A sixth-round pick out of Boston College who worked his way from special teams to a full-time Packers starting linebacker.
Isaiah McDuffie has spent his entire career in Green Bay, developing from a core special-teamer into a tackling machine in the middle of the Packers' defense. He signed a one-year extension worth just shy of five million dollars in July 2026, cementing his place as a rotational-turned-starting piece of the Packers' front seven.
Path to the league
McDuffie played linebacker at Boston College, earning second-team All-ACC honors in 2020 after a career-best 107 tackles. Green Bay selected him in the sixth round, 220th overall, of the 2021 NFL Draft, making him the first Boston College defender the Packers had drafted since B.J. Raji in 2009.
Career highlights
McDuffie spent his first two NFL seasons mostly on special teams before earning eight defensive starts in 2023. He has been a defensive mainstay ever since, topping 90 tackles in each of the past two seasons and developing into one of Green Bay's most reliable run-and-pass defenders at linebacker.
2025 season recap
McDuffie started 12 of 17 games for the Packers in 2025, recording 80 tackles, a sack, an interception, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hits while rotating alongside Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper. His steady 2025 production led directly to the contract extension Green Bay gave him in July 2026.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Isaiah McDuffie
- Packers.com: Isaiah McDuffie
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
17 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | packers | 17 | 92 | 47 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | packers | 17 | 97 | 46 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023 | packers | 16 | 86 | 56 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022 | packers | 17 | 43 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | packers | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Linebacker
- Group
- defense
- College
- Boston College
- Hometown
- Buffalo, NY, USA
- Age
- 27
- Status
- active
Latest news about Isaiah McDuffie
All news →Packers Sign Devonte Wyatt to 3-Year, $57 Million Extension
Green Bay keeps its defensive line rebuild rolling, locking up the 2022 first-round pick through 2029 with a $20 million signing bonus despite the ankle injury that ended his 2025 season.
Packers keep Isaiah McDuffie off the market with a one-year extension
Green Bay locked in its homegrown linebacker on a deal worth $8.8 million over the next two seasons, closing off what would have been an unrestricted free agency run in 2027 and adding another layer of continuity to a busy front-seven offseason.
