Safety is arguably the Packers biggest positional need this offseason. If GM Brian Gutekunst chooses to address this position in free agency, there are three free agents with ties to the Packers’ defensive coaching staff, including new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
Both depth and playmaking are needed at the safety position. Under contract at the moment is Benny Sapp, Anthony Johnson, and Zayne Anderson. No Packers safety from 2023 finished in the top half of the NFL in forced incompletions, while missed tackles, and poor communication at times, especially without Darnell Savage when he was injured, led to coverage breakdowns.
On the flip side, Jonathan Owens was at this best when he was making plays at the line of scrimmage. Savage was commended for his new role as a leader on a few occasions by Matt LaFleur, while Johnson plays every snap at full speed. However, at the end of the day, this was a group with a low ceiling and when mistakes were made, they were often costly.
The playoff loss to San Francisco was a prime example of this with a missed tackle by Savage contributing to the 39-yard touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey along with Johnson being out of position on the touchdown pass to George Kittle.
“I think the back end is probably where we weren’t as consistent as we needed to be and I’d like that to be shored up,” Gutekunst said. “There will probably be some moving pieces there going into next year, but it’s kind of like it always is, I want a fast physical, aggressive defense that plays sound.
“And again, I thought there were some really, really good moments, particularly late where we were playing some very good football teams and they played very well. But the consistency is what I always look for.”
In addition to switching to a 4-3 scheme under Hafley, we may also see a lot more cover-1 from the Packers defense this season. Boston College ranked first in cover-1 usage during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, while ranking fifth this past year.
Although we may not see the Packers running single-high looks at the same rate – as Hafley said in a recent interview, college compared to the NFL are two very different games – if that coverage plans to be a bigger factor in Green Bay’s week-to-week defensive plan, then it requires the right type of safeties to run it effectively. This includes a centerfield-like safety who can play deep and cover a lot of ground, along with someone comfortable playing down in the box, either helping against the run or covering the slot.
I wouldn’t expect that the Packers are going to go on a spending spree in free agency, but compared to last offseason, there is more flexibility to make moves. At $2.8 million over the projected salary cap, there is still work to be done before the Packers can make any additions, and as always, there is give and take. Freeing up cap space for the current year by restructuring deals limits options in future years by pushing cap charges to 2025 and beyond.
“I think it just depends on the player, right,” said Gutekunst about free agency. “It depends on who that is and how he can impact our football team. I don’t think we’ll shy away from adding impact players if we have to push things down the road. We’d prefer not to do that, but at the same time, this is about winning and trying to win a championship, so if that’s something that makes sense, we’ll do it.”
On PFF’s list of its 150 best free agents, 15 safeties were listed. Of note, three of those players have past experience either playing under Hafley or another member of the Packers current defensive coaching staff. While familiarity with a player and the player’s familiarity with a coach or system certainly doesn’t determine everything, when it comes to making an outside addition to the team via free agency, you can’t overlook the importance of that familiarity factor either.