Franklin joins a team that certainly has viable Super Bowl hopes but has stumbled badly at the end of the season the past two years, falling in the Wild Card round to cap a three-game losing streak in the 2024 campaign and a miserable five-game skid in 2025.
Where Franklin, 29, fits into the equation is correcting those failures as a cheaper, but more established replacement for linebacker Quay Walker. Although his play dipped last season, he is just a year removed from a Pro Bowl campaign in which he led the league with 173 tackles. He also has some connections within the organization that should benefit him despite leaving his NFL home of eight years.
His new defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, coached the cornerbacks in Indy during Franklin’s first three years there, and the linebacker said he’s excited about the “fast and physical” style Gannon promises to implement.
“We always bonded over our love of the game, our love of mentality and what it takes to compete at this level,” Franklin said of his relationship with Gannon. “JG knows I love ball, he knows how I love to work and come in and compete and go for it every day. We’re really creating something special in this back room with pieces all over the place, from (Xavier) McKinney to Micah. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what that looks like this fall.”
And even though he hasn’t yet played with fellow Green Bay talent Edgerrin Cooper, he had a chance to bond with him during the Colts’ and Packers’ joint practices during last year’s training camp.
“I got a chance when I practiced last year against Green Bay, just grabbed the young Edge and told him I respect his game and how he’s growing in this league,” Franklin said. “Having been around him for the last month or so, just seeing how he works, his athleticism, man, it’s kind of funny when you’re in Year 9, you’re watching a young bloke run and bend and dip and do all these moves. He’s extremely talented. He’s a playmaker. The first thing I told him when I went into business in the world is we’ve got to be the best standard in the world. I’m holding us, that’s the standard I hold myself to and we’re just going to keep working and keep fighting to get there.”
For now, the grass is vibrantly green for Franklin. The Packers have the pieces, from love under center to Parsons dominating the edge as he returns from a torn ACL to established talent at every level of the defense.
However, that has been the case in the last two years of the love season, without any real success. A somewhat underrated addition, perhaps Franklin can prove to be part of the difference this time around.
“Just grateful to be in that building, grateful to be a part of a team with so much history and with such a bright future,” Franklin said. “That’s a lot of talent, there’s a lot of potential in that building, but we’ve got to go earn it every single day.”