Packers Roster Shows Rico Gafford Listed as CB, Not WR
By Paul Bretl
In late January, the Green Bay Packers signed wide receiver Rico Gafford to a futures deal for the 2022 season.
This is a common practice for every team around the NFL as they begin to build out their 90-man rosters for the upcoming summer–and it is called a futures contract because the deal doesn’t become official until the new league year begins, which is in mid-March when free agency opens.
Gafford went undrafted in 2018 out of Wyoming, where he played cornerback, but at the NFL level, he was converted to a receiver. As a pass-catcher, Gafford has just four career targets — two of which came in 2019 and the other two in 2020, both with Las Vegas — with two receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown.
However, although signed as a receiver, according to the Packers roster over at packers.com, it would appear that Gafford is going to be making the move back to cornerback with Green Bay.
Gafford stands 5’10” and weighs 184 pounds, and ran a blazing 4.22-second 40-yard dash time coming out of college. During his time at Wyoming, he was a boundary corner and allowed a completion rate of 53% on 131 targets over two seasons, with six interceptions and 11 pass breakups, according to PFF ($$).
While he has cornerback experience, there is certainly going to be a learning curve that comes with the move back–and in all likelihood, our expectations shouldn’t be that Gafford is going to see a ton of defensive snaps this season if he does make the roster. Although perhaps he can provided some needed competition at the slot cornerback position, where there is very little NFL experience on this Packers team.
With that said, where he could make an impact is on special teams with that speed of his. Gafford spent time in Las Vegas with now Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia and has some kick return experience at Wyoming as well.
During the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Gafford had seven kick return attempts and averaged 20.0 yards per return. In the NFL, he has one return attempt for 12 yards. In addition to providing some potential competition at kick returner, perhaps Gafford could carve out a role as a gunner on punt coverage or as a jammer.
If the Green Bay Packers do see Gafford as a potential contributor on special teams — he will, of course, have to earn that roster spot first — he was likely never going to make the roster as a receiver–it’s just too crowded.
However, after Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and Rasul Douglas, there are a lot of unknowns on the depth chart at cornerback, and there’s more room for a player like Gafford — a primary special teams contributor — to find a spot on the roster.