The Green Bay Packers traded away Rasul Douglas in order to give young cornerback Carrington Valentine more playing time. A seventh round draft pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Valentine impressed during training camp and against opponents’ starters in the preseason.
He answered the call on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams’ impeccable wide receiver duo, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, allowing just one reception despite being targeted eight times. Poetically, it was a 2018 game against the Rams that saw then-rookie Jaire Alexander breakout with five pass deflections.
In addition to Valentine’s stellar play, Alexander and Keisean Nixon also played well on Sunday, helping to limit Brett Rypien to just 130 passing yards.
Despite good play from their cornerback room, one NFL analyst believes that Green Bay should go after another cornerback with experience in the NFC North.
NFL Analyst Calls for the Green Bay Packers to Sign Cameron Dantzler
The Bleacher Report staff publishes a weekly article identifying each NFL team’s biggest needs and offers suggestions for players that they can add to fill those needs. While they identified offensive line depth as the Packers’ biggest need, they did list cornerback among their other needs due to the trade of Douglas. They also claimed that cornerback was the easiest need for them to fill now by signing former Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cameron Dantzler off of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad:
“While trading Rasul Douglas was a good move for the Packers because they needed to add draft picks and Douglas was only signed through 2024, that move does make cornerback a need for the defense. But they are also looking at a potential rebuild in the offseason, meaning they need to get younger.
“Dantzler is on the Saints’ practice squad, so he can be added to the Packers’ active roster as long as he’s not one of New Orleans’ four protected players. The 2020 third-round pick has plenty of talent and doesn’t turn 26 until next September, meaning he’s worth taking a flier on for the second half of 2023.
“Plus, it can’t hurt that Dantzler spent the first three years of his career with the Vikings, so he should know the division well.”
This would be an interesting move given the fact that Douglas himself was picked off of the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad in 2021 to help solve the Packers’ need at cornerback that season.
The Green Bay Packers May Not Be Looking for More Cornerback Help
The problem with suggesting that the Packers could look into signing a cornerback is that they have already stated that they made the Douglas trade because they want to give the younger players they already have more playing time. Signing another cornerback would, in theory, accomplish the opposite.
In their Week Nine win over the Rams, Valentine was the team’s highest-graded defender on PFF, with Alexander being the fifth-highest graded defender and Nixon the sixth. In other words, the three starting cornerbacks are already among the Packers best players on defense.
That being said, Eric Stokes is on IR and Corey Ballentine is really the only depth they have at the position following the starters. Green Bay may add a defensive back for depth and to fill a 53-man roster spot, but it is not likely that anyone they sign sees much playing time barring another injury.
