After Dramatic Makeover, Biggest Competition of Packers OTAs Starts Tuesday

If there’s strength in numbers, the Green Bay Packers are more powerful than a locomotive at cornerback. If iron sharpens iron, the Packers’ corners will be sharper than a Ginsu knife.

Of course, those are just sayings that coaches and personnel executives like to use. After adding five cornerbacks this offseason, including second-round pick Brandon Cisse and free agent Benjamin St-Juste, the Packers certainly will be new at cornerback.

But will they be improved enough to compete for a Super Bowl championship?

Packers OTAs will begin on Tuesday. The shorts-and-helmets practices of the spring aren’t “real” football, so to speak, but the level of competition at cornerback and receiver means more than it does between a nose tackle and center. If a cornerback can cover in May and June, he should be able to cover in September and beyond.

Here’s a look at Green Bay’s secondary in the last part of our OTA previews.

Packers Secondary Depth Chart: Starters

CB Keisean Nixon: Nixon tied for sixth in the NFL with 17 pass breakups but had only one interception. According to Pro Football Focus, 97 corners played at least 245 coverage snaps (Benjamin St-Juste’s number). Nixon ranked 74th with a 105.2 passer rating allowed. He was charged for the fifth-most touchdowns (seven) and flagged for the most penalties (12).

CB Carrington Valentine: Valentine allowed a solid 56.4 completion percentage but was 82nd in passer rating allowed (109.4) because he gave up five touchdowns and had zero interceptions. He went from zero interceptions and nine passes defensed in 17 games (12 starts) as a rookie and two interceptions, two forced fumbles and five passes defensed in 15 games (seven starts) in 2024 to zero interceptions and four passes defensed in 17 games (11 starts) last season.

Slot Javon Bullard: Bullard played in 17 games with seven starts. Mostly locked into the slot, he had 83 tackles and three passes defensed. While he allowed a 75.4 percent completion rate, according to PFF, he gave up just 6.9 yards per catch and one touchdown. He is an emerging player and leader.

S Xavier McKinney: McKinney had eight interceptions to earn first-team All-Pro in 2024. In recognition of his all-around excellence, he had just two interceptions in 2025 but was second-team All-Pro. He covers, he tackles, he leads.

S Evan Williams: Williams played in 16 games with 15 starts and ramped up his production from 49 tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception as a rookie to 100 tackles, three interceptions and four tackles for losses in 2025.

Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) runs downfield during the second quarter against the Denver Broncos. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Packers Cornerback Depth Chart: Backups

Benjamin St-Juste: Of 97 corners who played his number of coverage snaps (245) last season, St-Juste ranked ninth with a 50.0 percent completion rate allowed, according to PFF. With one interception and one touchdown allowed, his passer rating allowed of 64.0 ranked sixth, just ahead of the elite trio of Christian Gonzalez, Pat Surtain II and Derek Stingley.

Kamal Hadden: A sixth-round pick by the Chiefs in 2024, Hadden played two games for the Packers as a rookie and 10 games in 2025. He has not broken up a pass in limited action on defense. He replaced Carrington Valentine against Baltimore but suffered a season-ending injury.

Bo Melton: Melton moved to defense about 12 months ago but all of his snaps last season came on offense and special teams. He caught 4-of-11 targets for 107 yards and one touchdown but two drops. Even with all of the newcomers at cornerback and the lack of proven depth at receiver, he’s still listed as a cornerback.

Jaylin Simpson: Simpson was a fifth-round pick by the Colts in 2024 who joined the Packers for the final week of training camp last year. He spent the season on the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster for Week 18 against the Vikings. He played almost every snap and gave up 4-of-7 passing and was guilty of two penalties.

Shemar Bartholomew: Barthlomew went undrafted in 2024 and played in five games for the Panthers. He joined the Packers’ practice squad for the final month of last season and was promoted to the roster for Week 18 against Minnesota, when he allowed one catch for 8 yards, had one tackle for loss and added two tackles on special teams.

Brandon Cisse: Cisse was a second-round draft pick and the team’s first pick this year. After two seasons at North Carolina State, he transferred to South Carolina for his final season. He was excellent. PFF charged him with a 47.4 completion percentage with one touchdown, one interception and a 78.9 passer rating.

“They drafted a guy who seems like, if he told me what his hobby was, as far as I know, it seems like it would be football,” his position coach at South Carolina, Torrian Gray, told Packers On SI.

Domani Jackson: Jackson was a sixth-round draft pick this year. He spent two seasons at USC and his final two seasons at Alabama. He was benched at one point in 2025 but, with the help of HaHa Clinton-Dix, bounced back and played well in the playoffs.

“The thing that gives me confidence is that he had two rough years at Southern Cal and then had a really good junior year for us,” his position coach at Alabama said. “And so that showed me that this is not a guy that, when things get tough, he kind of shrinks up. (Instead), he kind of rises up.”

