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Which three hidden gems on the 2025 roster could help the Packers make a serious Super Bowl run?
In the 2024 regular season, the Green Bay Packers lost six games... by a total of 24 points. There was no game in which this team was out of the spectrum of victory; it was just that sometimes, things rolled the other way.
Then came the Wild Card game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the 22-10 loss, and Jordan Love’s three interceptions. It was a brutal way for the season to end, especially since the game was never really competitive as every other contest had been. It doesn’t lessen the sting that they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions — more was expected and hoped for, and it didn’t happen.
Love, who threw just 11 picks for the second straight season before things went splat, now has two new targets in the 2025 draft in the persons of first-rounder Matthew Golden and third-rounder Savion Williams. There was all the talk last season that the Packers didn’t need a No. 1 receiver to succeed, but at a certain point, that philosophy becomes reductive, and you’re left holding the bag.
Golden, in particular, has the attributes to stand out.
Williams is a one-man demolition derby with contested catches — and he’s not a bad Wildcat quarterback, either.
Beyond Love and his targets, the Packers are once again primed for a deep playoff run... if everything clicks the right way. In the continuation of our “Hidden Gems” series, we look at one underrated veteran, free-agent signing, and draft pick. These three players could all be keys to the Packers’ story in 2025.
When Jaire Alexander has been on the field throughout his seven-year career, he’s been about as good as any cornerback in the NFL. Problem is, “When” has become a major qualifier, as Alexander has missed more games than he’s played over the last four seasons. That was one of the reasons the Packers released Alexander on Monday, along with the $34.6 million in cap space the release gives the franchise over the 2025 and 2026 league years. Most of the cap liberty in this league year is taken up by Alexander’s $17.04 million in dead cap space, which general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Tuesday that the team will take on in 2025 to get it out of the way.
Alexander missed 10 games and 671 snaps last season with knee issues, and when Alexander was off the field, the Packers’ best cornerback was second-year man Carrington Valentine, whom the Packers stole out of Kentucky with the 232nd pick in the seventh round of the 2023 draft.
With Alexander unavailable, Valentine allowed eight catches on 18 targets for 97 yards, 5.4 yards per target, and an opponent EPA per play of -0.23. More than any other Green Bay cornerback, Valentine kept the standard at a certain level. The Packers did allow an opponent passing EPA of -0.03...
