Green Bay Packers are in a Tricky Spot with Kevin King

Kevin King is in the final year of his rookie deal and the Green Bay Packers are in a tricky spot when it comes to his future.

The first two seasons of Kevin King’s NFL career with the Green Bay Packers were unfortunately filled with injuries. Out of a possible 32 games, King would appear in just 15 of them with only 11 starts.

Although we saw flashes from King when he was on the field, as they say in the NFL, “your greatest ability is availability,” and we just simply didn’t see that from him.

However, while many wondered if injuries were just going to be a part of his career, in what ended up being a crucial 2019 season for King in terms of his career path, he was able to stay healthy. Last season King would appear in 15 games, including 14 starts, and played in over 77 percent of the Packers’ total defensive snaps. The second-most among cornerbacks behind only Jaire Alexander.

While there certainly were inconsistencies still, and that may just be apart of King’s game, we also saw him play very well. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), King allowed a completion percentage of 60.2 percent on 88 targets, with five interceptions – the second-most in the NFL – 11 pass breakups, and quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 86.6 when throwing his direction.

So with King coming off a very solid season and one that we hope he builds off of, with this being the final year of his rookie deal, the Green Bay Packers are in an interesting spot when it comes to his future.

As most are aware, the Packers 2021 free-agent class is loaded. In addition to King, David Bakhtiari, Kenny Clark, Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and Corey Linsley are all free agents as well. And truthfully, Green Bay might not be able to do much more than re-sign Bakhtiari and Clark given their projected cap situation.

When it comes to King, if he is able to put together a similar or even better – which as I mentioned is certainly in play – 2019-type of season, he could very well be out of the Green Bay Packers’ price range next offseason.

And with the inexperience at the cornerback position already entering the 2020 season, depending on how players like Chandon Sullivan, Josh Jackson, and Ka’dar Hollman perform, King’s departure could leave a hole that must be addressed early on in next year’s draft.

On the flip side, King could be a contract extension candidate. As King has shown, he can be a very solid CB2 in the NFL, however, he was still plenty inconsistent last season and while we were all thrilled to see him healthy in 2019, it’s fair to wonder if he can stay on the field for a second season in a row. These two factors could lead to a much more team-friendly deal if he is re-signed sooner rather than later.

But this, of course, comes with some risk as injuries could pop up again or last season’s production could have been a fluke and King’s play drops off. If the Packers are going to go this route, they need to be confident that 2019 Kevin King was the real Kevin King and that there is still room for his game to grow.

Obviously the Packers see King every day in-season and know his game way better than we do. So maybe this isn’t a difficult decision at all for them and they already know the fate of his future with the team.

However, from the outside looking in, finding the sweet spot in all of this seems rather difficult. A contract extension could very well save money, but has Green Bay seen enough from King to feel comfortable doing that? And waiting until next offseason could result in King being out of their price range if he plays well again.

But for now, and for the 2020 Green Bay Packers, let’s hope that King stays healthy and that we see him build off of his 2019 season.