SerpApi.Org
Devonte Wyatt is four years into his NFL career. He has never started more than 10 games in a single season.
For the Green Bay Packers, that's worth $57 million.
News broke Monday that the former first round pick signed a three-year, $57 million contract extension, including at least $20 million guaranteed. Though the exact structure of the deal isn't known, it will keep Wyatt in Wisconsin through at least 2028. He was headed into a contract year this fall, playing out the final year of his rookie deal for a little more than $12.9 million fully guaranteed.
It's a big bet on a player who'd begun to showcase the power of Green Bay's internal development. 2025 was the first season in which he'd played the majority of the team's defensive snaps when available. While lower leg injuries limited him to only 10 games, he still managed four sacks and 20 run stops. His 3.6 percent missed tackle rate was second lowest of his career, trailing only a rookie campaign in which he played only 212 snaps.
The Packers and standout DT Devonte Wyatt have agreed to terms on a 3-year, $57M contract extension with a $20M signing bonus. A big-time payday.
— Ian Rapoport (@rapsheet.bsky.social) 2026-07-20T19:15:13.707Z
This is a big bet for a Packers team in eternal need of run-stuffing support. Will it pay off?
Grading the Packers' $57 million extension for Devonte Wyatt
The 2026 offseason has been a canvas for a handful of homegrown extensions in Green Bay. Wyatt is the fourth player to earn a new contract averaging $11 million per year or more. He's the third member of the team's 2022 draft class to do so, along with Christian Watson and Sean Rhyan. Linebacker Quay Walker, selected just ahead of Wyatt in the first round that spring, departed for a three-year, $40.5 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason.
That group has largely been good but not great. The Packers are betting more Wyatt can fix that. While his influence as a pass rusher has waned -- his 7.7 percent pressure rate was the lowest of his career last season -- his ability to clog running lanes and redirect tailbacks is the strength for which Green Bay is paying. The Packers remember getting gashed repeatedly by dynamic runners in the postseason (Christian McCaffrey, Raheem Mostert, Saquon Barkley). They have no interest in being ground into powder in the biggest game of the season again.
Wyatt came back from an early injury and played the best football of his career in Weeks 8 through 13. Over that stretch, Green Bay allowed -0.121 expected points added (EPA) per opponent run play -- seventh-best in the NFL. Once he was lost for the season due to a broken fibula and torn ankle ligament, that number rose to 0.039 EPA per run -- ninth-worst in the league. Wyatt wasn't the only reason for that dropoff, but general manager Brian Gutekunst is betting it's a big one.
How expensive that wager is depends on the specifics of his contract. Tack on the $13 million-ish already owed to him for 2026 and you've got what can effectively be a two-year deal for $33 million -- or less than Jeffrey Simmons' annual salary with the Tennessee Titans. Even at a full value of $19 million each season Wyatt would still only be the league's 19th-highest paid interior defensive lineman.
His limited pass rush was always going to limit his financial ceiling, but getting paid $5 million per year less than Alim McNeill (who is very good but saw his impact decrease due to injury and the rapid disassembly of the 2025 Detroit Lions) feels about right. Indeed Wyatt has the chops to make this a bargain. His sacks are more a product of sticking around, battling and cleaning up the mess his edge rushers create. Even so, we've seen him turn on the jets and make his presence known, either in stretches (five pressures, one sack against the Washington Commanders in Week 2 last season) or in a situational role for longer (a 14.8 percent pressure rate in 2023).
If he can maintain the pesky, burn-a-double-team-to-move-me-oops-you-just-let-Edgerrin-Cooper-get-a-free-run-into-the-backfield presence he had in 2025, this will be a bargain. The problem is we only saw it for a limited stretch last season. The year in which he played more than ever also saw him sidelined by two different leg injuries.
So, it's a bet. One that raises morale and rewards a player who has spent his entire budding NFL career in Green Bay. Wyatt can be part of the solution to the Packers' run defense woes. If he's not, well, it's nothing that hasn't stopped this team from making it to the playoffs and giving residents of the Badger State a reason to drink (derogatory) once there.
Packers grade: B
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Grading Devonte Wyatt's $57 million deal to stay with the Packers
