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INDIANAPOLIS, IN - OCTOBER 05: Indianapolis Colts Linebacker Zaire Franklin (44) looks on during the NFL game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Indianapolis Colts on October 5, 2025, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Green Bay Packers have had their eyes on linebacker Zaire Franklin for some time now, according to general manager Brian Gutekunst. Gutekunst spoke to the press at the NFL league meetings this week, which included this quote about Franklin (h/t The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman):
We’ve liked Zaire for a while. Quite frankly, back when he was not starting in Indy, his first few years, he was a really good special teams player; we kind of tried to acquire him then. He’s been a really good player for a long time. Obviously, a really good leader as well, captain there. So, as we kind of went down and realized it was going to be really tough to get Quay [Walker] back, I wanted to make sure we had an answer at middle linebacker.
The team has made comments like this in the past, notably that the Packers tried to trade for pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith before he ended up signing with Green Bay in free agency back in 2019.
If you’re doing the math on when a Franklin addition would have made sense for the Packers, Franklin became a part-time starter for the Indianapolis Colts in 2021, the same year that Green Bay signed De’Vondre Campbell to be the team’s starting middle linebacker in June. In a different world, maybe Franklin would have been the Packers’ starting Mike for the last five seasons, instead of the team going to Campbell and Walker before settling in on Franklin.
Franklin, who has 82 career NFL starts under his belt, was traded from Indianapolis last season in exchange for defensive lineman Colby Wooden.
