Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst believes he found quality players with his six draft picks this week.
The Green Bay Packers have been mired in mediocrity in recent seasons, going 38-33-1 in the last four years. The Packers have been the NFC’s No. 7 seed for three straight years and have just one playoff win since reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2020.
If they do, it’s unlikely to come via their most recent draft class.
The Packers appear to have checked several boxes with their 2026 draft class, highlighted by two corners and two defensive linemen. But Green Bay also had just six picks, tied for the fewest in franchise history.
So if the Packers take a step forward next season, it will likely happen because of the players that were already on the roster.
“When you're looking at the draft, I mean, most seasons are determined by the guys that are coming back, not necessarily the guys you’re getting in the draft,” Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “These guys are just starting their NFL journey, and there's so much in front of them, and I feel really good about all of them, and I think they’re going to have, you know, a chance to have an opportunity to be very good players in this league.
“But you don't win the Super Bowl during the draft. But certainly I felt like over this, the course of the three days that we did some did some good things to help our football team and help the group that's coming back. But it remains to be seen how these guys' NFL careers will go.”
With the 2026 draft in the books, here’s a look at the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ from the Packers’ their latest draft class.
CORNERING THE MARKET: Green Bay’s greatest need this draft was at cornerback and the Packers used two of their six pick on that position.
Green Bay, which didn’t have a first round pick, took South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse in Round 2. The Packers then selected Alabama’s Domani Jackson in the sixth round.
Cisse is 5-11 ½, 189 pounds and won’t turn 21 until July. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds at his pro day and will have a chance to start from Day One.
Cisse spent two years as a reserve at North Carolina State, then transferred to South Carolina for his final season.
Cisse finished his three-year career with just two interceptions, 10 passes defensed and 65 tackles. He posted a vertical jump of 41 inches and a broad jump of 10 feet, 11 inches.
“A lot to like about Brandon Cisse,” Packers national scout Mike Owen said of Cisse. “Smart, tough, physical corner. Got good foot quickness, can run, so there’s a lot to like about him, and he’s wired right. That’s the biggest thing at the end of the day.”
Green Bay returns underwhelming starters Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, and signed Benjamin St-Juste in free agency. That should give Cisse a chance to win a starting job if he shines in training camp.
“I look forward to showcasing and excited to see where it goes and just excited to show everybody I can make those kind of plays,” Cisse said. “So just taking full advantage of every opportunity.”
Jackson spent two years at USC, then played his final two years at Alabama.
Jackson, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds, had a solid junior season in which he started every game and finished with two interceptions, seven pass breakups and 52 total tackles. But he struggled in 2025 and was benched midway through the season.
“I mean, I got benched,” Jackson said. “But it's about, you know, perseverance and finding yourself again and just doing everything that coach asks you to do to win for the team.”
Still, adding a pair of corners to the roster left Gutekunst feeling much better about that positional group.