The Packers are set to kick off training camp in just over a week, and like every offseason, some questions need answers.
It's been a busy few months at 1265 Lombardi Avenue. Plenty of roster turnover, new faces stepping into new roles, key contract extensions, fresh coaching perspectives, and even an unresolved legal situation still lingering. That's a lot to keep an eye on this summer.
Over the last two weeks, we've focused on both the offense and the defense. This week, the focus turns to the Packers' long-time Achilles heel — special teams. Many of the same concerns remain, but 2026 brings some new wrinkles: a new special teams coordinator, a rookie kicker, a potential return man, and real questions about how Gutekunst fills out the bottom of the roster.
Poor special teams units have plagued the Packers for far too long — missed kicks, untimely botched onside recoveries, blocked punts, the list goes on. At this point, nobody's asking for an elite unit. They just need to be competent. The talent and potential for league-average special teams is there — it just always seems to unravel when the game is on the line. That's where these questions come in. Each one plays a real role in whether these units help or hurt the Packers in 2026.
So let's get into it. Here are three burning questions before the Packers kick off the 2026 season.
How Long of a Leash Do the Packers Give Trey Smack?
Brian Gutekunst threw us a curveball back in April when he traded both of his seventh-round picks to move back into the sixth round and draft Trey Smack — a kicker. Smack was the consensus best kicker in the class, having gone 53-of-64 (82.8%) on field goals and 100-of-101 (99%) on extra points over his college career.
The move came as a surprise. The Packers had given Brandon McManus a three-year, $15.3 million contract before the 2025 season, and despite an injury-riddled year, still paid him a $1 million roster bonus back in March. All signs pointed to McManus being the guy in 2026. Add in Lucas Havrisik — who'd already made a franchise-record 61-yard field goal — still sitting on the roster, and kicker wasn't exactly screaming out as a draft need.
But drafting a kicker signals one thing: it's his job to lose. Not long after the draft, the Packers released McManus, clearing the runway for Smack to take the bulk of the reps and letting McManus explore other options. It's been Smack and Havrisik ever since.
Now, heading into training camp, there's real uncertainty at the position — because Smack hasn't done much to instill confidence this offseason. In his first media-open session, he went 7-of-8, though those kicks only ranged from 26 to 35 yards. The following week brought a rougher outing: 5-of-9, with misses from 35, 38, 42, and 46 yards. He rebounded the week after, going 7-of-8 again, this time on a tougher slate ranging from 33 to 58 yards, with his only miss coming from 40. Up, down, up again — inconsistent is the kindest way to put it.
And this fanbase doesn't have the patience for inconsistency at kicker anymore. The Packers have lost too many games in recent memory because of missed kicks, including that gut-punch playoff loss in January, when McManus missed two field goals and an extra point — seven points left on the board. Packers fans are still a little scarred from the Anders Carlson and Brayden Narveson eras, and understandably so. This team simply cannot keep losing games because it can't put points on the board that should be automatic.
The hope is that Smack turns into the next Mason Crosby or Ryan Longwell — a reliable kicker who sticks around for a decade. But if the early inconsistency continues throughout training camp, the Packers will have to reconsider. Which brings us back to the real question: how long of a leash does Trey Smack actually get? The job is his to lose — he'd have to be genuinely bad in the preseason to not be the Week 1 kicker on September 13th — but "his to lose" and "earned" aren't the same thing, and he's still got work to do on the second part.
A Former Packer Great Has Critical Advice For Rookie Kicker Trey Smack https://t.co/W8cxbYm8Vm #Packers #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/XafWAlzU0e
— CheeseheadTV 🧀 (@cheeseheadtv) June 15, 2026
Will Brian Gutekunst Change How He Fills Out the Back of the Roster?
Before the Packers brought in Rich Bisaccia in 2022, the organization preferred to fill out the back of its roster with developmental or backup offensive and defensive players. Under Bisaccia, that approach shifted toward stockpiling core special-teams players to shore up specific phases of the game — but the results didn't really follow. With a new special teams coordinator now in place, it's worth watching whether the Packers stick with that approach or pivot to something new.
Bisaccia clearly prioritized certain units over others. He leaned heavily on strong kick and punt coverage, and Brian Gutekunst supplied him with core special-teamers over the years to build those units — Nick Niemann, Kristian Welch, Zayne Anderson, Bo Melton, Aaron Mosby, Eric Wilson, Corey Ballentine, Robert Rochell, Dallin Leavitt, and Chris Brooks, among others. Credit where credit is due: this approach worked for those two specific phases. The Packers finished 4th in net punt coverage and 11th in starting field position after kickoffs. Gutekunst dedicated real roster spots to core special-teamers, and the results showed up. The problem is that the coverage units were the only areas where that investment paid off.
