With the arrival of free agency and the offseason’s main event less than two months away, the 2025 Green Bay Packers are beginning to take shape.
After the playoff loss in Philadelphia, general manager Brian Gutekunst made it clear that it’s “time we started competing for championships.” The story of the 2024 Packers was an inability to finish competitive games against the NFC’s best teams after beating up on inferior opponents all season. Looking at what separates them from the conference’s top contenders, running back Josh Jacobs speculated that they need “at least three” more big pieces, including a top wideout.
This time last year, the Packers signed Jacobs and top safety Xavier McKinney on the open market. They both turned in dominant performances and assumed leadership on their sides of the ball. However, repeating that performance in a relatively weak free-agency class would be challenging. As names began to fly off the board, and many to NFC North rivals, it was clear that Green Bay was uncomfortable with the market-clearing prices. However, Los Angeles Dodgers team president Andrew Friedman said that if you’re rational about every free agent, you’ll come in third place for every free agent.
Gutekunst threw money at former San Francisco 49ers guard Aaron Banks, who signed a four-year, $77 million deal. You can never have enough offensive linemen, and Gutekunst takes that seriously. Still, it remains to be seen who will shift over to center or where 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan will fit into the equation.
The next signing was an important one: cornerback Nate Hobbs. The injury-prone slot specialist from the Las Vegas Raiders is not a No. 1 by any means, but that is a room that desperately needed some open-market reinforcements.
Cornerback is one of the most premium positions on an NFL roster, alongside offensive tackle and edge rusher. It is arguably even more important in the NFC North because Green Bay has to deal with Justin Jefferson, D.J. Moore, and Amon-Ra St. Brown on a biannual basis. The Packers are widely believed to be parting ways with star cornerback Jaire Alexander. Their frustrations with his availability, cost, and potential fit into the team culture are justifiable. Still, his departure will create a cornerback room that isn’t championship-caliber.
Trading or releasing Alexander, Gutekunst’s first draft pick and the guy who ultimately saved them from Ladarius Gunter purgatory, led many to believe that the Packers intended to shop at the top of the limited cornerback market with guys like D.J. Reed. After he went to Detroit, Carlton Davis went to New England, Paulson Adebo went to New York, and Charvarius Ward went to Indianapolis, it was getting late early. The Nate Hobbs deal, reported as four years and $48 million, was panned as a desperate overpay. However, it will function more like four separate one-year deals with team options and most of the guaranteed money on the front end.
With most reasonably big (and medium-sized) names off the market, the draft becomes the only real place for Gutekunst to add a running mate for Hobbs, Carrington Valentine, and Keisean Nixon. Any rookie will likely have a certain amount of growing pains, even a first-round prize like Jahdae Barron. It is increasingly difficult to see how Gutekunst can create a cornerback room to compete in 2025. Right now, it feels like a massive liability that Jordan Love and the offense will have to compensate for, whilst he has yet to receive his true No. 1 weapon that has been discussed in fan and media circles for a while now.
The Packers spent three years developing Love behind Aaron Rodgers, and he’s now undergone an additional two years of development as the starter of a strong young team. They have spent so much time laying the groundwork with him and their young offense that they have already had to pay him for the long term.
When building a team around him, there is no time to wait for a young cornerback or two to develop, particularly when they can range from what Alexander became to what Eric Stokes became. It’s worth wondering whether Gutekunst and the front office might reconsider parting ways with Alexander, who Hobbs name-checked as one of the first Packers to congratulate him on his new deal. If not, seeing a path to a cornerback room that can allow Green Bay to seriously contend in 2025 is challenging.