The Green Bay Packers are one of the few teams that have not yet signed an unrestricted free agent since the start of the new league year.
A team caught in the salary cap did not find bargains at positions of need, especially defender, so the wait continues.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber, the Packers found the “price too high” for several different corner options, a position the team “explored” in the free agency.
Some of the top defenders, including William Jackson, Shaquill Griffin, Ronald Darby and Patrick Peterson, have signed new deals worth $ 10 million or more a year.
Although the corner defenders fly off the free agent board, there are a few left. As of Friday, veterans such as Richard Sherman, Adoree Jackson, Malcolm Butler, Janoris Jenkins and Xavier Rhodes are still available.
Packers may be able to get involved as time goes on and prices fall.
The Chicago Bears will soon add Kyle Fuller, but Huber’s source did not expect the Packers to be players for the former All-Pro. General Manager Brian Gutekunst signed Fuller on an offer sheet in 2018, but Bears agreed. Fuller is likely to have a large market once he is officially a free agent.
Packers lack the room under the lid to conclude a big contract, complicating things even in a depressed free agent market. After having to make a series of moves to get under the lid, this always looked like a team that has to negotiate in the free agency.
The Packers brought him back on the corner of slot Chandon Sullivan in front of the first restricted offer, but Kevin King, holder in the perimeter in recent years, is an unlimited and still unsigned free agent. It is unclear whether the Packers have any interest in returning King in 2021 or whether finding an update on the 2017 second-round pick up and down in 2017 is a priority.
Finding the right veteran corner in the free agency could be a decision-making for Packers’ 2021 defense. King, while playing opposite All-Pro Jaire Alexander in 2020, struggled with the volume of targets thrown in his coverage. A real 2nd-place update in the corner could help the Packers turn from a good defense into a big frontier this season.