Acme Packing Company
After taking on some potential cap casualties that could result in actual roster movement, we’re now firmly in what I’d gently refer to as the “bad news” portion of this project.
Elgton Jenkins? Probably gone, and for understandable reasons. Same goes for Rashan Gary. Even Josh Jacobs might make some sense. But as much anger as Keisean Nixon might generate among Packers fans, it doesn’t make much sense to move on, which is bad news if you were out for roster blood.
And the same is true for Nate Hobbs who, if not for Nixon, would probably be bearing the brunt of Packers’ fans’ ire this offseason.
Hobbs signed with the Packers on a four-year, $48 million contract last spring. The deal included a $16 million signing bonus and another $10.25 million in in guarantees, a rich deal for a player who had never been a full-time starter with his previous team, the Las Vegas Raiders, and had never been healthy enough to play an entire season start to finish.
Unfortunately, his first season in Green Bay was much the same. He was only healthy enough to appear in 11 games, missing the other six due to a variety of injuries; Hobbs finished out the season on injured reserve.
Now heading into his second season with the Packers, Hobbs’ cap hit is set to more than double. Can the Packers justify keeping him around for this season and beyond?
Hobbs’ best attribute was perhaps his least utilized in 2025: he has some legitimate inside/outside versatility. With the Raiders, Hobbs regularly played both outside and in the slot, and it was as a slot defender that he put up his best performances in Las Vegas.
The Packers, however, played Hobbs primarily as an outside corner; he only logged double-digit snaps in the slot in two games last year. That’s partly due to Javon Bullard’s ascendance there, but it’s odd that a player who succeeded there before wouldn’t get more of a crack at the spot.
Hobbs also showed himself to be an aggressive tackler, bringing a hard-nosed mentality the Packers’ defense has sorely lacked in recent years. Unfortunately, Hobbs may have gone a little too hard; one of his injuries early in the season appears to have been at least partially to blame on Hobbs’ being a bit too aggressive in practice. Still, with the Packers constantly facing accusations containing some kind of insinuation or outright criticism that they’re soft, it’s hard to complain too much about that kind of mentality as long as it doesn’t get Hobbs or his teammates regularly hurt.
Unfortunately, for all his aggression Hobbs, to put it bluntly, was just not very good when he was on the field. Even before his second injury of the year cost him Weeks 10-13, he had essentially been phased out of the defensive lineup in favor of Carrington Valentine — which is saying something, considering Valentine’s own...
