GREEN BAY – It’s not like the Green Bay Packers were surprised Nate Hobbs kept getting injured last season.
They were well aware of Hobbs’ problematic medical history. Anyone with access to an online search could learn Hobbs missed 14 games with the Las Vegas Raiders because of an assortment of injuries, from a broken hand to recurring ankle issues. When the Packers signed Hobbs to a four-year, $48 million contract last spring, they believed he could join Keisean Nixon as a starting cornerback in their secondary. They also understood the risk he might not stay on the field.
The Packers mitigated that risk by structuring Hobbs’ contract to include a $6.25 million roster bonus due before his second season. If the best-case scenario happened, and Hobbs was the starter the Packers hoped they were getting, it would be an easy amount to pay. Hobbs instead had three separate knee injuries last year.
The first came on training camp’s third padded practice, a torn meniscus that forced him to miss the rest of the preseason and the team’s regular-season opener against the Detroit Lions. He played through knee pain throughout October before waking up after a Week 9 loss against the Carolina Panthers barely able to walk, necessitating an MRI that revealed a torn MCL in his other knee. Hobbs’ season ended with another torn MCL in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens, colliding in the end zone with receiver Zay Flowers on a pass breakup.
The job for any GM is knowing when to cut losses and move on, rather than compounding miscalculations. One day before the official start of free agency, Brian Gutekunst decided the gamble on Hobbs’ health was a risk not worth taking in 2026. A source told PackersNews the team will not pay Hobbs’ roster bonus, facilitating his release.
The Packers designated Hobbs as a post-June 1 cut, meaning they’ll carry his full salary-cap hit past this week’s start of the new league year. After June 1, only Hobbs’ prorated signing bonus of $4 million will remain on their 2026 salary cap, saving $8.8 million. That savings can be rolled over into next year’s cap, a standard practice for teams. The Packers will have the $8 million accounting for Hobbs’ prorated signing bonus in 2027 and 2028 on next year’s salary cap.
It’s unprecedented for Gutekunst to move on from a four-year contract after only the first season, but Hobbs’ plague of injuries left little choice. In his first year, Hobbs was injured at the beginning, middle and end. For only 358 snaps stretched over 11 games, the same number of games he played with the Raiders in 2024, the Packers paid Hobbs $18 million last season.
Aside from the cap savings, they were scheduled to pay him $8.8 million in 2026 with no guarantee he could play something more than a half season. It was an untenable salary, so Gutekunst pivoted by agreeing to terms with free-agent corner Benjamin St-Juste on a two-year, $10 million contract, a source confirmed to PackersNews. The deal is worth a maximum of $10.5 million if St-Juste reaches incentives in the contract.
Adding St-Juste is the first step in what Gutekunst said after last season is one of his primary goals, building depth at corner.
“Do we need wholesale changes? No,” Gutekunst said. “I do think it’s an area though, those guys can get hurt. They’re the smaller guys on the field. We ask a lot of those guys in run support. So the depth there, for me, is important that we have answers.”
In Hobbs, the Packers learned last season just how much those guys can get hurt. A source indicated Hobbs’ frequent absences because of injury were a constant frustration for the team. It’s significant the Packers targeted a veteran who has demonstrated durability in his career. After missing time with concussions and an ankle injury early in his career, St-Juste has played in at least 16 games each of the past three seasons.
The Packers also wanted to add toughness to their secondary when they signed Hobbs a year ago. A third-round draft pick in 2021 by the Washington Commanders, St-Juste has rare size for a corner at 6-foot-3, 202 pounds. His 32⅝-inch arms and 78⅝-inch wingspan give him length to play outside, something that was more experimental with Hobbs transitioning from the slot. St-Juste is not a ballhawk, intercepting only two passes in his five-year career, but he’s a big corner who can play the type of physical coverage the Packers wanted from Hobbs.
“We’re trying to become a certain kind of football team,” Gutekunst said after signing Hobbs last year, “that can win and win deep into the playoffs. There’s a certain kind of physicality you have to have, and Nate Hobbs brings all that. That’s why we brought him here. It’s very important that all our guys have that kind of edge to them.”
The Packers surely believe St-Juste can bring all that and, most importantly, stay on the field as he does.
The cornerback switch shows what can happen when gambles are made in free agency. A year ago, St-Juste signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. He played only 356 snaps, two fewer than Hobbs last season, but missed only one game, Week 17 against the Houston Texans. He intercepted Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in October, finished with seven defended passes, and put himself in position for more money.
Now he has a chance to give Gutekunst the do-over he needed after last year’s gamble on Hobbs.
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers decline to take risk on Nate Hobbs’ health, pivot to durable Benjamin St-Juste
Reporting by Ryan Wood, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
