Packers reveal jersey numbers for 2026 draft picks

Brandon Cisse: #2

Verdict: Elite Cisse wore number two during his true sophomore season at NC State, but this is a phenomenal number for a highly-drafted skill position player. Shockingly, only two players have worn number two in a game for the Packers in the last 100 years, but Mason Crosby had a long career in it before Malik Willis did an excellent job backing up Jordan Love with that digit. Cisse is a great candidate to continue making this number an exciting one in Green Bay.

Chris McClellan: #55

Verdict: It’s fine-ish McClellan was never going to have an opportunity to wear his college number, and even if he had, #7 is not an aesthetically pleasing choice on an NFL defensive lineman. That number belongs to Javon Bullard now, who switched from 20 to 7 this offseason. Doubling the digit was out as well, as 77 is Jordan Morgan’s number. Instead, McClellan gets number 55, which was vacated when Kingsley Enagbare left in free agency. Unfortunately, numbers in the 50s have been linebacker and offensive linemen numbers in Green Bay in the recent past. 55 in particular is even more specific, having been worn exclusively by off-ball linebackers or edge rushers for the Packers for at least 50 years (think Za’Darius Smith, Desmond Bishop, and Bernardo Harris). The Packers have no numbers available in the 90s at present, but a few may come open after final cuts in the summer. Don’t rule out a switch for McClellan near the end of training camp. Looking at the class as a whole, I’d have advocated for McClellan to take 76 (or reassign one of the 90s to him) and then give this number to go to the Packers’ next draft pick. But if the players get to pick their numbers in order of drafting, then there’s not much to be done.

Dani Dennis-Sutton: #51

Verdict: Ew Poor DDS. The Dentist wore 33 in college, but Evan Williams has that number for the Packers, while #3 is semi-officially retired for Tony Canadeo. He would actually have been a much better fit for 55 than McClellan in this writer’s opinion; instead he gets 51, which has largely belonged to a host of underwhelming linebackers in recent memory (Krys Barnes, Kyler Fackrell, Brady Poppinga, and the best of the bunch, Brian Williams). Meanwhile, the best players to wear 51 in team history were, oddly, a center (Hall of Famer Jim Ringo) and tailback Irv Comp in the 1940s.

Jager Burton: #52

Verdict: Hell yeah Now we’re talking. After a lengthy stretch of pass-rushers wearing 52, it goes to a big boy who could end up as the team’s starting center in the future. Burton will look to follow in Frank Winters’ footsteps and return this number to offensive line glory.

Domani Jackson: #20

Verdict: Solid With single digit numbers drying up, Jackson gets a solid defensive back number. He’s taking over from Bullard, who had a good second season wearing 20 before his move to a single digit. There just isn’t a lot of strong history with these digits in Green Bay for some reason, with DBs Kevin King and Atari Bigby and return specialist Allen Rossum being the most notable players to wear 20 for any length of time.

Trey Smack: #28

Verdict: Weird Kickers are weird now that the NFL relaxed its numbering rules. Unfortunately for Smack, his college number 29 is held by an All-Pro in Xavier McKinney, so he grabbed the closest thing do it that he could. 28 is historically a DB and running back number for the Packers, of course; cornerback Willie Buchanon won Defensive Rookie of the Year and had an All-Pro season in 28 while AJ Dillon wore it for five seasons as a moderately successful backup running back. Lucas Havrisik wore 35 last year and Brayden Narveson had 44 the year before, so there’s some (small) precedent for a recent Packers kicker going outside of the traditional 1-19 range. However, there just aren’t that many numbers in the single-digits and teens to go around in Green Bay, especially when four are officially retired and another two (5 and 12) are unofficially unavailable. Still there was one: 13 is fully open, and that would have been fun, but instead we’re getting weird.