Cheese Curds: Packers head to mandatory minicamp after Team Offense’s softball rout

The Green Bay Packers moved from spring competition to the next formal checkpoint of their offseason program on Monday, with mandatory minicamp arriving right after the team’s charity fun Friday night. The timing matters because, unlike OTAs, minicamp is designed to bring nearly the entire roster together for a three-day, on-field evaluation window that coaches can treat like a condensed dress rehearsal for the heavier work of training camp.

Friday’s entertainment doubled as a public reminder of how seriously this group can take “non-football” reps. At the 2026 Green Bay Charity Softball Game, Jordan Love and Micah Parsons served as co-hosts for a game built around offense-versus-defense bragging rights, with proceeds supporting Love’s Hands of 10ve Foundation and The Lion Heart Foundation. Love’s Team Offense ultimately dominated, beating Parsons’ Team Defense 12-2.

The offensive side struck early and kept answering every rally with more damage at the plate. According to WBAY, Darian Kinnard won the home run derby with four over-the-fence swings, and Love also participated in the derby. In the game itself, Sean Rhyan hit a solo home run in the first inning, and Trey Smack later added a home run as Team Offense pulled away. Kyren Drones eventually helped put the outcome beyond reach by clearing the bases with a grand slam.

Parsons’ Team Defense tried to play strategy games even on a field where the stakes are charitable, not standings-related. WBAY reported Parsons intentionally walked Smack with the bases loaded and did it again after an earlier intentional-walk decision went against Team Defense. Love framed it as payback in his postgame remarks, saying he did not know who would issue intentional walks in a charity softball game, then likening it to “karma.”

Parsons, recovering from a torn ACL, acknowledged the logic while admitting the plan backfired. WBAY quoted him saying the approach reminded him of facing hitters like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, except his unit had to pick its moment and got punished when Trey Smack produced again.

That charity contest now becomes a prologue to the work the Packers will do on the practice fields starting Tuesday. The team’s offseason calendar, announced by the Packers in early April, places mandatory minicamp from June 9-11, in the middle of the broader offseason workout window. Voluntary workouts begin April 20, followed by OTA weeks in late May and early June.

The organizational emphasis heading into minicamp is partly procedural. NFL teams can structure “workout bonuses” that pay out based on a player meeting an agreed-upon percentage of scheduled offseason workouts, and league guidance notes those bonus provisions have participation limits so teams cannot require absolute attendance. In other words, the financial structure is built to reward staying engaged through the offseason, which is one reason veteran-heavy groups tend to show up in greater numbers as practices stack up.

The practical question for the Packers this week will not be who can throw the longest home run, but who can communicate, execute, and absorb coaching during high-repetition, no-pads sessions. Minicamp is where the offense and defense can turn spring momentum into clearer form, and where young players who have been looking for every chance to stand out can press for more meaningful reps before the schedule shifts again. On this Monday, the message from Friday is simple: in Green Bay right now, the bar is set high, and the competition is not limited to the chalk marks that count in the fall.