Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst called linebacker Isaiah McDuffie an "elite" special teams player and a "glue guy" in the locker room when asked why he re-signed the veteran to a two-year deal this offseason.
McDuffie, a sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, started 25 games on defense over the last two seasons and has played almost 800 career special teams snaps over his first four NFL seasons.
Experienced but still only 25 years old, McDuffie provided four-down value to the Packers. He's now under contract in Green Bay through the 2026 season.
“From the day we’ve had Isaiah, he’s done everything that we would ask from him as far as the way he handles himself,” Gutekunst said Monday from the Annual League Meeting in Florida. “He’s been an elite special teams player from the beginning, certainly started a lot of games at linebacker for us, so I just thought, as we were talking to him, that it made a lot of sense to bring him back. He’s just a glue guy, does everything the right way and again, when you have a player of his caliber, who’s been an elite teams player and really performed very well every time you put him on the field on defense, it just made sense.”
McDuffie started all 17 games at linebacker last season, producing career highs in tackles (97), passes defensed (3) and forced fumbles (1). He was part of a terrific run-stopping defense but had issues in coverage, allowing 54 catches on 64 targets and five touchdown passes into his coverage.
According to Pro Football Focus, McDuffie has 27 career tackles on special teams, including 21 solo tackles. He had 13 total tackles (10 solo) and earned an elite special teams grade in 2022. While his snaps have been reduced each of the last two seasons on special teams, likely as a result of a bigger role at linebacker, McDuffie still produced 10 total tackles and only one missed tackle while playing on the third phases in 2023 and 2024.
His two-year deal has a base value of only $8 million but provides an opportunity to compete to start once again in 2025. The Packers are returning Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper and Ty'Ron Hopper, all top-100 picks in recent drafts, but McDuffie has clearly earned the trust of the coaching staff and personnel decision-makers. Unless beaten out for a starting job by Hopper, McDuffie will likely be the No. 3 linebacker behind Walker and Cooper in the base defense. And given the current makeup of the roster, he'll likely be a key part of Rich Bisaccia's special teams, especially after the third phase lost Eric Wilson in free agency.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers see LB Isaiah McDuffie as 'elite special teams player' and 'glue guy'