The Green Bay Packers have decided to release cornerback Nate Hobbs on Tuesday morning, shortly after signing Benjamin St-Juste, according to a source connected to Packers On SI. This move officially ends the remaining three years of Hobbs’ four-year, $48 million contract, which included a $16 million roster bonus and a $1.2 million base salary in his single season with Green Bay. Despite five starts and two pass breakups, Hobbs’ performance was hampered by injuries and limited playing time, resulting in a $48,044 cost per defensive snap.
Hobbs was expected to receive a $6.25 million roster bonus later this week, but the Packers designated him as a June 1 release, as reported by ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. While the immediate salary cap savings from this move are only about $838,000, the team will ultimately save $8.38 million with the deferred cap charge shifting to 2027. The Packers may use those future savings to help finance contract extensions elsewhere on the roster.
High Salary for an Uncertain Investment
The contract Green Bay offered Hobbs matched the four-year, $48 million deal given to running back Josh Jacobs. Although comparing their positions is difficult, the Packers’ decision to sign Hobbs was questioned from the outset. Essentially, Hobbs was intended as the replacement for Jaire Alexander, another cornerback known for being injury-prone. Between 2022 and 2024, Hobbs appeared in only 37 out of a possible 51 games with the Raiders, sitting out 14 contests due to injuries.
Expecting Hobbs to stay healthy was a gamble, especially given his modest ball production, which included only three interceptions and 19 passes defensed over four seasons. Upon signing, Hobbs acknowledged the skepticism surrounding his status, saying,
“I’m going to be an underdog if I was getting paid $100 million, because I don’t see any articles or anything out of me being the top corner. Do you?”
“Have you seen, ‘Nate Hobbs is a top corner, Nate Hobbs is top five.’ Nah, so even if I was a $100 million guy, in my heart of hearts, I’m an underdog, and I’m never going to forget that. And I could be the top corner, whatever the case is. Still an underdog, because I had to scratch and claw and fight to get here. Nothing was given to me, everything was taken. I say, there’s two ways to get respect. You either earn it or you take it. I like taking it. I’m going to be an underdog till I die. That’s just me.”
– Nate Hobbs, Cornerback
Besides the injury concerns and production questions, the Packers were asking Hobbs, primarily a slot cornerback, to perform outside on the perimeter. On the first day of training camp, Hobbs was named a starting corner alongside Keisean Nixon, despite this positional shift.
Recurrent Injuries Disrupt Hobbs’ Season
Hobbs’ 2024 season was marred by injuries starting in training camp when a knee issue sidelined him until Week 1. After starting five games, he was replaced by Carrington Valentine for Week 8 in Pittsburgh. A subsequent knee problem led to a temporary shutdown by the Packers, though Hobbs returned in Week 14 against Chicago. Unfortunately, another knee injury occurred in Week 17 after he collided with a Ravens receiver in the end zone.
Reflecting on the hardships, Hobbs said,
“I can honestly say, now I’m getting to the point where I’m glad it happened. I ain’t going to lie, it’s made me a better person, a better leader, a better man, and I know if I get kicked back to nothing or rock bottom, I know I can get it back. Every time. And I feel like, at the end of the season I really came, I was starting to come back alive and be myself.”
– Nate Hobbs, Cornerback
In total, Hobbs appeared in 11 games, starting five, and was sidelined three times due to knee issues. His season statistics include two passes broken up. While leaving the locker room, Hobbs expressed frustration, remarking,
“It is what it is, man. It is a lot, but I just want Packer Nation to know that I have been playing through injuries all year and, no matter what, I brought passion, I brought my best, I brought all of me.”
“I’m a top-tier player for this organization. When the time is right, I’ll be able to show that when I’m healthy. I wasn’t healthy at all this year. I see what people say. There’s a lot of fans that don’t like me, that think I’m not a good player. But it’s all good. I know who I am as a man, as a player. Just want to show that when I get the next opportunity.”
– Nate Hobbs, Cornerback
That opportunity will now presumably emerge with a different team.
Competition and Depth in the Packers’ Secondary
Green Bay’s depth chart at cornerback now features Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, and newly acquired Benjamin St-Juste, a three-year starter from Washington who appeared in two games last season for the Chargers. The Packers could pursue additional cornerbacks via free agency or the upcoming draft to enhance depth.
Hobbs described his latest NFL season as “one of my toughest years,” especially feeling helpless after being sidelined alongside teammates Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft. He commented on the league’s ruthlessness, stating,
“This league, it’s cut-throat, you know what I’m saying? If you want to be out there, can you perform or can you not? And that’s how it should be. We all grown men and this is what we do for a living. And nobody gives a damn if you hurt or not out there. When I got hurt at the beginning of the season, I couldn’t think of it like that. I couldn’t think like, ‘Damn, I’m already behind. I had to be like, ‘Hey, look, this is just something that happened. I’m going to get back to who I am.’”
“Earlier this week, I was processing the whole year, and I was like, honestly, to get hurt and to have the injury I had and have surgery in camp to miss the whole camp … having surgery and coming back in the same season and missing all of camp and then being expected to just be the same person you were that’s not reality. That’s not reality at all. … I got to forgive myself for having that expectation of myself in my mind and then not meeting that expectation. That did affect me mentally, not being who I was before immediately.”
– Nate Hobbs, Cornerback
The Packers’ decision to release Nate Hobbs follows a difficult, injury-riddled season that fell far short of expectations given his contract investment. Moving forward, the team appears to be reshaping its secondary while Hobbs faces the challenge of securing a fresh start elsewhere in the NFL after battling through significant physical setbacks and criticism.
