4 Packers free agents that definitely won't be back in 2024

Rudy Ford

One free-agent safety the Packers should re-sign is Rudy Ford, but it seems unlikely. According to Pro Football Focus, Ford allowed a passer rating of just 30.1 in his coverage this season, ranking No. 1 among all safeties in the NFL.

Yet, for some reason, Green Bay preferred to play Darnell Savage and Jonathan Owens ahead of him.

Ford missed the final game of the season due to injury, but he had already lost his starting job in the secondary by that point. From Week 13 on, Ford only played a significant role on defense in one game, which was in Week 15, when Savage was injured. Outside of that performance, Ford played a combined 17 defensive snaps in his final four games of the season. Most of his work came on special teams.

Ford was one of the only players in the secondary capable of forcing a turnover. His two interceptions led the Packers in 2023, and he made three last season.

Unless the Packers plan to have Ford start at safety next year, it seems inevitable that he will sign elsewhere in free agency. The fact that Savage and Owens started ahead of him down the stretch seems to indicate that he will be playing for another team in 2024.

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