Why The Green Bay Packers Won Day 1 Of The NFL Draft

BusinessSportsMoneyWhy The Green Bay Packers Won Day 1 Of The NFL DraftByRob Reischel,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Rob Reischel is a Wisconsin-based reporter who covers the NFL.Follow AuthorApr 24, 2026, 08:13am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.The Green Bay Packers traded their 2026 and 2027 first round draft picks for defensive end Micah Parsons.Getty ImagesMalachi Lawrence might become a great edge rusher for the Dallas Cowboys.Makai Lemon could develop into an elite receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.And there’s a chance NFC North foes like Detroit (offensive tackle Blake Miller), Minnesota (defensive tackle Caleb Banks) and Chicago (safety Dillon Thieneman) found themselves future standouts.Those are all ifs, maybes, question marks.Green Bay Packers edge Micah Parsons is one of the top-three defensive players in football. That’s an absolute.So while it was pained Brian Gutekunst to not have a first round pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft, Green Bay’s general manager knew he’d already won the draft.“We got better,” Gutekunst said. “With this particular pick, we got better a whole year earlier.”Eight months ago, Gutekunst traded his 2026 and 2027 first round draft picks, as well as defensive tackle Kenny Clark, to Dallas for Parsons. That pick wound up being No. 20 in this year’s draft, which the Cowboys traded to the Eagles. Philadelphia then selected Lemon, and three picks later, Dallas chose Lawrence.MORE FOR YOUParsons, on the other hand, immediately became the most dynamic pass rusher in Green Bay since Hall of Famer Reggie White and made everyone on the Packers’ defense better.Parsons had 12.5 sacks in Green Bay’s first 13 games last season before tearing his left ACL in Week 15 at Denver. That made Parsons the first player in NFL history to record at least 12 sacks in each of his first five NFL seasons. Parsons led the...