The Green Bay Packers have not had a very active offseason, as many of their biggest moves were subtractions. Losing cornerback Nate Hobbs, which comes with a tacit white-flag waiving after handing him a big contract in free agency, has put this secondary in alarming territory.
Assuming Javon Bullard returns to his versatile role in the nickel, there is a very real chance that Green Bay ends up starting Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine as the two outside cornerbacks early in the 2026 season. The Packers did use a second-round pick on South Carolina rookie Brandon Cisse, but he may not be a starter immediately.
Despite how Green Bay might want to be patient with their young pick, ESPN's Ben Solak is watching the three-way competition between Cisse, Valentine, and veteran signing Benjamin St-Juste as the No. 2 cornerback next to Nixon. Whiffing on Hobbs is going to have some major ripple effects that are going to impact this secondary for years.
Packers could deal with bad CB room after loss of Nate Hobbs
Hobbs, who has since signed with the San Francisco 49ers, was handed a four-year contract to be a force multiplier in this defense. Instead, he was cut loose after one season, going down as one of the worst free agent signings Green Bay has made in recent memory. Adding St-Juste is a cheap alternative, but he may even be a worse cornerback.
Cisse has oodles of athletic talent and has shown thatbhe can be a playmaker in the right scheme, but his raw nature could force the Packers to make Year 1 more of a redshirt campaign. The term "developmental cornerback" is very rarely thrown around, but that might be exactly what the Packers are signing up for in their quest to make Cisse work.
The best scenario for them is that Cisse manages to hit the ground running and emerge as a playmaker immediately in the secondary. Even if that happens, however, a cornerback room supplemented by Nixon and Valentine is not going to scare many offenses across the league. Hobbs, if he played up to his potential, would have been an immense boost for this group.
While the Packers have been more aggressive spenders in free agency under Brian Gutekunst, missing on Hobbs and overpaying for Aaron Banks has put them in a spot where they need to stomach a lack of depth in key areas durng their 2026 title push.
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