Packers and Brian Gutekunst at a cornerback crossroads this offseason

Paul Bretl | 3/1/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The defensive line and wide receiver groups are positions where the Packers could make additions this offseason. However, neither currently faces the level of uncertainty that the cornerback unit does.

It’s been reported that the Packers have had trade conversations around cornerback Jaire Alexander. The All-Pro cornerback has, unfortunately, had to navigate injuries, appearing in only 14 games the last two years. When on the field, Alexander can still play at a high level, but he hasn’t consistently had that opportunity as of late.

“We’ll see,” Gutekunst said at the NFL combine when asked if Alexander will be on the team next season. “We’re working through that. He certainly could be, but I think we’ll work through that as we go.”

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Beyond Alexander, the depth, particularly when it comes to experience at this position for the Packers, is quite thin. With Alexander’s future uncertain and Eric Stokes a free agent, that leaves the Packers with Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Kamal Hadden, Kalen King, Kaleb Hayes, and Isaiah Dunn on the roster. Beyond Nixon and Valentine, Dunn’s 116 career defensive snaps over four seasons is the most among the rest.

Rewinding to last offseason, from the outside perspective, there were still some unknowns around the Packers’ cornerback unit. However, internally, the Packers have continued to be quite bullish about that unit, particularly Nixon and Valentine.

Following the Packers’ playoff loss to Philadelphia, Nixon told reporters that he was ready to focus solely on being the team’s top cornerback and was ready to give up being the return man. Now, whether or not things actually play out that way this season remains to be seen, but the Packers did like what Nixon provided them.

Nixon allowed a completion rate of 66% on 86 targets and held opponents to just 9.3 yards per catch with six pass breakups and an interception. Among cornerbacks who played at least 375 coverage snaps, only seven had a lower yards-per-catch allowed than Nixon.

“I think he played really, really well,” Gutekunst said of Nixon’s play. “I think he really fit what Jeff (Hafley) was trying to do. First of all, he’s an outstanding competitor. I didn’t blink when we asked him to do that, but I just think his athleticism and his ability … with his eyes and his ability to tackle served us well out there. For me, he may not have the length that some of those guys on the outside have, but his awareness and ball skills make up for that.”

Valentine, meanwhile, struggled to find steady playing time early on in the year, but during that final stretch of the season, he had definitively won what had been a competition for the CB2 role over Stokes. This included coming away with two interceptions in the final four games, along with holding pass-catchers to under 11.0 yards per catch in five of the final six games last season.

“I think CV is a young player, and the more he plays, it seems like the better he’s getting,” Matt LaFleur said late in the season. “And I think he’s addressed some of the things that we wanted him to work on throughout, not only last year, but into this year, and he’s done a nice job, and certainly he’s made some plays for us, particularly in the last couple of games, and I expect him to get better.”

However, the Packers can’t keep the status quo at this position either. At a minimum, experienced depth is needed, along with Nixon and Valentine needing competition to earn playing time moving forward.

What the Packers’ cornerback room did well last season, even without Alexander, was eliminating explosive plays. However, beyond Xavier McKinney’s interceptions at safety, there wasn’t much ball production with Green Bay ranking 31st in pass deflections. In addition to that, while Nixon and Valentine both limited yards, they gave up a high percentage of completions with Nixon at 66% and Valentine at 82%.

Even when only surrendering 10 yards per catch–which is good for a boundary cornerback–if you’re giving up three receptions on every four targets, that’s a lot of first downs for the offense, which in turn keeps them on the field.

Given the current outlook of this unit, this is a position group where, between free agency and the draft, we will see the Packers double or triple-dip, making several additions. Green Bay does have the salary cap flexibility to take a swing this offseason in free agency, and if things do play out that way, I anticipate that it will be on a cornerback.

As we discussed recently, the wide receiver options, in terms of what the Packers need, is extremely limited, and this defensive line class is extremely deep–so my guess is that’s where Gutekunst addresses that need. But I think cornerback could be the sweet spot in free agency.

That’s not to say that there isn’t high-end talent in the draft, but it’s not an overly deep position group this year either, and when it comes to the Packers giving themselves the most flexibility in the draft, having already tackled this need in free agency will provide that, versus entering Day 1 with the mindset of, ‘we must add to this position group.’ No team wants to be in that position.

The top free-agent options, according to PFF, include DJ Reed, Charvarius Ward, Byron Murphy, and Carlton Davis. I would also add Paulson Adebo as an option as well–an aggressive, ball-hawking corner, who is an ideal fit for man coverage.

In the draft, some early-round names to know are Jahdae Barron (Texas), Trey Amos (Ole Miss), Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky), Shevon Revel (ECU), Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame), Darien Porter (Iowa State), and Azareye’h Thomas (Florida State).

“You know me. I’d love all those guys to be 6-3 1/2 and 220. I’d love that,” Gutekunst said. “I do think with what Jeff’s trying to do, there’s a lot more vision and awareness and instincts out there than maybe we’ve played with in the past.

“So, again, it’s still very important to me that we’re big out there and have some length. But I will say both those guys played very, very well for us. I’m excited about what they’re going to do continuing in this scheme.”

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