The Green Bay Packers will have the draft on 29th this year and can have up to 10 previous draft day trading choices and compensatory choices.
Will they keep all 10? It is unlikely. Plan for them to spend their starting capital up and down the board.
Green Bay has some salary cap problems to solve this off-season, so several players will need to be released and several free agents will not be able to be rehired. This probably includes cornerback Kevin King.
This means that Packers will need to depend on veteran draft and minimal free agents to obtain some solid depth to cover the receivers. Jaire Alexander is perhaps the best cornerback in the NFL, but you still need another player to cover the other side of the field. Here are some options that Green Bay could consider in the first rounds of the project:
Asante Samuel Jr. (Junior, State of Florida)
Samuel may be one of the shortest cornerbacks in the draft with 5’10 ”, but he still had a great 2020 season and is ranked as the third best choice for his position. He must choose about 40.
Green Bay will have to choose 58 in the second round, and they can easily negotiate. It is unlikely to fall that far, but if teams desperately need a corner of immediate impact like the Packers, players like Caleb Farley of Virginia Tech or Patrick Surtain II of Alabama should enter the first round.
More than eight games during the 2020 season, Samuel had 30 tackles and three interceptions. His first two came in the first game, and he still had 74 total yards in those two choices. He also had a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and six defended passes.
In 2019 he had 48 tackles in total, an interception and 14 passes saved in 12 games.
If the Florida native sounds familiar, it is because he is the son of former cornerback Asante Samuel. Samuel played with the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons between 2003 and 2013. He was twice a Super Bowl champion, four times a Bowler and first All-Pro team in 2007.
Unless the Packers negotiate for him, I don’t see him falling that far.
Shaun Wade (Junior, Ohio)
Wade can go to Green Bay, but they may also need to change it if they really want to. It should go between choices 45 and 50.
Badger fans generally don’t want anything to do with the state of Ohio, but they would probably make an exception if he helped the Packers get to the Super Bowl next year.
Wade, like Samuel, is a native of Florida and reaches 6’1 ”, 195 lbs. Over his three years, he had 76 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and six interceptions. Wade returned one of those choices for a touchdown last year.
Before college, Wade won the USA Today High School Football Play of the year in his last season, and won the defense Lockhead Martin at the end of the year by the US Army All-American bowl.
During his time in Ohio, it was said that he might be more suited to nickel, as a third security player or playing mostly in the area. This may not work for what Packers need, but depth in the secondary is never a bad thing.
It may not be the closed corner they want, but its roof is potentially very high.
Tyson Campbell (Junior, Georgia)
Apparently, the college’s only good cornerbacks grew up in Florida. Campbell is expected to come close to choice 55, and it would be ideal if he fell for the Packers in the second round.
The 6’2 ”defensive back had only one interception in its three years, but has only played a total of 17 games in the past two seasons. He suffered a concussion and had a toe turf during the 2019 season, but recorded an impressive number of 86 tackles along with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and nine defended passes.
Campbell was a five-star recruit out of high school and ranked the second best cornerback in the country. No. 1? His schoolmate Patrick Surtain II, who is also in this year’s draft and is expected to go early in the first phase.
Tyson will turn 21 shortly before this year’s recruitment. What better way to celebrate than to come to Green Bay?
Of the three options listed above, it seems the most likely and may be the best choice. He is tall, has solid tackle skills and played alongside one of the best cornerbacks in college football. His raw talent combined with Alexander could help him develop into a solid No. 2 corner for the Packers.
Will there be any available?
They may not be able to sketch any of the corners listed above. All or none of them could be easily chosen before the Packers started the draft in the second round. Green Bay can also trade and grab someone like Surtain II or Farley in the first round. The only thing that would stop them is that there are also a lot of solid linebackers to choose from.
And since free agents are almost out of the question this year for Packers, they will need to create a solid cornerback, some linebackers, a wide receiver and some offensive line depth if they are to position themselves as an NFC contender again. Let’s hope that one of these three corners is on the arrival training ground. But with 10 possible choices, they can also find value in later rounds.