Grading Packers’ Signing of Benjamin St-Juste, Release of Nate Hobbs

There’s an old saying, “It’s time to fish or cut bait.”

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst swapped the “or” with an “and.”

On Tuesday morning, the Packers went fishing and signed cornerback Benjamin St-Juste. Then he cut bait by releasing cornerback Nate Hobbs. It was an acknowledgment that, to use another old expression, it’s never a good idea to throw good money after bad.

The four-year, $48 million contract that the Packers gave to Hobbs in free agency almost exactly one year ago was a head-scratcher at the time. Rather than pay Hobbs a $6.25 million roster bonus later this week and hope he’d stay healthy and perform better, Gutekunst wiped his hands of the mistake and agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with St-Juste.

Hello, Benjamin St-Juste

St-Juste, who will turn 29 on Sept. 9, was a third-round pick by the Commanders in 2021. After playing in nine games with three starts as a rookie, he started all 12 appearances in 2022 (zero interceptions, seven passes defensed), all 16 appearances in 2023 (one interception, 17 passes defensed) and 14 of 17 games in 2024 (zero interceptions, seven passes defensed).

After not playing to his own expectations in 2024, St-Juste signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Chargers last offseason. He played in 16 games but started only twice. He had one interception and seven passes defensed in 356 defensive snaps.

Some of the analytical numbers show why St-Juste will have a legit chance to start in 2026.

According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed a 50.0 percent catch rate in 2025. Of the 101 cornerbacks who played at least 350 defensive snaps, he ranked 10th in completion percentage allowed and tied for 33rd with 10.8 yards allowed per catch.

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

With one touchdown allowed and one interception, he was charged with a passer rating of only 64.0. That’s far better than Green Bay’s trio of Keisean Nixon (105.2), Carrington Valentine (109.4) and Nate Hobbs (125.3).

PFF charged him with one missed tackle, or 3.3 percent. Only New England’s Christian Gonzalez was better. Nixon was sixth and Valentine was 96th.

According to league data, the Chargers’ pass defense was 1.43 yards per snap better when he was on the field and their run defense was 0.33 yards per snap better.

“I wouldn't say prove, but I would say something to show,” he said after signing with the Chargers. “Like show my full potential. I feel like I show glimpses and all that stuff. … No better way to do that than with a new team that's on the rise, ascending, just made the playoffs and got a great culture and great coaches.”

This is a nice rep from Benjamin St-Juste.

Flips his hips to carry vertically, but then flips back to trigger downhill, then uses his length to attach the catch point for an impressive PBU on Sutton. pic.twitter.com/wvdfCZYlWE
— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) March 10, 2026

On the other hand, for his career, St-Juste has been charged with 14 touchdowns and the two interceptions in five seasons. While he finished fourth in the league with the 17 passes defense in 2023, he gave up the second-most yards. He was guilty of a total of 20 penalties in 2023 and 2024.

If nothing else, the 6-foot-3 defender will provide something the Packers lacked at cornerback. Serious height. That will allow new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to perhaps work matchups.

As last year’s Chargers defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, said. “At corner nowadays, sometimes you're kind of trying to create a little bit of like a basketball team where you can match up differently on different people.”

It’s also important to note that St-Juste played in 49 of a possible 51 games the last three seasons.

Goodbye, Nate Hobbs

Nate Hobbs missed at least four games in each of his final three seasons with the Raiders so, not surprisingly, missed six games in his lone season with the Packers. As part of the four-year, $48 million contract, Hobbs received a $16 million signing bonus. Along with the league-minimum base salary and per-game roster bonuses, he pocketed almost $17.6 million.

For that hefty payday, he was sidelined three times by knee injuries and broke up two passes.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Nate Hobbs (21) celebrates after defeating the Washington Commanders at Lambeau Field. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

“If could be corner, slot, safety, I just feel like I got a lot to prove to just the football world (and) especially Packers Nation,” he said after the season. “I think Packers fans, I don't think they've really got a chance to see and know who I am in depth as a person. I see the sentiments and people say good things sometimes and they can say nasty things, whatever. But that's just a part of what comes with it. I understand.

“I really do understand as a fan. You give your heart and your soul to this ride as a fan. So, when somebody's not performing up to what you thought, [it’s disappointing]. But a message to Packer Nation is I don't think you guys got to see a fair version of Nate Hobbs. I think you guys got to see the version of Nate Hobbs that God chose this season to teach me what he had to teach me.”

The cap savings were negligible. If not for the June 1 designation, it would have cost more to replace Hobbs with a minimum-salary player than to simply give him another chance. Rather, it was an acknowledgement that it was time to go back to the drawing board.

Grading Benjamin St-Juste, Nate Hobbs Moves

The Hobbs signing was bad. Gutekunst deserves the blame. But at least he washed his hands of it rather than stubbornly holding out hope that a cornerback with an injury history and limited playmaking ability would suddenly stay healthy and make plays.

St-Juste is an intriguing player. His level of play took a considerable step forward with the Chargers. If he can continue that trajectory, he will be a key player for the Packers. Though, it’s fair to ask if Gutekunst should have ponied up $8.0 million for Josh Jobe, a key member of the Super Bowl champions’ defense who signed a three-year, $24 million contract to return to Seattle.

Nonetheless, grading the transactions solely on what happened on Tuesday, this gets an easy B. Now, it will be up to Gutekunst to continue building. Hobbs, Valentine and Nixon wasn’t good enough last year. St-Juste, Valentine and Nixon won’t be good enough this year.

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