Few offenses in the NFL have shown the level of resilience the Green Bay Packers have in 2025. Even while ranking fourth in EPA per play, fifth in success rate, second in EPA per dropback, and sixth in DVOA, the Packers sustained that level of efficiency through a wave of injuries that depleted all levels of their offense.
Tucker Kraft suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 9, Elgton Jenkins broke his ankle in Week 10, and Christian Watson missed the first seven weeks of the season. Moreover, Jayden Reed broke his collarbone in Week 2 and only returned in December, Josh Jacobs played through injuries in the second half of the year, and Jordan Love missed a game and a half due to a concussion. Yet they still finished as a top-10 offense across nearly every advanced metric, a testament to how well Matt LaFleur navigated injuries and adversity throughout the season.
Packers fans should feel confident about what this group can accomplish heading into 2026. Still, great teams never stop looking to improve, and a young offensive mind who could add even more spark to Green Bay’s offense has just become available on the market.
Mike McDaniel.
The Miami Dolphins parted ways with McDaniel on Thursday, a somewhat surprising move given that he said just days earlier he expected to take part in the search process for Miami’s new general manager. During McDaniel’s time in Miami, the Dolphins’ offense ranked 12th in EPA per play and 14th in success rate.
LaFleur has a prior working relationship with McDaniel. They coached together in Washington from 2011 to 2013, and again in Atlanta in 2015 and 2016 as part of an offensive staff that helped lead the Falcons to a Super Bowl berth and Matt Ryan’s MVP season.
McDaniel is well-versed in the core principles of the Shanahan coaching tree, which would limit the need for a major schematic overhaul. That shared offensive foundation, combined with his familiarity with LaFleur, would ease the transition and help Green Bay maintain continuity while incorporating new ideas.
Adam Stenavich serves as Green Bay’s offensive coordinator, though LaFleur is the primary play-caller. The Packers initially hired Stenavich as their offensive line coach in 2019, a role he held through the 2020 season before being promoted to run game coordinator in 2021 while retaining his offensive line duties.
He was then promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022. If Green Bay were to bring in McDaniel as OC, the logical assumption would be for Stenavich to return to working primarily with the offensive line. The question, however, is whether he would be willing to take on a reduced role when he could potentially pursue an offensive coordinator opportunity elsewhere, and would Green Bay believe McDaniel is a considerable improvement over Stenavich?
Another potential obstacle for Green Bay is that McDaniel will likely want to pursue another head-coaching opportunity. There are eight head-coaching vacancies across the league, and it is reasonable to expect that at least one team will request an interview. The Detroit Lions have also reportedly reached out to McDaniel regarding their open offensive coordinator position. If Green Bay intends to enter the conversation seriously, it would likely need to make a significant financial commitment to make the opportunity competitive.
Perhaps the Packers show genuine interest in McDaniel, or maybe they do what they so often do — stay involved in every conversation without making a move. These are storylines for the next chapter of the offseason. Still, it’s at least interesting to imagine what pairing LaFleur and McDaniel could unlock within the offense, while keeping McDaniel as far away from Detroit as possible.