Packers at NFL trade deadline: Should Green Bay acquire a cornerback or stand pat? – The Athletic

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke to the media shortly after cutting cornerback Jaire Alexander this offseason and said with confidence, despite releasing probably his best cornerback when healthy, that the Packers still had three starting-caliber players on the roster at the position.

That trio included Keisean Nixon, who impressed at outside cornerback during the 2024 season but had never shouldered actual No. 1 cornerback duties for as long as he’d have to in 2025. There was also Nate Hobbs, the four-year, $48 million free-agent signing who primarily played nickel with the Las Vegas Raiders, and Carrington Valentine, a Packers’ 2023 seventh-round pick who flashed in spurts over his first two seasons but entered this season as the team’s third option on the outside.

Nixon has been stellar this season, but he had a disastrous first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, committing two third-down penalties on incompletions that turned into first downs and allowing a touchdown to wide receiver DK Metcalf on a goal-line slant.

Hobbs underwent MCL surgery early in training camp but returned early in the regular season. He’s been so underwhelming that the marquee offseason signing was benched for Valentine in Pittsburgh. Valentine played 62 of 63 defensive snaps to Hobbs’ four against the Steelers and did so admirably.

“We always talk about how it’s going to be a competitive situation, and it was just that,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said of his cornerback room on Monday. “Obviously, everybody sees how you perform in a game, but what nobody sees is what we’re doing on a daily basis in practice. And so C.V. got an opportunity and he went out there, and I thought he played really competitively the entire game … even on the touchdown catch, I just loved how he competed for the football.

“I thought that was big time, and it didn’t go our way in that moment, but I thought, all in all, he showed physicality. He was challenging guys. There was just no gimmies. And I thought that was big time because that’s how we want to play.

“It’s going to continue to be a competitive situation because we still have a ton of confidence in Hobbs. So all of those guys — Keisean — they’re all going to be competing for playing time.”

The Packers are a legitimate Super Bowl contender with the NFL trade deadline approaching at 3 p.m. (CT) Tuesday. Their cornerback room isn’t a disaster, but it’s hardly the best cornerback room in the league.

Should they acquire a proven starter at the position to sure up the back end of coordinator Jeff Hafley’s defense?

Despite Nixon’s rocky beginning to Sunday night, Hobbs’ recent rough stretch and Valentine’s relative inexperience as a consistent starter, cornerback probably isn’t a glaring need in Green Bay.

Eliminating recency bias, Nixon has mostly played well as the team’s No. 1 cornerback. The only stretches in which he was repeatedly beaten were in the first half against the Steelers and late against the Cincinnati Bengals when Ja’Marr Chase showed why he’s probably the NFL’s best wide receiver. Nixon’s coverage wasn’t even inadequate on those plays. Chase would’ve been impossible to defend for most cornerbacks, if not all of them, during that hot streak.

If Hobbs were the Packers’ only other viable option at the position, trading for a cornerback might be more realistic. However, Valentine showed at times Sunday night why he’s a starting-caliber player. If Hobbs is better suited as a nickel or as the No. 3 outside cornerback, does that qualify as a free-agency miss by Gutekunst? Probably, but it’s also not the worst-case scenario to have him as a depth option.

It’s not like there are many options out there that are definitive upgrades at the position, anyway. Several of our NFL beat writers at The Athletic tossed out names of cornerbacks who could be available. That crop included Baltimore Ravens corners Chidobe Awuzie and, yep, Alexander, New York Jets cornerback Michael Carter II, though he’s more of a nickel, and New York Giants 2023 first-rounder Deonte Banks.

For a team already without its first-round pick in the next two drafts, is it worth trading a Day 3 pick for someone who might not play on defense if everyone else at cornerback stays healthy? Fans probably want a shiny new toy at the position, but Hafley hasn’t been as disappointed in the pass defense, specifically in his secondary.

“Our secondary right now, in the NFL, has given up less pass yards per play than any secondary in the National Football League, and I don’t think they get enough credit for that,” Hafley said when he last spoke with the media on Thursday. “Our secondary is No. 1 in the NFL in yards per pass play, and I give them huge credit for that, along with the rush.”

If the Packers do indeed stand pat at this year’s deadline, keep in mind that they’ve already made their blockbuster trade to improve this season’s team. That acquisition wears No. 1 and is the front-runner for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Does one of the biggest trades in league history qualify even if it’s not ratified around the deadline? The Packers might say so, especially since Micah Parsons has been as advertised through seven games in the way he occupies multiple blockers to free up one-on-ones for other rushers, affects the play whether multiple players block him or not and has been stout defending the run despite what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said about that part of his game after the trade.

Green Bay certainly doesn’t need to add a defensive lineman, especially with Sunday night’s return of defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt from a knee injury and the impending return of defensive end Lukas Van Ness from his foot injury. They’re set at linebacker and at safety, as well as quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end and each position on the offensive line.

Perhaps it’s more likely the Packers sell off one of their depth pieces — NFL Network mentioned defensive end Kingsley Enagbare had drawn interest — but he’s been playing well, and there’s still a need to cover for the injured Van Ness.

In other words, it figures to be a relatively uneventful trade deadline for the Packers, which should come as no surprise to those who follow this team year after year.

However, next week will hardly lack fanfare in Green Bay with the Philadelphia Eagles, the defending Super Bowl champions, coming to town days after the trade deadline for “Monday Night Football.”