The 2018 season was the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

' 98th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, their 100th overall and their 13th and final season under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, he led t ...

. After missing the playoffs for the first time since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and losing quarterback

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the ...

to injury during their 2017 season, the Packers failed to improve their 7–9 record from last season and finished with a 6–9–1 record, their worst since

. For the first time since

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Jordy Nelson Jordy Ray Nelson (born May 31, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League for 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Kansas State, where he ...

did not play for the Packers as he signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

via free agency during the offseason. On January 7, 2018, Brian Gutekunst was named the new

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, after

Ted Thompson Ted Thompson (January 17, 1953 – January 20, 2021) was an American professional football player and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He was the general manager of the Green Bay Packers from 2005 to 2017. Thompson had a 10-y ...

took over as the senior advisor to football operations. On December 2, 2018, after a 4–7–1 start,

was fired hours after the Packers’ Week 13 loss to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

and

Joe Philbin Joseph Anthony Philbin (born July 2, 1961) is an American football coach who, until recently, served as the offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, a position he h ...

was named as the interim head coach. After a loss to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in week 15, the Packers were eliminated from the postseason for the second consecutive season. This was the first time the Packers missed the postseason in consecutive years since

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. This was also the first time the Packers suffered from consecutive losing seasons since

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, a year before

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

's arrival.

Coaching moves

After missing the playoffs, the Packers made several coaching changes during its offseason, in addition to selecting Brian Gutekunst as the team's new GM. Notable coaching changes included: *

Dom Capers Ernest Dominic Capers (born August 7, 1950) is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the inaugural head coach of the Carolina Panthers and ...

was fired as defensive coordinator, and replaced by former

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

defensive coordinator and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

head coach

Mike Pettine Michael Mark Pettine (born September 25, 1966) is an American football coach who currently is an assistant head coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2014 to 2015, an ...

. *

Edgar Bennett Edgar Bennett III (born February 15, 1969) is an American football coach and former running back who is the wide receivers coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Bennett played college football at Florida State ...

was fired as Offensive Coordinator, and replaced by

, who had previously served as the Packers Offensive Coordinator from 2007 to 2011. *

Mike Trgovac Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

was fired as Defensive Line Coach, and replaced by

Jerry Montgomery Jerry Montgomery (born September 19, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive line coach and running game coordinator for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Playing career Montgomery pl ...

. *

Alex Van Pelt Gregory Alexander Van Pelt (born May 1, 1970) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the ...

left as Quarterbacks Coach, and was replaced by Frank Cignetti Jr. * Luke Getsy left as Receivers Coach, and was replaced by David Raih.

Player movements

Free agents

The league year and free agency started on March 14, 2018.

Trades

Additions

Subtractions

Draft

Draft trades *The Packers traded their first-round pick (14th overall) to New Orleans in exchange for New Orleans’ first-round pick (27th overall), fifth-round pick (147th overall), and 2019 first-round pick. *The Packers traded their first-round pick traded from the Saints (27th overall), a third-round pick (76th overall) and a sixth-round pick (186th overall) to Seattle in exchange for Seattle's 18th overall pick and a seventh-round pick (248th overall). *The Packers traded their fourth-round pick (101st overall), and a fifth-round pick (147th overall) to Carolina in exchange for Carolina's 3rd-round pick (88th overall). *The Packers traded their fourth- and fifth-round selections (114th and 150th overall), and cornerback

Damarious Randall Damarious Wayne Randall (born August 29, 1992) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He played college football at Arizona State and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Early years Ra ...

to Cleveland in exchange for Cleveland's fourth-and fifth-round selections (101st and 138th overall), and quarterback

DeShone Kizer DeShone Allen Kizer (born January 3, 1996) is an American football quarterback who has played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the secon ...

*The Packers were awarded four compensatory picks (133rd, 172nd, 174th and 207th overall). *The Packers traded linebacker Lerentee McCray to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's seventh-round selection (239th overall).

Undrafted free agent additions

Roster cuts

The roster was cut to 53 on September 1, 2018.

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

The preseason schedule was announced on April 11, 2018.

Regular season

Schedule

The regular season schedule was announced on April 19, 2018. Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Chicago Bears

This was the Packers' first win from a 17-point deficit or more entering the 4th quarter in franchise history.

Week 2: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week 3: at Washington Redskins

Week 4: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 5: at Detroit Lions

Week 6: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 8: at Los Angeles Rams

Week 9: at New England Patriots

Week 10: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 11: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 12: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 13: vs. Arizona Cardinals

This was the first home loss to the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

since

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

. Hours after the game, Head Coach

was fired by the Packers.

Week 14: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 15: at Chicago Bears

Week 16: at New York Jets

Week 17: vs. Detroit Lions

With the loss, the Packers closed out the season with a disappointing 6–9–1 record. This was the second straight year in which the Detroit Lions swept the Packers.