NFL Offseason/Free Agency/Non Draft Thread

[Fosco33]

Rumor is that Nate Hobbs is our new CB on a 4yr 48million dollar deal. Seems high but maybe I'm missing something.

16m guaranteed.

Has more years starting than INTs and was ranked 110th in league for CBs…

Seems oddly high

[Fosco33]

So we had cap and didn’t have yet sign a vet WR or premier DL… makes sense

[Joemailman]

16m guaranteed.

Has more years starting than INTs and was ranked 110th in league for CBs…

Seems oddly high

Don't know much about him because he's played with Raiders. His completion pct. allowed has gone down every year, so maybe Packers see him as an ascending player.

[Fosco33]

Highlight reel:

https://x.com/cheeseheadtv/status/1899212098934374639?s=42

[run pMc]

Hobbs is a good tackler and played mostly in the slot... but that contract looks like outside corner money to me.
Feels like an overpay to me, but $16M guaranteed over 4 years is not horrible, they can cut him easily after 2 years.
Gives them another body in the room, and I wonder if they are working on something with Jaire or using this to tighten the screws on that situation. As it is Hobbs is an upgrade from Stokes. I have to think signing Hobbs is as much about scheme fit for Hafley as anything else, will be curious to hear what they say about where he'll play and how they want to deploy him. I thought they wanted to keep Bullard in the slot.

[Joemailman]

I don't think he'll just be a slot guy. He has the height and arm length to play boundary. I don't know that much about Hobbs, but Gute has a pretty good track record on free agent signings.

[Deputy Nutz]

So we had cap and didn’t have yet sign a vet WR or premier DL… makes sense

have you seen the free agent list of WRs? I wouldn't waste my breath on them.

[Fritz]

Hobbs is a good tackler and played mostly in the slot... but that contract looks like outside corner money to me.
Feels like an overpay to me, but $16M guaranteed over 4 years is not horrible, they can cut him easily after 2 years.
Gives them another body in the room, and I wonder if they are working on something with Jaire or using this to tighten the screws on that situation. As it is Hobbs is an upgrade from Stokes. I have to think signing Hobbs is as much about scheme fit for Hafley as anything else, will be curious to hear what they say about where he'll play and how they want to deploy him. I thought they wanted to keep Bullard in the slot.

First, being merely an "upgrade from Stokes" is very faint praise; my mother might be able to clear that bar. Secondly, I hope you're right this is somehow about scheme fit - from what I've read Hobbs is much more a slot guy than an outside guy, so if he's going to play the slot, then what do you do with your 2nd round draft pick from last year? Where would Bullard play? Evanescent Williams and McKinney have the safety spots locked down. So that would mean they think Hobbs can play outside, right? It would also seem to suggest that Jaire's days with the team really truly will be over. I don't think you can have that kind of money tied up in three outside cornerbacks - Alexander, Hobbs, Nixon.

It's a bit of a head scratcher for me, but you've got to presume the Packers know all these things and have an idea about how it'll all fit together. The most obvious is that they think Hobbs can play outside, so it'd be Hobbs/Nixon outside and Bullard inside, with Valentine backing up outside and maybe drafting a young corner in April. Though probably not with the first round pick. Or even the second?

[Deputy Nutz]

I think they like Valentine better than Nixon on the outside. I am not sure how it all works out, only what Nixon went blabbering on about after the season in wanting to be a full time corner on the outside. to me, he is the dimeback if this defense wants to be elite. I didn't hate Stokes by the end of the year. Not sure if the Packers would want to bring him back and let him compete, but I wouldn't hate it on a one year prove it deal. Alexander will be released unless something crazy happens. So I still think the Packers need to invest at the position regardless of the Hobbs signing. Packer should be looking at drafting a corner in the first 3 rounds this year. They should have done it last year.

[run pMc]

I think they like Valentine but I also think he drives them crazy. He occasionally blows assignments, and his tackling is not great (ask Dallas Goddert). That said, he's young (was 21 when drafted) and has some talent. He's not bad. I think they put Nixon outside out of necessity (and him probably pestering Hafley to do play him there) and he exceeded their expectations. He was not great in the slot and seemed to play better outside. Problem with evaluating the CBs last year is by mid-season teams were attacking the MOF because the coverage by McDuffie, et al was not nearly as good as on the outside.

I agree they will need to invest in CBs

They also will need to invest in pass-rush: A QB under pressure can make an average secondary look like a great one.

[Fritz]

Agreed with you both. They'll need to draft another corner, maybe two. I'm just not sure that corner will come in the first round - with Hobbs/Nixon/Bullard, he'd be a dime back. And that's not a lot of bang for your buck for the first year. I'm thinking they go corner in round three, maybe round two.

I'm hoping they'll grab a top-notch defensive tackle in the first round, or a defensive end if a good enough one is available at #23.

Second round receiver, third round corner? But what do I know? Not much. Not much at all.

I have been thinking the whole "BPA" thing is not as clear-cut as I used to think. My thinking was, well, if you're convinced a guy who's at a position you don't "need" - say, a tight end this year - is going to be an All Pro, you take him, because better an All Pro tight end than a jag at corner or defensive end or wherever. But that thinking can only hold up if you're able to consistently and correctly determine which guys are going to be head-and-shoulders-better than other guys. And no one has that down to a science. So unless some guy mysteriously drops from the top ten (Aaron Rodgers, Warren Sapp), you can't say for sure that one guy is obviously and clearly going to be a better tight end than another guy is going to be a corner or defensive tackle. So need can play a part, and probably should. Because if you take Mr. Super Star For Sure tight end when you really need a defensive tackle, and it turns out Mr. Super Star For Sure is not such a sure thing, well, you screwed yourself.

[QBME]

Don't know where to post this but seems right.

Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 Olympic men's hockey team, was being loudly criticized for passing over a couple of players who were widely recognized as being the best on the ice.

Herb simply replied "I'm not interested in the best players. I'm interested in the best team".

[Teamcheez1]

Cooper Kupp is being floated as a potential signee.
Not sure what he has left. Leadership may have some value.

[bobblehead]

I think they like Valentine better than Nixon on the outside. I am not sure how it all works out, only what Nixon went blabbering on about after the season in wanting to be a full time corner on the outside. to me, he is the dimeback if this defense wants to be elite. I didn't hate Stokes by the end of the year. Not sure if the Packers would want to bring him back and let him compete, but I wouldn't hate it on a one year prove it deal. Alexander will be released unless something crazy happens. So I still think the Packers need to invest at the position regardless of the Hobbs signing. Packer should be looking at drafting a corner in the first 3 rounds this year. They should have done it last year.

The packers have a long track record of giving up on defensive backs right before they get past the injury bug and put it together.

[bobblehead]

I think they like Valentine but I also think he drives them crazy. He occasionally blows assignments, and his tackling is not great (ask Dallas Goddert). That said, he's young (was 21 when drafted) and has some talent. He's not bad. I think they put Nixon outside out of necessity (and him probably pestering Hafley to do play him there) and he exceeded their expectations. He was not great in the slot and seemed to play better outside. Problem with evaluating the CBs last year is by mid-season teams were attacking the MOF because the coverage by McDuffie, et al was not nearly as good as on the outside.

I agree they will need to invest in CBs

They also will need to invest in pass-rush: A QB under pressure can make an average secondary look like a great one.

It wasn't just McDuffie. In that breakout game by Cooper (Detroit on Thur night was it, or Minn...I'm old) he was destroyed in coverage. We all got excited about his dominance in the run game, but he was atrocious in the passing game.