Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst made a pair of moves on Tuesday designed to improve the team’s cornerback room. Cornerback play was a problem for the Packers last season and without a first-round pick in this year’s draft, the team had to find another way to improve their talent and depth at the position. The Packers signed free agent corner Benjamin St-Juste to a new contract and then announced they would designate Nate Hobbs as a post-June 1st cap casualty. But have these moves improved the Packers cornerback room?
Have the Packers Improved Their Cornerback Room? The Addition
The Packers inked St-Juste to a two-year, $10 million contract. The former University of Minnesota star was originally a third-round pick by the Washington Football Club in 2021. He has excellent size for a cornerback at 6’3” and 200 pounds. St-Juste spent four seasons with Washington and started for three of them. In 2025, he signed a one-year contract to join the Los Angeles Chargers. While he only started for two games, St-Juste played an important role in the Chargers secondary.
Last season, St-Juste excelled in coverage. According to pro-footall-reference.com, opposing quarterbacks completed just 53.5 percent of their passes when throwing to receivers covered by St-Juste and had a quarterback rating of only 68.3. He intercepted one pass and provided the Chargers with sure tackling.
St-Juste can clearly play the boundary corner. With his size, he is better suited to playing the boundary than the slot. The Packers needed to upgrade their boundary corners as Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine are the incumbent starters.
Moving On From a Mistake
The Packers also announced they would release cornerback Nate Hobbs after one season in Green Bay. Gutekunst signed Hobbs to a four-year, $48 million free agent contract. Unfortunately, Hobbs struggled with injuries throughout the season.
The Packers took a chance that Hobbs would be able to play the boundary despite most of his previous experience in the NFL coming in the slot. Experts were not sure if the injuries Hobbs struggled through were the biggest reason he played poorly on the boundary or if he simply lacked the skills to play there.
By parting with Hobbs, the Packers don’t have to pay a $6.25 million roster bonus to him later this week. The cap savings will be negligible, but the Packers won’t have to shell out bonus money for a player who is no longer in their plans. The Packers will carry his full cap hit until June 1st.
While the signing of Hobbs did not work out for the Packers, at least Gutekunst cut his losses and didn’t double down on an oft-injured player who didn’t seem to have a position on the Packers because Javon Bullard would be ahead of him on the depth chart in the slot.
Have the Packers Improved Their Cornerback Room? Looking Ahead
The Packers now have more talent and depth on the boundary, something they truly needed. St-Juste will likely challenge Valentine for the starting job opposite Nixon. Obviously, the Packers could still add another cornerback in the draft and/or in free agency to compete as well.
St-Juste has better career statistics in coverage than Hobbs does, and he has historically been less prone to injury. In the last three seasons, St-Juste has missed just two games. Hobbs missed 12 games in the last two seasons alone.
This does make the Packers cornerback room more balanced and better on the boundary. He also improves the size and tackling ability at corner. However, additional talent upgrades are needed at the position as the Packers still lack a legitimate number one cover corner. St-Juste is also not a ballhawk having intercepted just two passes in his five NFL seasons. The Packers still lack a cornerback with ball hawking skills.
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