On May 16, the Green Bay Packers made Jaire Alexander the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback with a four-year, $84 million contract extension that included a $30 million signing bonus and keeps Alexander in that defense through the 2026 season if everything works out. This was part of a concerted effort by general manager Brian Gutekunst to give his defense marquee players at every level, whether that shorts Aaron Rodgers of offensive weapons or not.
Alexander missed the last three months of the 2021 regular season with a shoulder injury, returning for Green Bay’s divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but the Packers had a great plan in place in Alexander’s stead. They signed cornerback Rasul Douglas off the Cardinals’ practice squad in early October, and Douglas managed to define his new secondary as he had never before in his career. 2021 first-round cornerback Eric Stokes played well, safeties Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos held things up pretty well at the safety positions, and free agent signing De’Vondre Campbell had a Rasul Douglas-like impact at the inside linebacker position — something the Packers have lacked for the most part since the days of Ray Nitschke.
The Packers doubled down on their defensive intentions in the first round of the 2022 draft. With the 22nd overall pick, acquired from the Las Vegas Raiders in the Davante Adams trade, Green Bay took linebacker Quay Walker, and went after Walker’s Georgia teammate, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, with the 28th overall pick. The Packers did take two receivers for Rodgers later in the draft — North Dakota State’s Christian Watson in the second round, and Nevada’s Romeo Doubs in the fourth — but it’s interesting that the predominant mindset for this team, with one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in a shorter age window, has been mostly about the defensive side of the ball.
“I would say the expectations we have for our whole football team, but specifically our defense, is really high,” Gutekunst said last month after the draft. “I thought they played really well last year and they ended on a very high note, playing at a very high level. We’ve got some guys coming back who will be here for their second year and be important. I like the way that group is growing together. It’s a new season, and they’ve got to put in the work and the time and the chemistry and all the things that go with that, but I think the expectation level for that group is going to be high.”
The thing is, the Packers’ defense was still more vulnerable than the organization would have liked. Green Bay ranked 22nd in Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA metric — 16th against the pass, and 28th against the run. Moreover, the Packers had more defensive issues as the season went along; they dropped from 15th to 25th overall from Week 10 through the end of the regular season, 12th to 18th against the pass, and 24th to 28th against the run. Green Bay prevented the San Francisco 49ers from scoring an offensive touchdown in the divisional round in what turned out to be a special teams debacle for the team, but it was clear that more was needed.
If the pieces all come together, it might be defense, not Rodgers and his remaining targets, that could lead the Packers to their sixth Super Bowl, and perhaps their fifth Lombardi Trophy.
Here’s how it could happen, from the front of the defense to the back.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Football Outsiders, Pro Football Focus, and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated).
