3. The secondary situation remains fluid; Rasul Douglas could be an option at safety.
The Packers don’t know exactly what form their starting secondary will take in 2023 but Gutekunst remains confident in the group’s potential.
Jaire Alexander is coming off his second All-Pro season, Rasul Douglas finished strong after moving from the slot to the perimeter during the second half, and safety Darnell Savage bounced back in a big way against Minnesota on New Year’s Day after some midseason turbulence.
There are some questions, though, with Eric Stokes on the mend from a season-ending knee/ankle injury and Adrian Amos and Keisean Nixon both pending free agents. However the secondary shakes out, Gutekunst likes the possibilities.
“Obviously there’s a lot of versatility there, which we really like,” Gutekunst said. “I think Rasul, when he was inside, he was getting his feet wet and learning and then obviously Stokes got hurt and we had to move him back outside.
“It’s really a nickel league now so what’s the best five we have and how that fits, I think we’ll get to by the time the games roll around, but I don’t know how that’s going to fit right now.”
Gutekunst isn’t ruling out the possibility of Douglas possibly moving to safety or Savage continuing to play closer to the line of scrimmage like he did at the end of last season, whether that’s as a strong safety or nickel cornerback.
“(Douglas) has such good eyes and instincts when he’s back there and seeing the whole field,” Gutekunst said. “Anytime you move a guy inside, whether it’s the nickel or the safety, and you have both sides you really have to worry about, there’s a curve there that’s going to take some time to really understand that. But his skill set as far as his eyes, his ability to go get the ball, his angles, his instincts and he’s a pretty good tackler, too, he could make that transition if that’s what we decided to do.”
Green Bay does know it’ll have a new face in the secondary room, with former Arizona cornerbacks coach Greg Williams replacing Jerry Gray as defensive pass game coordinator. Gray recently was named the assistant head coach under Arthur Smith in Atlanta.
4. The Packers were happy to retain Aaron Jones.
Green Bay always knew this offseason would be a pivotal point in deciding what would happen with Jones, who’s entering the third year of the contract extension he signed with the club in 2021.
With Jones coming off another strong season, the two sides agreed earlier this month to a…
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