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Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons.
The Green Bay Packers have had a somewhat muted NFL draft in 2026, and the main reason is pass-rusher Micah Parsons.
Green Bay flipped two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys in return for Parsons last August. All Parsons did was earn his fifth-straight Pro Bowl since joining the league, make his fourth All-Pro team and finish top three in Defensive Player of the Year voting for the fourth time.
Parsons did that despite missing the final three games with an ACL tear.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke about the team’s draft on Friday, addressing the first-rounder it sent to Dallas in the context of acquiring Parsons and everything he brought to the 2025 Packers squad, which made the playoffs for the third consecutive year and sixth time over a seven-year span.
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“With this particular pick, we got better a whole year earlier,” Gutekunst said, per a post Parsons made to his Instagram story on April 24. “I don’t think there’s any players that were in this draft that can compete with that one.”
“Facts 🤝,” Parsons captioned the graphic.
GettyGreen Bay Packers pass-rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons finished the campaign with 79 pressures and 51 quarterback hurries (both seventh in the league) over 707 total snaps that included 436 pass-rush snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
He tallied 27 QB hits, 12.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup, per Pro Football Reference.
PFF graded Parsons as the third-best edge defender out of 115 players at the position who saw enough snaps to qualify in 2025. Will Anderson Jr. of the Houston Texans was the No. 2 ranked performer off the edge, per PFF, and also finished second in DPOY voting, while Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, the unanimous DPOY winner, was PFF’s top-rated pass-rusher.
Parsons could miss some time to start the 2026 season as he rehabilitates from his knee injury, though he should be back on the field at some point during the first month of the campaign, according to multiple reports that include educated estimations.
Without a first-round pick, the Packers made their initial selection in Round 2 on Friday. Gutekunst and company landed on cornerback Brandon Cisse out of South Carolina at No. 52 overall.
“This was the Packers’ greatest need,” Rob Demovsky of ESPN wrote. “They return the two cornerbacks who started on the outside at the end of last season in Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, and they signed free agent Benjamin St-Juste. Nixon and Valentine, however, are entering the final year of their contracts and might not be re-signed.”
With the No. 77 overall pick in Round 3, Green Bay addressed its next weakest position group by selecting defensive tackle Chris McClellan out of Missouri.
“Gutekunst gave new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon exactly what he needed with his first two picks,” Demovsky added. “After taking a perimeter cornerback with his first pick, Gutekunst got the nose tackle Gannon will need as he transforms the Packers into a 3-4 base defensive front.”
The Packers have five picks remaining on Day 3 of the draft, one each in Rounds 4-6 and two in Round 7.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group's family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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