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The Green Bay Packers are no longer a team rebuilding around a young quarterback. They’re hunting hardware. They snuck into the postseason in 2024 and gave the 49ers a scare in the Wild Card round. Now, the Packers enter the 2025 NFL season with higher expectations. That also comes with far less margin for error. Jordan Love’s breakout campaign erased any doubts about his future under center, and head coach Matt LaFleur has returned with one of the most complete offensive units in the NFC. However, for all their growth and momentum, there’s a looming concern that could unravel it all.
As the pads come on and the battles begin in training camp, one flaw stands out like a blown coverage on third down: the cornerback room.
Urgency Fueled the Offseason, Questions Remain
Do the Packers finally have a Super Bowl-caliber roster? General manager Brian Gutekunst seems to believe they do. His offseason moves backed that up with quiet conviction rather than headline-grabbing splashes. He reinforced the interior offensive line with veteran guard Aaron Banks and added versatile corner Nate Hobbs to help stabilize a reshuffled secondary. They also used a rare first-round pick on wide receiver Matthew Golden out of Houston. That gives Love a potential long-term WR2 alongside Christian Watson.
Still, Gutekunst has made it clear that the team wasn’t about flashy moves. He emphasized that they about chasing stars. Their moves were all about chasing championships.
Of course, results don’t come without talent at key positions. And in today’s NFL, few positions are more important or more exposed than cornerback.
Fatal Flaw: A Secondary in Flux
Here’s the brutal truth about Green Bay’s cornerback room. It is, at best, unproven. At worst, it is dangerously thin. The departure of Jaire Alexander, once the heart of the Packers' pass defense, was a bombshell. That's even if it felt inevitable after a prolonged contract standoff. Eric Stokes, another former first-rounder, followed him out the door. What’s left is a mix of high-risk projections and raw youth.
Hobbs, of course, was the team’s biggest free-agent addition at the position. He is penciled in as a starter, but he’s missed 13 games over the past two seasons due to injuries. He has also bounced between nickel and outside roles. Keisean Nixon, a standout returner, now enters camp as the team’s No. 1 corner. That says less about Nixon’s ceiling and more about how little Green Bay has to work with.
Carrington Valentine flashed potential in limited snaps last year. He has impressed in offseason workouts, but cornerback is a position known for volatility from year to year. Then there’s seventh-round rookie Micah Robinson. He is a long, athletic prospect with upside. That said, he didn’t face top-tier competition in college and will now be asked to contribute early.
And if that’s not shaky enough, no other cornerback on the current roster played a single regular-season snap last year. That’s a risky proposition in a conference filled with elite receivers.
Hafley’s Hands Are Full
Enter new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. He's a DB guru whose college defenses routinely churned out NFL-ready talent. Hafley’s influence on the unit is already being felt, particularly with how the Packers plan to use their safeties to support the corners.
Xavier McKinney, another offseason signing, gives them a rangy presence in the back end. However, who lines up next to him is very much up for grabs. Rookie Javon Bullard could see snaps as a nickel corner or strong safety hybrid. Evan Williams has also received praise for his play recognition and physicality.
The plan seems to be to get the five best defensive backs on the field, even if that means unconventional alignments. Hafley will mix and match based on opponent and game script. However, schemes only go so far. At some point, someone needs to cover Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, or CeeDee Lamb—one-on-one, downfield, with the game on the line.
Right now, it’s unclear if anyone on this roster is truly equipped to do that consistently.
Training Camp Will Define the Ceiling
So what must the Packers accomplish in training camp? They need to figure out who can cover.
The offense is ready and defensive front is stout. The safeties are versatile. But if cornerback play doesn’t stabilize in July and August, Green Bay’s title aspirations could be undone by one fatal flaw.
All eyes will be on Hobbs’ durability, Nixon’s growth, Valentine’s consistency, and whether Bullard or Williams can mask weaknesses on the outside. Hafley’s system is built on aggressiveness and tight coverage. These are traits easier drawn up than executed without reliable corners.
Camp is where the depth chart will be carved. Matchups in joint practices, preseason reps against live bullets, and situational drills in 11-on-11s will all factor into determining who gets the first crack in Week 1.
Looking Ahead
Because if the Packers can’t figure out their cornerback rotation now, they’ll be figuring it out in real time. And they will try to do it while trying to keep pace in a loaded NFC.
The Packers are ready to win. But if they don’t shore up their cornerback room in camp, they might not even survive the gauntlet of their regular-season schedule, let alone make a deep playoff run.
Championship windows don’t stay open forever. And sometimes, all it takes is one crack in the glass for everything to fall apart.
