Right after the 2021 season came to a brutal end, Green Bay Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas said he was open to returning in 2022. According to general manager Brian Gutekunst, Green Bay wants the playmaking cornerback as well.
“Rasul was another great addition to our 2021 team,” Gutekunst said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. “We’d love to have him back. He’s been in this league for a little while and had some success. What he did for us this year, specifically when we had some injuries to Jaire (Alexander), it just really solidified our football team, especially on defense. Obviously, he had the big splash plays, but he also did stuff on special teams and in the run game that maybe don’t make the headlines. Again, we’d love to have Rasul back.”
After getting signed off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad in October, Douglas appeared in 12 games, including nine starts last season. He recorded a team-high five interceptions and returned two of those for touchdowns. Douglas was a Pro Bowl alternate after making a profound impact with the Packers.
As expected, the team wants him back for another season. Finding talent at the cornerback position hasn’t been easy for the franchise, but bringing back Douglas would give the Packers a promising trio featuring Douglas, Alexander, and rookie Eric Stokes.
Green Bay has already started to clear cap space by restructuring the contracts of David Bakhtiari, Aaron Jones, and Kenny Clark. However, this is only the beginning as the team has more work to get under the cap. They also have to sign Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers to new deals.
Any money left over could go towards a new deal for Douglas.
Douglas played on the veteran minimum last year but when asked how much it would take to bring him back Douglas said, “Probably a little bit more, nothing crazy.”