Michael Davis, the former Los Angeles Chargers cornerback and now free agent, could provide an under the radar option for the Green Bay Packers, who have to address their cornerback depth this offseason.
Brad Spielberger of PFF recently named the Packers as a potential landing spot in free agency for Davis.
“Davis’ longtime cornerbacks coach with the Chargers, Derrick Ansley, was added to the Packers’ coaching staff this offseason,” wrote Spielberger. “With injuries and depth questions at cornerback, Davis provides insurance.”
Derrick Ansley, the new Packers defensive pass game coordinator, spent three seasons with Davis, coaching the defensive backs in Los Angeles during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and was the teams’ defensive coordinator in 2023.
Davis has spent his entire career with the Chargers after going undrafted in 2017 out of BYU. Davis is a boundary cornerback and has proven to be quite durable, playing at least 73 percent of the Chargers defensive snaps in each of the last four years.
His best stretch of football came during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, when Davis allowed a completion rate of only 53 percent on 160 combined targets. He would also hold opponents to 11.9 yards per catch while coming away with 20 pass breakups and two interceptions.
More recently in 2023, Davis surrendered a completion rate of 65.6 percent at a modest 12.9 yards per catch with seven pass breakups and an interception. Davis’ missed tackle rate jumped to 14.3 percent this past season as well, but for much of his career he has shown to be capable in that regard as well.
Adding Davis won’t break the bank by any means for the Packers either, with Spotrac projecting that he will earn a two-year deal worth $4.6 million, or $2.3 million per year.
As Spielberger mentioned, the addition of Davis would purely be for depth at the cornerback position—a veteran that the Packers could lean on if they were in a pinch and someone who could play valuable snaps if needed.
If the Packers go into the regular season with Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and Carrington Valentine as their top three cornerbacks, they should be in good shape. But with that said, there is some unknown around what the team can expect from Stokes, who has played in only two games defensively since Week 9 of the 2022 season.
Beyond those three, only Zyon Gilbert and Anthony Johnson are currently on the roster at that position.
More specifically than just cornerback depth, what the Packers need is someone to man the slot. Unless Jeff Hafley plans to play Alexander there much more in 2024 – which there are zero indications of that happening – Green Bay doesn’t have a slot cornerback option on the roster at the moment.
Along with potentially dipping their toes in free agency, the Packers adding to the cornerback position early on in the draft feels like a near must that will happen as well.