RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 14: Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers looks to pass during the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at AT&T Stadium on January 14, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With training camp here, the excitement for football season is about to ramp up to a fever pitch. For the Dallas Cowboys, it’s been an offseason where more noise has come from their roster moves, free agent acquisitions, and draft picks than any off the field drama, which is a welcome change for a team that will begin the regular season 973 days removed from their last playoff game appearance.
That playoff game was the now-infamous 48-32 home loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys and Packers have met just once since that January game in AT&T Stadium, and it was memorable for a whole other host of reasons, ending in a 40-40 tie on Sunday Night Football last season in week four.
The Cowboys and Packers will meet again on Sunday night primetime this season, at Lambeau Field, this time in week six. As we continue our season preview series, Dallas’ division rivals are now all behind us, and our focus will shift to some of the potential toughest games on the schedule against either other rivals or expected playoff contenders at large.
Also for the second year in a row, the Cowboys and Packers early season meeting will be marked by a trade between the two sides involving a pass rusher. Last season, it was Kenny Clark coming over to the Cowboys from the Packers (plus some draft picks) in exchange for Micah Parsons, and this year the Cowboys acquired Rashan Gary after seven seasons with the green and gold. With Parsons still rehabbing from a week 15 ACL tear last season against the Broncos, the Cowboys may not be playing against their own former pass rush star this time around. The Packers scored 40 points on the Matt Eberflus defense in 2025; this game will be a very important early comparison point to just how much of a difference new defensive coordinator Christian Parker is making.
Another theme both of these teams will have going into 2026 is the expectation for their all-important QB/HC pairing to prove they are the right men for the jobs. The Packers will go into year four of Jordan Love as the starting quarterback and year eight for Matt LaFleur having lost in the Wild Card round the last two postseasons. For the Cowboys, it will be just year two of Brian Schottenheimer but year 11 for Dak Prescott. There was a point when Love was an up-and-coming quarterback and Prescott was in the midst of the three straight 12 win seasons under Mike McCarthy, and both were seen as potentially battling for supremacy at the position in the NFC, but so far it still hasn’t manifested for either.
Love hasn’t dominated the NFC North, he has a career record of 9-8 against the Lions, Bears, and Vikings, but could also be looking to capitalize on the Lions seemingly hitting a downturn under Dan Campbell with Jared Goff and the Vikings bringing in Kyler Murray, leaving the Bears with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams as their biggest rival.
* SIGNED IN FREE AGENCY
QB Tyrod Taylor
OL Darian Kinnard (Re-signed)
CB Benjamin St-Juste
DL Javon Hargrave
* DEPARTED IN FREE AGENCY
QB Malik Willis
WR Romeo Doubs
LB Quay Walker
C Elgton Jenkins
EDGE Kingsley Enagbare
LT Rasheed Walker
CB Nate Hobbs
RB Emanuel Wilson
SAF Zayne Anderson
For a team without a first-round pick due to the Micah Parsons trade last offseason, the Packers have a potentially worrying list of departures compared to a short list of acquisitions in free agency this year. Doubs, Walker, and Jenkins are among the most significant contributors to leave the team, while Javon Hargrave coming over from the Vikings is their biggest outside name brought in – partially because it weakens a division rival and strengthens a position where the Packers previously had Kenny Clark as a mainstay.
One of the things the Packers are banking on to finally take the next step is something very similar to the Cowboys – continuity at wide receiver. Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and Jayden Reed are all returning, and Doubs is the only significant loss. The Cowboys will be particularly happy to not see Doubs this season as he had three touchdowns on six catches against them in that overtime tie last season.
Reed is going into year four, Golden year two, and Watson year five, which the Packers will be hoping is the right formula along with Josh Jacobs in year three as the starting running back to have consistency both through the air and on the ground offensively.
Defensively, the Packers have struggled to hold up against more physical teams in their most decisive games in the front seven, and appear to be taking a new approach still with familiar names throughout to the point of attack on defense going into 2026. Walker and Enagbare are significant losses at linebacker and defensive end respectively, but Devonte Wyatt, Lukas Van Ness, Edgerrin Cooper, and the addition of Hargrave along with rookie draft pick Chris McClellan on the interior give the Packers the talent to compete on this side of the ball while they work on reintroducing Parsons back to the lineup deeper into the regular season.
This brings us to the rest of the Packers draft class, where four of their six total picks went to defense as well.
Packers 2026 Draft Class
Round 2, Pick 20 (52 Overall): CB Brandon Cisse
Round 3, Pick 13 (77 Overall): DT Chris McClellan
Round 4, Pick 20 (120 Overall): EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton
Round 5, Pick 13 (153 Overall): C Jager Burton
Round 6, Pick 20 (2o1 Overall): CB Domani Jackson
Round 6, Pick 35 (216 Overall): K Trey Smack
When it comes to the draft in recent history, the Packers have been known to target very specific, certain archetypes of prospects, and find a way to get them at high value. Brandon Cisse may have been outside the radar of top c...
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