Green Bay Packers: Cornerback will be a Top Priority Again this Offseason

During the last five years, the Green Bay Packers have spent quite a bit of draft capital on the CB position. And it appears that they’ll be doing that again this offseason.

Over the summer, I wrote an article explaining why the cornerback position could end up being a top priority for the Green Bay Packers this upcoming offseason. At the time, a lot hinged on Kevin King’s performance this season, as well as the continued development of Josh Jackson, along with what we would see from Ka’dar Hollman.

Well, we are now heading into Week 16, and I think it’s safe to say that once again, the cornerback position will be a top priority for Green Bay this offseason, particularly in the NFL Draft.

Between the 2019 and 2020 drafts, the Packers had only selected one cornerback, and that was Hollman. However, prior to those years, they sunk quite a bit of draft capital into the position. In 2015 they selected Damarious Randall in the first-round and Quinten Rollins in the second-round. Then in 2017, they took Kevin King at the beginning of Round 2. And in 2018, they spent their first-round pick on Jaire Alexander and their second-round pick on Josh Jackson.

As we are all aware, Randall and Rollins are both long gone, and once Week 1 of the 2021 season rolls around, Alexander could very well be the only one of these cornerbacks left on the roster.

King battled injuries during his first two seasons in Green Bay, appearing in only 15 of the 32 possible regular-season games. However, in 2019, he was able to stay healthy, and he put together a very nice season. His five interceptions were the second-most in football, and he also added 11 pass-breakups, while quarterbacks had a passer-rating of only 86.6 when throwing in his direction.

Unfortunately, this season King has missed six more games, and his play the last two weeks against Detroit and Carolina has been particularly poor. When you combine King’s recent play with his injury history and add in the fact that the salary cap will be reduced in 2021 due to COVID-19, I believe that there is another team out there that will pay King more than the Green Bay Packers will. Rather than 2019 being the jumping-off point in his career, it appears to be the outlier.

Then there is Jackson, who saw playing time during the middle of the season while King was sidelined. Jackson was able to limit the big plays, but the same issues that have plagued him his entire career still exist–quarterbacks are incredibly efficient when targeting him and penalties.

I expect Jackson to be on the roster come training camp, but he could very well be cut before the regular season begins. And even if he’s not, he’s not someone that can be relied upon to play a high-volume of snaps.

So this leaves Green Bay with Alexander and Chandon Sullivan, who will continue to be the primary nickel corner, along with several other young options. Sure, it would be nice if Hollman or Stanford Samuels took a leap in 2021, but once again, that’s not something you want to bank on heading into a new season.

This means that the cornerback position should be at the top of the to-do list this offseason for GM Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers. With a shrunken salary cap, I wouldn’t anticipate any flashy free-agent additions, but rather, they use an early-round selection on the position, hoping to land an immediate contributor.

As has been the case the last several years, I’m sure come draft time, wide receiver will be on the radars of many, as will interior defensive lineman and offensive tackle–all worthy of an early-round pick. However, as it currently stands — and things can absolutely change — one of those first or second round picks should be devoted to the cornerback position. As good as Jaire Alexander is, he can’t play both sides of the field at the same time.