Zaire Franklin isn’t shy about handing out praise, and on Thursday he pointed it squarely at Green Bay’s defensive backs. The Packers linebacker compared the secondary’s pre-snap communication to a Navy SEAL unit, a comparison that carries weight given who’s making it.
Franklin lines up in the middle of Green Bay’s defense. He’s the one relaying calls, adjusting fronts, and making sure eleven guys are on the same page before the ball is snapped. When he says the back end is talking like an elite military unit, that’s not a throwaway line from a guy watching film from the sideline. It’s coming from the signal-caller himself.
WFRV Local 5 Sports’ Kyle Malzhan shared the comment Thursday in a post on X: “#Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin compared Green Bay’s secondary to the Navy Seals with how much the defensive backs are communicating on defense.”
#Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin compared Green Bay’s secondary to the Navy Seals with how much the defensive backs are communicating on defense.
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) August 6, 2026
Franklin’s path to Green Bay
The Packers acquired Franklin from the Indianapolis Colts in March, sending defensive lineman Colby Wooden to Indianapolis in the deal. It wasn’t a small swap. Franklin, a Syracuse product, led the NFL with 173 tackles in 2024. That season earned him his first Pro Bowl nod and second-team All-Pro recognition from the Associated Press.
He’s now 30 years old and stepping into a defense still being built from the ground up under new coordinator Jonathan Gannon. That transition is exactly why Franklin’s voice matters right now. Someone has to organize the huddle while a new scheme gets installed, and Green Bay brought him in partly to be that guy.
Why the comparison matters
A secondary that communicates well isn’t just good vibes. It’s the difference between a clean rotation and a blown coverage that turns into a 60-yard touchdown. Defensive backs have to read motion, pass off receivers, and fix busts before the snap happens, not after. When a middle linebacker says that group sounds like a Navy SEAL unit, he’s describing tight verbal discipline under pressure — the kind that keeps a defense from unraveling when an offense tries to confuse it.
Franklin made the comment during his Thursday media availability, ahead of the team’s annual Family Night practice at Lambeau Field. Head coach Matt LaFleur has separately praised Franklin’s mentality and leadership throughout training camp, another sign the veteran is already carving out a role beyond just making tackles.
Still waiting for snap one
Franklin has yet to play a regular-season down for Green Bay. The trade closed in March, and camp is where he’s building chemistry with a defense that looks different than the one he ran in Indianapolis for eight seasons. Early praise like this doesn’t guarantee anything once the games start counting. But for a Packers team leaning on Gannon’s new system, a locked-in secondary and a middle linebacker willing to vouch for it publicly is a promising sign heading into the regular season.
