Packers Update Fifth-Year Option Status of Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt

Will the Green Bay Packers exercise the fifth-year options on 2022 first-round draft picks Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt?

That’s not just a million-dollar question. That’s about $28.7 million dollars’ worth of questions.

The deadline to make that decision is coming up. The NFL Draft will conclude on Saturday, April 26. The deadline is the following Thursday, May 1.

At his predraft press conference with reporters at Lambeau Field on Monday, Gutekunst said he was “pretty close” to making those decisions but nothing will be official until after the draft. 

“We’d like to keep those guys around for ‘26 and beyond,” Gutekunst said on Monday.

That could mean triggering their fifth-year option to retain them for 2026 or re-signing them to a long-term contract.

Fifth-year option salaries are position-based and come in four tiers: multiple Pro Bowls (initial selections and not making it as an alternate), one Pro Bowl (initial selection), playing time (75 percent in two of the player’s first three seasons, an average of 75 percent in three seasons or 50-plus percent in each of three seasons) and basic (everybody else).

Triggering the option on Walker would cost the Packers $14.751 million, based on playing time. Activating the option on Wyatt, who didn’t meet any of the playing-time thresholds, would cost the Packers $13.922 million.

The fifth-year option contract is fully guaranteed.

The 22nd pick of the 2022 draft, Wyatt has played 44 of a possible 51 games with 43 starts. He had 121 tackles in 17 games as a rookie, 118 tackles in 14 games in 2023 and 102 tackles in 13 games in 2024. He had a career-high nine tackles for losses in 2024 but a career-low two passes defensed. He has four turnover plays – three forced fumbles (all as a rookie) and one interception (in 2023).

“I think Quay is a prime example where he’s playing his best football,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said in December, “and I still he’s going to get even better because I have that high of expectations for him because I think he’s that talented, and you’re starting to see it. And if you guys were able to watch him in practice right now, he’s practicing with a whole different level of confidence. You can hear it, just by how loud he is when he’s communicating, how he’s lining up, how he’s moving around.”

Wyatt had 5.5 sacks and six tackles for losses in 17 games in 2023. He might have had a breakout 2024 season if not for an early-season ankle injury that took away his momentum. In 14 games, he had five sacks and nine tackles for losses.

According to Pro Football Focus, 93 interior defensive linemen played at least 200 pass-rushing snaps. Wyatt ranked 10th in pass-rush win rate and fourth in pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap.

“I was not thinking about it at all,” Wyatt said of the option at the end of the season. “I just wanted to be where my feet at. I would love it, you feel me? But other than that, I just want to be where my feet at and fight for the Super Bowl, stuff like that first.”

Walker and Wyatt have a combined salary-cap charge of about $8.5 million in 2025. They’d both blow that number away in 2026, when the Packers have only $6.5 million of cap space even with them not on the ledger, according to OverTheCap.com.

“We're super-fired-up about both those guys seasons this year,” Gutekunst said at the end of the season. “Quay continued to make a leap, and another guy who had struggled through injuries at the end of the year, but he was really impactful for us this year. Continues to be a great leader for us. Certainly think we would love to have him around here for longer than just a couple years. He's that kind of guy.

“And D-Wy was probably our most consistent pass rusher from the inside this year. Both of them dealt with some injuries and was really proud of how they attacked those and played through some things this year. But I think both those guys had their best years as pros so far.”