Notably absent from that priority list? The return game. The Packers haven't invested in or dedicated a roster spot to a true return specialist in years, and it shows. Over the last four seasons, they've ranked 15th, 29th, 23rd, and 32nd in average punt return. Last year, their answer was simply handing the job to their highest-snapped wide receiver, Romeo Doubs. Kickoff returns told a similar story. The Packers were once genuinely good in this phase, ranking 6th in 2022 and 5th in 2023 in return yards per game — largely because of Keisean Nixon, an All-Pro kick returner. Once the Packers pulled Nixon off return duty, the unit cratered, falling to 14th in 2024 and 22nd in 2025. The Packers had a proven return man on the roster and chose to hand the job to someone inexperienced instead.
After several underwhelming seasons and Cam Achord now running the show, it's worth asking whether the Packers repeat that approach — but the early signs point toward change. Gutekunst never gave Bisaccia an actual return specialist. Just a month after Bisaccia stepped down, Gutekunst went out and signed the best available one. He also let Zayne Anderson, a core special-teams player, walk in free agency. Maybe that's nothing. Or maybe it's a sign the philosophy is shifting.
Expect some real position battles this training camp because of it. Do the Packers keep a return specialist over a developmental receiver? (Spoiler: see question three.) Could Bo Melton end up the odd man out? Does Gutekunst keep Aaron Mosby, a core special-teamer, over Brenton Cox, an effective pass rusher who doesn't contribute on special teams? Could the Packers lean toward younger, developmental edge rushers over established linebackers like Niemann or Welch? It's a quieter storyline than most of the others on this list, but an interesting one to track as camp unfolds — with the hope that whichever direction the Packers go, the results actually follow.
Brian Gutekunst said he leaned on new special teams coordinator Cam Achord for the Trey Smack draft pick. Said he leans on ST coordinator more than other coaches for draft input because specialists play unique positions.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) April 25, 2026
The Packers Finally Have a Return Man — Or Do They?
The Packers were among the worst teams in the league at returning kicks and punts a season ago. As previously indicated, they finished dead last in punt return average (5.6 yards) and tied for 22nd in kickoff return average (25.2). That underwhelming performance had fans clamoring for Brian Gutekunst to sign a legitimate return man — and this offseason, with Rich Bisaccia no longer leading the ship, he finally did.
Skyy Moore signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Packers, including a $1 million signing bonus and incentives that can push the total value as high as $4.75 million. Moore instantly became the best return man on the roster, for both kicks and punts. The Packers can pencil him in as their primary return specialist — but his name isn't written in Sharpie just yet.
The $1 million guaranteed is a real number for a bottom-of-the-roster player — for context, the Packers guaranteed Mecole Hardman only $150,000 last summer. That guarantee puts Moore in a strong position to make the roster. That said, this front office has already shown it'll move on from a player after paying out $1 million, as it did with Brandon McManus. A million-dollar investment isn't a guaranteed roster spot.
Here's where things get murky: Moore is a return specialist, but he's also a wide receiver, and that room is getting crowded. The Packers already have four receivers locked into roster spots — Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, and Savion Williams. Beyond that group, Bo Melton is shifting back to receiver, Isaiah Neyor has turned heads this offseason, and undrafted rookie J. Michael Sturdivant is an intriguing developmental piece.
Given everything Melton brings on special teams, his ability to fill in on defense in a pinch, and how his coaches and teammates talk about him, it's hard to picture him not making the team — which would put the receiver count at five before Moore even enters the conversation.
Neyor is making his own case, too. "I'd say it's night and day for him," Matt LaFleur said during OTAs. "He's really shown a lot of flashes of excellence. He's another big, long guy that can run. You can never have enough of those guys, especially at that position. I'm excited about what's to come from training camp for him." Using a word like "excellence" says a lot about how the coaching staff views him.
There's also a size consideration working against Moore. LaFleur has generally favored bigger receivers, and Reed, Golden, Melton, and Moore are all under six feet and under 200 pounds. Neyor, by contrast, measures 6'4", 218 pounds, and Sturdivant checks in at 6'3", 207 — both offering intriguing size-speed combinations that Moore simply can't match. It would be a bit surprising if four of Matt LaFleur’s six wide receivers were undersized.
So, back to the original question: do the Packers actually have their return man? Probably — Moore is the best returner this roster has had in years. But the Packers will likely carry six receivers, and there's no guarantee Moore is the sixth. If the numbers break the wrong way, the Packers could find themselves right back where they started: searching for answers in the return game.
Carter Semb is a lifelong Packer fan, shareholder, and season ticket holder. He is a contributor for Cheesehead TV and Packers Talk. For commentary surrounding Wisconsin sports, he can be found on X at @cmsemb.