Over the past two seasons, the Green Bay Packers have made Chris Brooks a key component of their offense and special teams units. The former Cal and BYU runner came to Green Bay early in the 2024 season and has played nearly every game since, serving largely as the team’s pass-protecting running back and an important member of punt and kickoff coverage and blocking units.
With three seasons under his belt, Brooks qualified as a restricted free agent this offseason, as did running mate Emanuel Wilson. However, while the Packers have reportedly chosen not to tender Wilson this spring, they have committed to Brooks for the next two years. According to his agents, One West Sports Group, Brooks has signed on with Green Bay for just under $5 million total over the 2026 and 2027 seasons:
This deal seems to be an excellent one for both the Packers and for Brooks. The lowest restricted free agent tender comes in at around $3.5 million for one year, a number that was surely too high for a rotational player like Brooks. However, he has demonstrated value exceeding that of a league-minimum contract, and this deal both gives the Packers a solid, valuable player to help back up Josh Jacobs while giving Brooks stability for the next two years.
Advertisement
Jacobs will continue to man the starting job in 2026, having received a vote of confidence from general manager Brian Gutekunst at the 2026 NFL Combine. However, the team had virtually no experienced, reliable options under contract behind him, with only MarShawn Lloyd (with his one game of NFL experience), Damien Martinez, and Pierre Strong, Jr. under contract for the coming season. Strong and Martinez are back on futures contracts, while the aforementioned Wilson is set to hit free agency.
Although his total snap count on offense remained relatively consistent between 2024 and 2025, Brooks took on a bigger role over the final eight games of the 2025 season (including playoffs). He saw the field on approximately 30 percent of offensive snaps over that span, a significant uptick that did coincide in part with an injury to Jacobs that limited his workload. However, Brooks became an even bigger special teams contributor in 2025, seeing his snap count nearly double from 124 to 230 from his first to his second season in Green Bay.
With Brooks back in the fold, the Packers appear to have a solid running back group to head towards 2026. Jacobs is the workhorse, Brooks should serve as a do-it-all third-down back, Lloyd hopefully can shake his injury history to become a change of pace, and Martinez and Strong can compete for a potential reserve role. While a late-round draft pick could be in the cards at the position, Green Bay should no longer need to free agency to invest in this position this spring.
Read the full article here