The Packers seem more than content with running it back at cornerback

Both Keisean Nixon and Corey Ballentine received raises for their play in 2023 and will return in 2024.

After re-signing two of their own in the opening week of free agency, the Green Bay Packers’ cornerback position — a room that coming into the offseason featured little depth — is starting to fill out. Not only did the Packers bring back Keisean Nixon and Corey Ballentine, but both players received significant raises from 2023.

After a breakout season as a kick returner in 2022, Nixon re-signed with Green Bay on a one-year, $4 million contract. Along with that money came a new expectation: That the cornerback would also contribute as the team’s slot corner moving forward. Nixon did just that in 2023, playing the second-most snaps in the slot of any player in the league.

It appears that the Packers want that trend to continue, as Nixon was brought back on a three-year contract in free agency. We don’t have full details of his contract at this time, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that those three seasons are expected to come at a cost of $18 million to Green Bay with the potential for Nixon to make an extra $1.2 million on top of that via incentives. On a per-year basis, that comes out to $6 million to $6.4 million for Nixon’s services — a clear raise from his 2023 salary.

Nixon wasn’t the only one who apparently impressed the Packers’ brass last season, though. Ballentine, who saw playing time in 2023 due to injuries after previously contributing as a special teamer, received a $500,000 signing bonus along with $220,000 in per-game bonuses, a $100,000 workout bonus and a $1.28 million salary that is worth $155,000 more than the NFL minimum for a player with his amount of seasons in the league. In total, his deal boils down to a one-year, $2.1 million contract per cap analyst Ken Ingalls.

To put that into perspective, Ballentine re-signed with Green Bay last season on just a $1.08 million deal. Now, he’ll make nearly double that, as long as he makes the roster. That’s no promise, as the Packers can still move off his contract, but the guarantees he was given certainly signal that the team is giving him an inside track to make the 53-man roster in September. Over the last two seasons, Ballentine has also played 220 special teams snaps for Green Bay over 22 games, another factor that improves his job security.

So while many expected personnel to change under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, the Packers seem to be going in a different direction: doubling down on their internal options. At the moment, the team returns all five of its top cornerbacks from the second half of the season, following the trade of Rasul Douglas at the deadline.

Green Bay could certainly take a cornerback in April’s draft, if the team finds value, but don’t assume that the front office will be anxious to add a body at the position in 2024. At the moment, it appears that Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine will be battling at outside cornerback opposite of Jaire Alexander — with Ballentine being an emergency option — while Nixon plays in the slot.