M.J. Devonshire: Devonshire in three seasons at Pittsburgh recorded eight interceptions and scored four touchdowns – three pick-sixes and one punt return. The Raiders drafted him in the seventh round in 2024. He joined the Packers this month, his fifth NFL team. He has not played in a game.

Marlon Jones Jr.: Jones will be one of the great stories of the offseason and training camp.

Marlon Jones Jr. wasn’t supposed to have signed with the Packers. His oncologist said as much after he was diagnosed with stage-3 lymphoma.

“I don’t believe in coincidence,” his mom said. “And somehow, some way, this team had one (roster) spot left.”https://t.co/aWjVfBw6u0
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) May 22, 2026

Packers Safety Depth Chart: Backups

Kitan Oladapo: The Packers in 2024 drafted Javon Bullard in the second round, Evan Williams in the fourth round and Oladapo in the fifth round. With Zayne Anderson leaving in free agency, Oladapo will move up a rung on the depth chart. He’s played in 26 games with 136 snaps on defense in two seasons, with 116 of those snaps coming in the Week 18 games.

Johnathan Baldwin: Baldwin went undrafted last year and the Packers signed him by giving him $115,000 guaranteed. He didn’t make the roster but spent the season on the practice squad. He played all but one snap in Week 18 against the Vikings and was a bright spot with seven tackles.

Mark Perry: Perry went undrafted in 2024 despite being a three-year starter at Colorado and TCU and boasting excellent measurables (6-foot, 213 pounds, 4.42 40, 37-inch vertical). He signed to Green Bay’s practice squad late last season, his sixth NFL team. He has not played in a game.

Murvin Kenion: Kenion is an undrafted rookie. At Nevada in 2025, he was second-team all-conference with a Mountain West-high five interceptions. He is the only addition to the safety group. “They should add me because I’m a straight dog,” he said before the draft.

What We Know: Packers Safeties Are Strong

There might not be a team in the NFL with a better duo at safety than Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams. Ball skills, tackling ability, intelligence and leadership – they’ve got it all.

What We Don’t Know: Who Will Survive, Thrive at Cornerback?

Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (24) attempts to block a pass against Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett IV. | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

General manager Brian Gutekunst said “wholesale changes” weren’t needed at cornerback, then proceeded to release Nate Hobbs, sign Benjamin St-Juste and draft Brandon Cisse and Domani Jackson. In total, Gutekunst added five cornerbacks since the end of last season.

Will new mean improved?

Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine were the starters last season and probably will open the spring as the starters. It will be a wide-open competition, though. And an ongoing one, too. Whoever starts at the Vikings in Week 1 won’t necessarily start in Week 2 against the Jets or Week 5 against the Bears or Week 18 against the Lions.

St-Juste, a third-round pick by Washington in 2021, has started 47 games in five seasons. He broke up 17 passes in 2023 and was excellent in limited playing time with the Chargers in 2025. He’s got elite size, which would add a key trait that had been missing among Green Bay’s smallish cornerbacks.

The Packers used their first draft pick on Cisse, who was excellent against high-profile SEC competition last season. A team doesn’t use a second-round pick with the intention of finding a backup. Jackson has first-round traits.

“It’s a good group. Excited about the group,” new cornerbacks coach Daniel Bullocks said recently. “Seeing the DBs, there’s a lot of talent in that room. We added competition to that room drafting two corners in the draft and going to get a free agent in St-Juste. You look at the guys that’s already there in Nixon and CV, there’s already talent there in that room. Then you look at the safety position, too, as well, with X and Evan and Bull, it’s a talented room and I’m excited to work with them guys.”

Packers Drafted: Brandon Cisse, Domani Jackson

After signing Benjamin St-Juste in free agency, the Packers drafted Brandon Cisse in the second round. According to PFF, he allowed a 51.9 completion percentage at North Carolina State in 2024 and 47.4 percent at South Carolina in 2025. He intercepted only two passes, though, in three college seasons, a fact the Packers downplayed.

“I thought he had good ball skills,” scout Mike Owen said. “When you go to practice, you pay attention to that stuff, see how they catch it. When you see the game clips, he attacks the football. He’s aggressive with his had combat, jarring the ball loose. Picks is picks but, at the end of the day, at that catch point, if you can get the ball out and make sure the receiver don’t get a completion, that’s what you want.”

Sixth-round pick Domani Jackson had a wild career. During his two years at Alabama, PFF charged him with a 51.1 completion percentage in 2024 but 77.8 in 2025. By the numbers, he was the one of the worst cover men in the draft class.

“Certainly, he’s got the size we’re looking for,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “Certainly, he’s a rare athlete with his combination of size, explosiveness, speed. He’s played a lot of really good football at a high level of competition and he’s been through some adversity and he’s made it to the other side of that, which I thought was something that drew us to him a little bit.”

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