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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

' 98th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), their 100th overall and their 13th and final season under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, 2020 t ...

. After missing the playoffs for the first time since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and losing quarterback

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears foo ...

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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Jordy Nelson Jordy Ray Nelson (born May 31, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders. He played ...

did not play for the Packers as he signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

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 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) NFC West, West division. The ...

and Joe Philbin 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

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 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, a year before

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

'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 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

defensive coordinator and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

head coach

Mike Pettine Michael Mark Pettine (born September 25, 1966) is an American football coach who is the assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach of the Cleveland Br ...

. * Edgar Bennett was fired as offensive coordinator, and replaced by Joe Philbin, who had previously served as the Packers offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2011. * Mike Trgovac was fired as defensive line coach, and replaced by Jerry Montgomery. *

Alex Van Pelt Gregory Alexander Van Pelt (born May 1, 1970) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who currently serves as a senior offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. He played in the NF ...

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 to Cleveland in exchange for Cleveland's fourth-and fifth-round selections (101st and 138th overall), and quarterback DeShone Kizer *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. This was especially noted for

coming back into the game after being carted off with a leg injury in the first half.

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 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 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. Hours after the game, head coach

was fired by the Packers.

Week 14: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 15: at Chicago Bears

With the dishearting loss the Packers not only allowed the Bears to clinch the NFC North but they themselves were disqualified from playoff contention. This was also the Packers last loss to the Bears until 2024.

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.