Needless to stay, the Green Bay Packers‘ top two free agency moves have not panned out as planned.
Cornerback Nate Hobbs, signed for four years and $48 million ($16M guaranteed), is banged up and playing poorly – so poorly, in fact, that the Packers would do well to consider upgrading via trade.
Guard Aaron Banks, signed for four years and $77 million ($27M guaranteed), has also been hampered by injury. Not only has Banks missed two-and-half games, bringing him in at guard forced Elgton Jenkins to switch over to center. That fueled the pre-season contract drama between the Packers and Jenkins as he expressed concerns over his long-term earning potential at a typically lower paid position.
Let’s face it, both players have been disappointments. ESPN writer Bill Barnwell said as much in his tiered offseason re-grading project for all 32 teams.
Green Bay didn’t get what it paid for
Barnwell bases his tiers on expectations – the whole premise of the project. Thus, fairly big-money moves, like spending $125 million on two projected starters, get knocked for not panning out more than minimum-salary flyers. Obviously, the Packers invested rather heavily in Banks and Hobbs.
Overall, despite trading for Micah Parsons and drafting Matthew Golden, the Packers are lumped into the “slightly below expectations” category. Disappointing starts from Banks and Hobbs are why.
Injury, and any effect it has had on their play, has played a significant part in decreasing the Packers’ return on investment. Like Hobbs, Banks has not been good when he has played, ranking 65th among 82 eligible guards by PFF grade. Even more so than Hobbs, his hefty free-agency deal was considered an overpay from the start. Based on six games, anyway, that assessment has proven painfully accurate.
From a durability standpoint, the Packers knew what they were getting into by signing Hobbs (16 games missed in three seasons). When on the field, though, they expected him to perform adequately. That hasn’t happened.
While Hobbs has not graded out quite so poorly as Banks (60th/112), he played badly enough that some fans are calling for Carrington Valentine to replace him as a starter. It’s either that or trade for a replacement. Hobbs has not been up to snuff and, as long as his knee issues linger, there isn’t much reason to believe he will be significantly better.
In both cases, Barnwell calls out the Packers for making moves that don’t fit well from a personnel perspective. Signing Banks meant moving Jenkins to center. Hobbs is better suited to covering the slot, but the Packers have assigned him to outside receivers instead. Parsons and Golden are playing up to or better than expectations, but it’s fair to say that Banks and Hobbs have been “underwhelming,” as Barnwell says, at best.
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