Lukas Van Ness: Everything you need to know

Van Ness had his fifth-year option exercised by the Packers on Thursday, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports. The move keeps the 24-year-old under contract through 2027 and guarantees him a salary near $13.8 million. The three-year pro missed half of last season with an ankle injury, which caused him to finish with a disappointing 1.5 sacks and 19 tackles (12 solo). The 2024 season wasn't much better as he recorded 33 tackles (22 solo) and six tackles for loss in 17 games, but he at least combined for 7.0 sacks in his first two seasons. Green Bay's switch to a 3-4 defensive scheme could impact Van Ness' playing time, but with Micah Parsons still rehabbing back from a December ACL tear and pass-rush depth lost this season in the form of Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare, the new scheme won't be a reason the 2023 first-round pick would be kept off the field.

Van Ness recorded 19 tackles (12 solo) including 1.5 sacks in nine regular-season games with Green Bay in 2025. Van Ness also had a strip sack in the wild-card round at Chicago. He was hit with the injury bug for the first time in his pro career in 2025, limiting him to just nine games after he didn't miss a game in either of his first two campaigns. Perhaps more concerning though, he was less productive as a pass rusher on a per-snap basis than in his first or second year. He's done little to show he is truly competing for snaps with three-time All Pro Micah Parsons (knee) or Rashan Gary, and his role in the final year of his rookie contract in 2026 will largely depend on the timeline for Parsons' recovery from the ACL tear he suffered in Week 15 at Denver.

Van Ness (illness/foot) does not carry an injury designation into Sunday's game against the Vikings, Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports. Van Ness managed to fade an injury tag for Week 18 despite being limited in practice all week by a foot injury and illness. However, the Packers are locked in as the NFC's seventh seed, so he could operate on a snap count or be held out of Sunday's regular-season finale entirely. If Van Ness's snaps are limited, then Arron Mosby, Brenton Cox and Barryn Sorrell would be in line for more snaps on defense.