The highlights of the Green Bay Packers’ offseason include the additions of left guard Aaron Banks and cornerback Nate Hobbs … and that’s about it. Outside of those to acquisitions, it’s been pretty quiet.
ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote up a summary of Green Bay’s moves with positives and negatives to both. On one hand, Solak notes that getting Banks should be a boon for the Packers’ ground game. Solak also notes Hobbs’ strengths as a run defender and how he’s flourished playing in the slot.
But it isn’t all fine and dandy. Solak explained why.
Both Banks and Hobbs were players I would have been interested in signing, but I would’ve tapped out at the $19.25 million per year for Banks and $12 million per year for Hobbs. Banks’ best ball was in the beginning of the 2023 season — quite a while ago. Reportedly, the Packers are moving Hobbs to the outside, which is a challenging transition.
The money is one angle. The reality is a lot of teams entered this offseason with plenty of cash on hand, so some contracts ended up being bloated. Could that be the case with Banks and Hobbs? Potentially. Still, if both players ball out in 2025, nobody will care about the price tag attached to the name.
What’s more curious is Solak’s assertion that the Packers intend to move Hobbs to the outside when his best ball has been played in the slot.
Is the plan to roll with Keisean Nixon and Hobbs on the outside and have Javon Bullard in the slot? That would put cornerback Carrington Valentine in a reserve role. If Green Bay had three-corner looks, Hobbs could slide into the slot in those situations.
There is a risk in signing someone who’s thrived in one spot and paying them handsomely with the idea of sliding them somewhere else. Hobbs isn’t completely foreign to playing the outside, but it’s not where he excelled.