The Green Bay Packers have just seen a massive loss to the talent on their roster thanks to free agency. Gone are some notable players that the Packers chose not to extend or exercise fifth-year options on.
For general manager Brian Gutekunst, it appears he is focused mostly on maintaining the team’s remaining talent already on the roster to make up for those losses in 2026, minus a few offseason additions in free agency.
Even though the 2026 season will not begin until September and the Packers are focused on the upcoming NFL Draft, where they will make their first pick in Round 2, Gutekunst will soon have to make another critical decision on a fifth-year player.
That would be linebacker Lukas Van Ness. The former first-round pick taken at No. 13 overall will be playing on the final year of his rookie deal, making just $1.4 million in 2026. But if the Packers were to exercise his fifth-year club option, he would earn a guaranteed $14.4 million, according to Spotrac.
Packers Predicted To Pass On Costly Lukas Van Ness Decision
Unfortunately for Van Ness, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry, who says the guarantee would be closer to $13.752 million, does not believe the Packers will make that move.
“Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has been surprisingly noncommittal about Van Ness’ option year. It’s hard to believe that Van Ness will get his fifth year considering he has 8.5 sacks in his three NFL seasons and his career-high 39.3% defensive playtime was in 2024 when he played in all 17 games,” Corry said.
Whenever teams are noncommittal about a player, it is usually not a very good sign that they will be offered an extension, or in this case, a fifth-year option.
As Corry pointed out with Van Ness’ production over the last three seasons, it is hard to imagine any team wanting to pick up that option for anywhere from $13 million to $14 million guaranteed.
Sure, he still has an opportunity to change the conversation with a big 2026 season, but it still may not be enough to justify the option.
Van Ness played in only nine games last season after dealing with a foot injury. His sack total dropped to just 1.5 with seven QB hits.
Lukas Van Ness Also Named Possible Packers Trade Candidate
Van Ness might not even make it to Green Bay for the 2026 season, though. Dairyland Express’ Richard Louis believes Van Ness could be yet another trade casualty for the team this offseason.
The Packers have already traded away Rashan Gary, Colby Wooden and Dontayvion Wicks, and Van Ness seems to make a lot of sense to be next.
“Teams are already willing to take a chance on a pass rusher, especially one who was a recent enough first-round pick,” Louis wrote. “If the Packers wanted to move on from Van Ness, they could likely fetch a 4th or 5th-round pick in return. That may not seem high for Green Bay, but it’s all about how the Packers, as well as the market, view him.”
At this point, that might be just enough for the Packers, who have eight total picks in this year’s draft. That would give them two fourth-round picks and three in the fifth round.
Ultimately, it would give Green Bay the opportunity to cut bait now and avoid any further discussion about when, or if, they would ever offer him the fifth-year option.
Packers Face $14 Million Contract Problem With Lukas Van Ness: Analyst