walker. All of those players will demand huge pay increases and Green Bay will only be able to afford a few of them. In the next two seasons Parsons’ cap number is still manageable at $19.2 million, and $26.8 million. Bear in mind the league cap will continue to expand. It won’t be until 2028 that Parsons’ cap hit explodes to $64.2, the same year Jordan Love’s hit reaches $75.7. Clearly, those contracts will either have to be extended that year, or the players cut.
The point is, the Parsons contract provides for an affordable three year window to compete for a championship. That window opens Sunday at Lambeau Field.