Green Bay Packers

Safety Is A Sneaky Need For the Packers

Photo Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time in a long time, it feels like the Green Bay Packers have a top-tier secondary.

Usually around this time of year, we discuss the secondary as a major need, and the draft’s top cornerbacks are analyzed as must-pick options. But this year feels different.

Eric Stokes had a stellar rookie season. Rasul Douglas went from an unknown to a significant part of Joe Barry’s defense and earned a payday. Jaire Alexander is one of the best lockdown corners in the league, and an extension feels inevitable. In terms of safeties, Adrian Amos is one of the most reliable defenders around, and Darnell Savage hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. This could be a dominant group.

But the future beyond 2022 is uncertain. Both Amos and Savage aren’t locks to return in 2023. And the Packers let Henry Black, the team’s third safety who played over 280 defensive snaps last year, test the waters in free agency. Despite the group looking good on paper, safety is a sneaky need for the Packers.

Adrian Amos has been a force of reliability since departing the Bears in 2019. Amos became a star defender in Green Bay outside of Eddie Jackson‘s shadow. That continued last season, as Amos racked up 76 solo tackles and two interceptions, good for a 74.7 PFF score. His health is as reliable as his game, as he’s never missed a game since joining the Green and Gold.

Amos restructured his contract, but his current deal still expires after this season. He will be the rare free-agency pickup to play his entire contract out with a team. But will Green Bay offer him another deal? Amos is playing at a high level, but he’ll turn 30 before next season. Third contracts are rare in Green Bay, especially for older players. An extension for Amos before his contract expires makes sense. However, it is far from a guarantee.

Despite being the older safety of Green Bay’s starting tandem, Amos’ return feels more likely than Savage’s. Savage seemed to be ascending but fell off by the end of the campaign. He struggled in coverage and dropped more than a few game-altering interceptions. Savage finished 2021 with a 59.7 PFF grade.

Andy Herman, who ranks every Packers player through every snap, had Savage as his second-lowest graded defender. (Amos was the fourth-highest.) The Packers still want to bank on Savage’s upside and have the fifth-year option available. But fellow 2019 first-rounder Rashan Gary will be up for a new year as well, and Elgton Jenkins will almost certainly get a long-term deal. Unless Savage takes the leap in Year 4, he could be the odd man out next season.

Regardless of the long-term status of their two starting safeties, they can’t ignore the third safety spot in 2023. Henry Black may have been mostly a special teams player, but he played roughly 25% of defensive snaps. That’s not insignificant. Black struggled as a third safety, but the team didn’t have many other options. Replacing those snaps and getting more value from them will be key. Bringing in a capable third safety would also allow Barry to move Savage around a bit more, providing him a better chance to show his skills.

Vernon Scott and Shawn Davis round out the room, but it’s almost a certainty that Brian Gutekunst will select a safety over draft weekend. The question is, how early?

It won’t be popular with many fans, but Gutekunst could target a safety as early as Round 1. Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton is one of the most talented players in this draft class, but many NFL teams don’t view safety as a premium position. It would be shocking if he dropped into the 20s. But if he did, the Packers should power-walk the card to the podium (running is dangerous). Hamilton is the latest chess piece capable of playing a variety of positions, a defensive weapon with multiple roles.

Hamilton might not make it to Green Bay’s picking range, but Michigan’s Daxton Hill and Georgia’s Lewis Cine and more than consolation prizes.

Hill checks a lot of boxes for the Packers. He fits their athletic thresholds, is young, played at a school that consistently produced NFL talent, and fills a position of need. Green Bay has a lot of talented corners, but no one is an ideal slot corner. Stokes and Douglas are best on the boundary, and it isn’t an ideal usage of Alexander’s talents to keep him in the slot exclusively. Hill would be an ideal slot defender and is versatile enough to play safety or cornerback.

Cine checks many of the same boxes Hill does, and the National Champion is a tone-setting in terms of speed and aggressiveness. The Packers love freak athletes, and Cine had his own display every week against NFL-caliber players. Green Bay’s defense could use more bite, and Cine has plenty of teeth.

These top options could see playing time immediately in their rookie seasons and transition to full starters in Year 2 if Amos or Savage are gone. Even if the Packers don’t look early, finding a capable third safety in the later rounds should be a priority.

The Packers probably have their best secondary since their title run in 2010. Barring catastrophic injury luck, this isn’t a unit that will have another situation like Ladarius Gunter covering Julio Jones in the NFC Championship. But the unit can be even better. Green Bay could look to the future and invest early. Regardless, the team needs to address the third safety position. We’ll get a good idea of how the Packers feel about the position later this month.

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