Story byMark Oldacres, Packers WireThu, December 4, 2025 at 8:42 PM UTC·4 min readAlong with the usual long-term extensions handed out to foundational pieces of the Green Bay Packers roster, general manager Brian Gutekunst signed two players to short-term deals within the last year, and both moves have worked out wonderfully for Green Bay. Former sixth-round pick Isaiah McDuffie had become a reliable contributor over his rookie contract, with his defensive snap count increasing each year from just one as a rookie, to 175 in year two, 551 in year three and 728 in year four. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementStill, most people assumed McDuffie would be allowed to walk after the 2024 season, with solid but unspectacular third linebackers not usually priorities to be extended. Instead, Green Bay signed him to a cheap, short-term extension worth $4 million per year for two years, and it has paid real dividends, with McDuffie playing perhaps the best football of his career in his fifth season. He has not been a full time player for most of the year, mostly getting on the field in base defense as was expected, but McDuffie has been rock solid this year for Jeff Hafley’s defense. The most important job for a linebacker is still to get ball carriers on the ground, and McDuffie has been extremely trustworthy in that regard, currently boasting the lowest missed tackle rate in the NFL at just 3%, the best mark of his career. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNot only is he wrapping opponents up, McDuffie is making more impact plays. He has 24 stops in 182 run defense snaps on the year, which are tackles resulting in a failure for the offense, compared to 28 in the whole of last season on 314 run defense snaps. He ranks 30th out of 96 qualified linebackers in stop rate against the run, up from 74th a year ago, and 22nd in average depth of tackle, up from 55th in 2024. McDuffie took his lumps in a more expanded coverage role a year ago, allowing a passer rating of 129.6, but he has made real strides in 2025, only allowing a passer rating of 64.6, and notching his first career interception against the Vikings recently. With Quay Walker missing the last two games through injury, McDuffie took on a larger responsibility within the defense, starting in two-linebacker looks and wearing the communication helmet. Having more on his plate could easily have meant his performance on the field suffered, but McDuffie stepped up and played his best two games of the year. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHafley knows McDuffie well from their time together at Boston College, clearly trusts him, and likely had something to do with the linebacker sticking around beyond his rookie contract.