The Green Bay Packers Are Screwing Up Their Offseason Again

The Green Bay Packers have been, as is tradition, quiet over the NFL free agency period. They didn't have much cap space to work with, so ok, it is what it is. They lost All-Pro center Corey Linsley and backup running back Jamaal Williams but kept Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones. Gotta take the good with the bad.

Until now. Now every Green Bay Packers fan has a right to be pissed off. Flashbacks of Kevin King inexcusably getting beat deep on a hail mary just before halftime of the NFC Championship game will permeate their minds. So too will the image of King getting beat on the first touchdown in that game. Because guess what Packers fans? Heeeeeeee's baaaaaaaack.

The one thing Packers fans had going for them this offseason was the idea of upgrading the cornerback position opposite All-Pro Jaire Alexander. King was gone, finito, so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen goodbye after four inauspicious, injury-riddled years. Until this news dropped. Now he's back, hello, where's my welcome home sign, ready to get picked on again by opposing quarterbacks, who will certainly favor his side of the field over Alexander's.

It makes you wonder what the Packers are doing. They wasted a first- and second-round draft pick in 2020 on players who will be backups this year. Now they appear content starting a player at an important position despite his obvious flaws playing said position and his inability to stay healthy (King has missed 23 games in four years). Or they just overpaid King to be a nickel corner. Either way, this is a perplexing decision.

Instead of spending $6 million on a mediocre corner, why not spend it on someone who can help Aaron Rodgers, like a wide receiver? AJ Green signed with the Cardinals for $6 million and Emmanuel Sanders signed with the Bills for the same amount. TY Hilton remains unsigned, as does Antonio Brown. They're both former All-Pro receivers. The Packers would have been better off signing one of them and then drafting a cornerback in the first or second round. Instead, they kept a guy who shouldn't start for them in 2021 and remain weak at a critical position on offense.

This isn't to rip King. He was smart to take this deal. No other team likely offered him this much so he jumped on the bag before it was pulled out from underneath him. This is all to say the Packers seem to be investing in the wrong places while, for whatever reason, refusing to upgrade the players who surround their most important player. They failed Aaron Rodgers going into 2020 and they're failing him again now.

Maybe King has a great season in 2021 and makes me look stupid. Maybe TY Hilton, Antonio Brown, AJ Green and Emmanuel Sanders all suck in 2021 and make me look stupid. Perhaps the Packers draft a star offensive piece this year and make me look stupid. But that's a lot of ifs. Meanwhile, from the outside looking in, their moves in free agency make little sense and their path to the Super Bowl appears no clearer than when King was getting torched by Scotty Miller in the NFC Championship. Sorry Packers fans.