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Green Bay upgraded one cornerback spot with Benjamin St-Juste, but the bigger issue sits up front as 1,708 defensive line snaps walk out the door. (Image via Getty)
According to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated’s Packers On SI, the Green Bay Packers did one smart thing in free agency and one dangerous thing. They got cheaper and potentially better at cornerback.
They also stripped real snaps and real run defense out of the front without replacing enough of it.That split matters more now because Micah Parsons is working back from a torn ACL. Green Bay can talk itself into upside all it wants, but upside does not replace production. Not in March, and definitely not by Week 1.
Brian Gutekunst may have finally corrected his cornerback mistake
Huber’s reporting makes the logic clear. Green Bay moved on from Nate Hobbs after one rough year and signed Benjamin St-Juste to a two-year, $10 million deal.
On price alone, that looks like a smart recovery by Brian Gutekunst.The bigger point is performance. Hobbs had been paid like a top-20 cornerback, but the production never matched it. Huber noted that Hobbs managed only three interceptions and 19 passes defensed across four seasons with the Raiders. He also missed 16 games from 2022 through 2024. One scout line in Huber’s story said it best: “Injured players get injured.”
St-Juste is not a star, and Green Bay should not pretend otherwise. But the Packers do not need a headline move here. They need a functional one. Huber reported that St-Juste had 41 passes defensed across five seasons and allowed a lower completion rate than Hobbs. He also showed better tackling trends in recent years.That is why this move works. Gutekunst did not double down on a bad bet. He cut the cost, added size, and gave the defense a chance to get steadier at corner.
For a team that still needs help in the secondary, that is a good piece of business.
The Packers’ Defensive Line problem is bigger than any one signing
This is where the story turns. Huber reported that Green Bay traded Colby Wooden and Rashan Gary and then lost Kingsley Enagbare in free agency. That is 1,708 snaps gone from the defensive line room.You can argue about ceiling. You cannot argue with the workload.Wooden played 587 snaps. Gary played 653. Enagbare played 468. Huber also wrote that Wooden was Green Bay’s best run-stopping defensive tackle and Enagbare was its best run-stopping defensive end.
Those are not small losses for a defense already asking a lot from Parsons once he returns.The Packers did add Javon Hargrave, but Huber’s point was blunt. The pass rush may improve. The run defense likely will not. That is the tradeoff. And right now, Green Bay has not done enough to prove the gamble is worth it.The concern gets even louder when you look at the edge group behind Parsons. Huber pointed to Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Collin Oliver, and Brenton Cox as possible options.
That is a lot of projection for a team that wants to contend.So yes, Gutekunst may have landed a bargain at cornerback. But that cannot hide the real issue. Green Bay fixed a leak in one room while the front wall still looks cracked. Until the Packers add instant help on the defensive line, this free agency run stays incomplete.
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