2024 Green Bay Packers training camp preview

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers will open the 2024 training camp with their first full practice on July 22 at Ray Nitschke Field.

Here's a closer look at a few storylines:

Biggest storyline: Another year, another defensive coordinator

Coach Matt LaFleur is on his third defensive coordinator in his six seasons. This time, he plucked Jeff Hafley from the college ranks to take his first NFL defensive coordinator job. However, the former Boston College head coach is not new to the NFL, having served as a defensive assistant with three different NFL teams from 2012 to 2018. Hafley has switched the Packers from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense and has promised an aggressive, attacking style. Those words have been used by coordinators in the past, and it never played out quite that way. "I think we could be really special," new Packers safety Xavier McKinney said. "I think he's going to allow us to be really aggressive, a defense that can create a lot of turnovers, and just play with our instincts. I think that's the biggest part is just letting everybody have a personality about themselves, doing it obviously within the defense."

The most compelling position battle : Kicker

Last offseason, the Packers handed the kicking job to then-rookie Anders Carlson , a sixth-round pick, without any competition whatsoever. Now, he's in the biggest battle of camp after a disastrous ending to last season, when he missed kicks in 10 of his last 12 games, including a botched fourth-quarter field goal that would have given the Packers a seven-point lead in the playoff loss to the 49ers. The Packers had three kickers on their roster all offseason after signing street free agent Jack Podlesny in January and veteran Greg Joseph in March. They recently swapped the third kicker, cutting Podlesny and claiming rookie James Turner off waivers from the Lions. It remains to be seen how long they'll keep three kickers around, but they're going to make someone earn the job this year.

The player with the most to prove : Josh Jacobs

This could also be dubbed the player with the biggest shoes to fill. Either way, it's the running back Jacobs. He's here to replace Aaron Jones , who wouldn't take the sizeable pay cut the Packers asked for and then signed with the Vikings after he was released. Jacobs is younger (26) than Jones (29), and theoretically should have more left in the tank. But Jacobs is coming off the least-productive of his five NFL seasons with the Raiders (805 rushing yards, 3.5 yards per carry) while also missing the most games (four) he has in any season. The Packers gave Jacobs a four-year, $48 million deal in free agency, but in reality, it's a one-year trial that contained only $12.5 million in guaranteed money.

Most impactful offseason addition : Safety

The Packers revamped their entire safety position, and it started with their most expensive acquisition of the offseason, McKinney. They gave the former Giants standout a $23 million signing bonus as part of a four-year, $67 million contract in free agency. The safety spot is key in Hafley's system, and they weren't going to leave that to just anyone. However, they did supplement the position with three safeties in the draft -- Javon Bullard (second round), Evan Williams (fourth) and Kitan Oladapo (fifth).