We should hear from new Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in the coming days. While the team has yet to announce his official supporting cast, there have been plenty of updates.

With former DC Jeff Hafley taking some of his staff to South Florida and others seeking opportunities elsewhere, the Packers are reportedly bringing in, among others, former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich and former San Francisco 49ers safeties coach Daniel Bullocks as the defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach, respectively.

LaFleur and Gannon’s defensive staff are highly experienced, with multiple former DCs and a deep background of postseason success.

That’s never a bad thing, but it’ll be a boon particularly for Green Bay’s cornerback room. Despite Hafley’s best efforts, the cornerbacks were the weakest link of 2025’s defense, even when Micah Parsons was still healthy. With little cap space to work with, no first-round pick, and an uninspiring group of veterans in-house, the new coaches have their work cut out for them.

Entering the 2025 draft, cornerback appeared to be one of the top areas of need, but Brian Gutekunst’s staff didn’t agree, only taking Tulane cornerback Micah Robinson late on Day 3. The Packers believed their existing group, along with new free agent Nate Hobbs, was good enough.

The 2024 group wasn’t exactly great, but Hafley did his best to mask some deficiencies. In Hafley’s scheme, cornerback is a weak-link system where solid play from the whole unit can overshadow what an individual can do.

2025 showed what a weak link looks like, with nary a single strong link in the chain. By season’s end, opposing quarterbacks were picking on Green Bay’s corners, and the corners struggled to play clean games or catch interceptions that teams gifted them.

The Packers didn’t pay homage to the totem of the ballhawk and subsequently had one of the league’s lowest interception rates, bringing in just seven, and they didn’t do much when they did snag a turnover. The Packers tied with the Jets for zero interception yards. Bear in mind, the Jets didn’t record a single interception.

Andy Herman grades every Packers player on every snap, and he had the cornerback group as his lowest-graded group on defense, with a -10.80 grade. (Only the offensive line’s -13.60 was worse.)

Grades by position this year:

QB: +23.20
WR: +12.85
RB: +9.95
TE: +2.90
OL: -13.60

Edge: +12.50 (Micah +12.85)
Safety: +11.60
LB: +6.50
IDL: -8.00
CB: -10.80

— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) January 17, 2026

Former All-Pro kick returner Keisean Nixon led the group with 1,014 snaps over every game this season. Nixon had a stretch of impressive passes defensed and caught the game-winning interception in the first matchup against the Chicago Bears, and was even named a Pro Bowl alternative.

But Nixon was also one of the most penalized players in the league, with 11 accepted penalties against him, and a liability in the end zone.

Overall, the Packers have gotten a lot from Nixon, but they can’t reasonably have him as the team’s CB1.

Nate Hobbs was the team’s splash acquisition in free agency. However, a combination of injuries, being used out of his best spot, the slot, and overall poor play made it look like a botched investment.

Because Hobbs is due a hefty roster bonus in March, longtime beat reporters Rob Demovsky and Bill Huber believe he could be a candidate for release before the new league year. The new defensive staff may want to give Hobbs another shot. Still, with the Packers currently over the projected 2026 cap, they’ll need to make some tough roster decisions, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Green Bay let him go.

Former seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine finally got playing time as the season went on, but the results weren’t promising. Valentine put on a masterclass at dropping interceptions and was one of the league’s worst tacklers. As a cheap player on a rookie deal, he’ll be in the mix next season. However, if he’s playing a starting role, the secondary has some problems.

Bo Melton was the most intriguing player in the cornerback room, switching to the same position as his brother in Arizona after spending most of his career as a wide receiver. But while Melton made the switch, even changing his number, injuries at wide receiver meant the new cornerback played significant snaps on offense and none on defense. That said, Melton may be the most promising player for the new staff to work with currently on the roster.

Beyond those four, the experience is even more limited, with Kamal Hadden, Shemar Bartholomew, Jaylin Simpson, and a few practice squad guys currently in-house. The new coaching staff doesn’t have much to work with, and there’s a decent chance Hobbs, one of the most experienced players, isn’t on the roster next season.

The Packers will draft at least one CB in this year’s draft, and Gutekunst has a history of doubling or tripling up at positions of need. There won’t be much extra money, but the hope is that Green Bay can find some decent free agents or reclamation projects. But it’s awfully hard to bank on resources you don’t actually have.

If the coaching staff can develop a top-100 rookie or find the next Rasul Douglas, all the better. However, right now, this coaching staff has a herculean task ahead of them — getting more from this current group of cornerbacks.