The Green Bay Packers have named tight end Tucker Kraft one of five season-long captains for the 2026 NFL season, a vote that underscores both his standing in the locker room and the franchise’s faith that he can lead after a difficult year.
Kraft joins quarterback Jordan Love as an offensive captain, with safety Xavier McKinney and linebacker Zaire Franklin representing the defense and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie handling special teams. Love, Kraft, McKinney, and McDuffie all wore the “C” in 2025.
Franklin, acquired from Indianapolis in the offseason after six straight seasons as a Colts captain, is the only newcomer in the group.
The Packers used weekly captains in 2023 and 2024 before returning to a season-long slate last year.
For Kraft, the honor arrives as he works back from a torn ACL suffered against Carolina on November 2, 2025, in what had been an All-Pro-caliber campaign. He is expected to play in Week 1 at Minnesota, though the team may manage his snaps early.
Naming him a captain after that injury, and with him in the final year of his rookie contract, is a public signal that teammates still see him as a core voice on offense. He emerged as one of the league’s most physical and efficient tight ends, particularly after the catch, and Green Bay’s scoring dropped after he left the lineup last fall.
The smaller captain group this year also reflects roster turnover. Last season Green Bay had seven captains, including running back Josh Jacobs, linebacker Quay Walker, and edge rusher Rashan Gary.
Walker and Gary are gone; Jacobs is on the commissioner’s exempt list amid off-field legal issues.
Edge rusher Micah Parsons, a defensive centerpiece recovering from an ACL tear of his own and opening the year on the physically unable to perform list, was not selected. That absence has drawn notice, but the vote belongs to the players, and they chose continuity on offense around Love and Kraft.
Kraft’s second consecutive captaincy is more than a patch on the jersey. It marks him as a player the Packers want setting the tone as they open the season on the road and try to recapture the form they showed when he was healthy.
For a tight end still climbing toward a long-term deal, it is also a reminder that leadership in Green Bay is earned in the meeting rooms and on the practice field, not only in the box score.
The Packers will look to Kraft to be himself again, and now he will do it with official responsibility for the offense.
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