The Green Bay Packers last season had one of the worst secondaries in the entire NFL. It was one of the many reasons the franchise decided to fire their former head coach Mike McCarthy.
After trading away Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins, the team nearly had no depth at all at safety. In fact, after drafting Clinton-Dix in the first round of the draft a few years ago, many people were shocked having thought he would be a staple moving forward.
Pro-Football Focus only ranked their secondary 27th overall in the entire league. The season before, their core was even worse. This is why they had gone and drafted Jaire Alexander as a defensive back in the first round last season. He's shown flashes, such as his five pass-breakup performance against the Los Angeles Rams. However, the secondary as a whole was very poor. Not one safety after Clinton-Dix was traded away had an interception. Not one.
This needs to change. Granted, the offense for the Packers will likely be extremely dynamic. Bringing in Matt LeFleur from the Tennesse Titans to institute a modern offense attack will make the team much better.
Aaron Rodgers has to be ecstatic that he'll be able to succeed and used correctly. Many times, he would simply run the offense via audibles during McCarthy's tenure at the tail-end. He'll need to rely less on his legs and freelance ability and more on his deadly accurate cannon for an arm.
However, this still doesn't stop the problem that teams are going to take advantage of their secondary. The deep ball is going to kill them unless they get some help.
That's why the team should go after Earl Thomas. Thomas has been a respected member of the Seattle Seahawks heralded defense for a number of years. From 2010-2017, he's had at least two interceptions every season. He's had five interceptions three times.
Even though he suffered from injury last season, Thomas would ensure that nobody tests the Packers with deep balls. Thomas would have it covered. He's also an excellent open-field tackler and has had over 80 tackles four times in his career. He's not one-dimensional in the slightest.
Moving forward the Packers front office will need to shore up their defensive backfield. They have to improve, or else their team will be doomed against top offenses. Thomas would be an excellent addition to such a depleted position.
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