Considering how little meat is left on the bone in free agency, let’s turn our attention to how national analysts believe the Green Bay Packers have done this offseason. Obviously, Packers-centric analysts are going to lean positive when talking about their team, but how do “objective” observers feel about Green Bay’s free agency haul?
We’re going to split out the results into three sections: how analysts graded the club’s offseason as a whole, how they viewed the Aaron Banks signing and how they viewed the Nate Hobbs signing.
Team Grades
I wanted to highlight standout grades for each of these sections, but everyone who graded the Packers’ free agency was roughly in the same ballpark. The biggest variance came from CBS Sports’ B grade (woof), which came with this justification:
Green Bay gave Jordan Love some more protection by signing former 49ers left guard Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million contract. Dating back to 2023, Banks has surrendered just one sack in 897 pass-blocking snaps, so the Packers get a sturdy piece along the offensive line. He’s also a bulldozer in the run game. Meanwhile, Hobbs — Prisco’s No. 76th free agent overall — is a starting caliber defensive back to put in the Green Bay secondary who could play outside or in the slot.
Aaron Banks, G (four years, $77 million)
Here’s what Over the Cap’s said about their F grade for the Banks signing:
It is hard to picture what the Packers saw here to justify throwing out a contract worth $77M over four years. This is massive money coming in at number 2 in 1st year and 2nd year cash. His 12 month earnings are huge with the $9.5 million roster bonus coming in next year in March. If you want to make an argument that he is worth in the $12 million a year range I can buy that, but this is wild. The team will even bump his salary if he winds up a pro bowl level player when you think this number reflects that expectation. On top of that it moves the current guard to center, giving the team a $17M center to go along with a near $20M guard. The Packers line better be great this season.
Nate Hobbs, CB (four years, $48 million)
Below is what Pro Football Focus had to say about the Hobbs signing, a player who they projected to sign a one-year, $4 million contract:
The Packers will hope they can find the rookie version of Nate Hobbs, who in 2021 earned a 79.2 PFF coverage grade, the best of his career. 2024 was the worst year of his career, as he allowed a catch on 68.1% of passes into his coverage while posting a career-low 6.4% forced incompletion percentage. He was also limited healthwise by an ankle injury, missing six of the Raiders’ final eight games.
We already asked APC how they felt about the Banks and Hobbs deals individually. Ultimately, the grades came out in the B to B- range. For an extra data point, please answer how you feel about the Packers’ collective free agency.
Poll
How would you grade the Packers’ 2025 free agency haul?
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