Green Bay Packers draft history


The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers have competed in the National Football League since 1921, two years after their original founding by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference and play their home games at Lambeau Field in central Wisconsin. In 1936, the Packers took part in the first NFL draft of college football players and have participated in every NFL draft since. With the seventh pick of the first round of the 1936 draft, Russ Letlow, a guard out of the University of San Francisco, became the Packers' first draft selection.
From 1936 to 1959, the NFL draft was the only selection process to retain the rights to sign college football players, except for that of the drafts of the short-lived All-America Football Conference in the late 1940s. However, starting in 1960, the newly-formed American Football League began a competing draft of the same group of collegiate players. The NFL and AFL competed for the same players from 1960 to 1966, creating a bidding war for signing draft picks and players that threatened the financial sustainability of each league. In 1967, the AFL and NFL announced a merger that would be finalized in 1970. During this time, both leagues implemented a common draft, thus avoiding competition for signing draftees. In addition to the annual draft, special drafts have occurred. These included the 1950 AAFC dispersal draft and the 1984 NFL supplemental draft, where existing NFL teams, including the Packers, were able to select players from other leagues. The AAFC dispersal draft was organized after the AAFC merged with the NFL; three teams from the AAFC were admitted into the NFL, while most of the remaining players from the other five AAFC teams were placed in the dispersal draft. The 1984 supplemental draft occurred after the formation of the United States Football League with the primary purpose of selecting players that had already signed with a USFL team in a separate process from the annual draft. The Canadian Football League was also included in this supplemental draft. In addition to the 1984 supplemental draft, the NFL has hosted an annual supplemental draft since 1977 for players who had circumstances affect their eligibility for the NFL draft. The Packers have only selected a player once in a supplemental draft, taking Mike Wahle in the second round in 1998. With this selection, the Packers forfeited their normal second round pick in the next draft. Additionally, eight expansion drafts occurred, with the most recent in 2002, where newly formed NFL teams were allowed to draft players from existing NFL teams within certain limitations.
Throughout the history of the NFL draft, the number of rounds and the number of picks have fluctuated significantly, depending on the number of teams in the NFL. Thus with 32 teams in the NFL since 2002, there have been 32 standard draft picks per round. The number of rounds peaked to 30 in the years during and after World War II, although that number has been routinely reduced down to the current seven rounds per draft. The order of the draft selection is derived from the previous season's final standings, with the worst team in the league selecting first and the champion selecting last. However, for 12 years from 1947 to 1958, the first overall pick was chosen by a lottery, with that selection replacing what would have been the team's original first-round selection based on their record the previous season. When a team won the lottery, they were then removed from the next year's lottery. The Packers won the last of these lotteries in the 1957 NFL draft, using their bonus pick to select future Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Hornung.
Including Hornung, the Packers have selected 13 players who ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Under the oversight of scout Jack Vainisi, 10 of these players were selected over a 7-year period from 1952 to 1958, culminating in the 1958 NFL draft where the Packers selected future All-Pro Dan Currie and future Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke and Jerry Kramer successively in the first four rounds. This draft has been identified as one of the most successful in the history of the NFL. Vainisi's guidance also led to the Packers drafting quarterback Bart Starr in the 17th round of the 1956 NFL draft; Starr would go on to lead the Packers to five NFL Championships and became one of the lowest drafted players to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On three separate occasions, Packers draft picks have won the Associated Press NFL Rookie of the Year Award: John Brockington, Willie Buchanon and Eddie Lacy. The Packers have had the first selection in a draft twice, in 1957 with Hornung and two years later in 1959, when they selected quarterback Randy Duncan. Duncan signed with the CFL and never played for the Packers. They have also only had the second pick twice: Mike McCoy in 1970 and Tony Mandarich in 1989. The selection of Mandarich has been much maligned over the years. Of the first five picks of the 1989 NFL draft, Mandarich was the only one to not be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders, who were all available to the Packers with the second pick, were chosen after Mandarich with picks three, four and five. The Packers participated in the most recent draft in 2025, selecting 8 players over 7 rounds, including Matthew Golden as their first-round draft pick.

Draft history by year

DraftRoundsOriginal draft orderTotal selectionsFirst-round pick(s)
193697th9
1937109th10
1938127th12
1939229th19
1940229th20
1941207th20
1942229th20
1943328th30
1944327th30
19453211th30
1946326th30
1947326th30
1948327th29
1949255th23
1950 dispersal103rd15
1950304th29
1951305th28
1952304th30
1953307th30
1954303rd29
1954303rd29
1955305th30
1956308th29
1957304th30
1957304th30
1958303rd30
1959301st31
1960205th17
19612012th21
19622014th22
19632014th27
19642013th23
19652010th25
19652010th25
1966209th20
1966209th20
19671725th22
19671725th22
1968175th21
1968175th21
19691712th18
19701716th20
19701716th20
19711712th18
1972177th16
1972177th16
19731721st14
19741712th16
19751710th13'
1976179th14
1977129th12
1977129th12
1978126th14
1978126th14
19791215th12
1980124th12
1980124th12
1981126th11
19821216th11
19831220th12
19841212th12
1984 supplemental312th3
19851214th12
19861214th10'
1987124th14
1988127th12
1989122nd14
19901219th13
19901219th13
1991128th14
1992125th13
1993815th9
1993815th9
1994720th9
199572nd10
1996727th8
1997730th8
1998729th8
1999725th12
2000714th13
2001717th6
2002728th6
2003729th9
2004725th6
2005724th11
200675th12
2007716th11
2008730th9'
200979th8
200979th8
2010723rd7
2011732nd10
2012728th8
2013726th11
2014721st10
2015730th8
2016727th7
2017729th10'
2018714th11
2019712th8
2019712th8
2020730th9
2021729th9
2022728th11
2022728th11
2023715th13
2024725th11
2025723rd8