Green Bay Packers Re-sign Defender That Cost Them The NFC Championship Game
Throughout this tumultuous offseason, the Green Bay Packers have almost lost their future Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. They also have essentially decided to bring the same team back to the field this fall that continuously falls short, most recently giving cornerback Kevin King a new deal.
The Packers re-signed cornerback Kevin King, who had an abysmal NFC Championship game against the future Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Green Bay bringing King back is a horrible look, and does nothing to improve their team.
No single player costs a team a game, but King came close
The NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field was a day for King to forget, although Packers fans never will.
He was torched by Scotty Miller for a 39-yard touchdown right before halftime, and was also called for a crucial defensive pass interference penalty late in the fourth quarter. The penalty gave the Buccaneers a first down, and allowed them to run out the clock en route to the Super Bowl. He also surrendered a receiving touchdown to receiver Mike Evans.
“Get over it? Things like that, I don’t know if you ever necessarily get over,” King said, according to the Associated Press. “But it’s a learning experience. You listen to all these guys who have the greatest success stories, they’ve all used those quote-unquote ‘failures’ as turning points. I’ve challenged myself all offseason and continue to challenge myself to come out better from that situation so quote-unquote ‘failure,’ that’s just a word.”
Green Bay staying stagnant is a terrible move
The Packers brough King back on a one-year, $5 million contract, despite using their first-round draft pick on cornerback Eric Stokes out of Georgia. Apparently, they’re looking for an inconsistent veteran to continue to struggle opposite of All-Pro Jaire Alexander, instead of a high-upside rookie.
King apparently is prepared to compete for his starting corner role.
“Look, if [Stokes] can beat me out on that field, then they drafted the right guy,” King said, according to heavy.com.
Bringing King back, on the surface, is not an awful move. It provides veteran depth at a position that needs help. However, not all “veteran depth” is created equal. Stokes is the future at the cornerback position for the Packers, and they should give him the opportunity to fill that role.
“Run it back” doesn’t work when you come up short
The most troubling aspect of the signing is the “run it back” mentality for a team that perpetually fails to live up to the hype, all while their star quarterback has grown frustrated with the organization for not making the types of moves that signal that they’re all in for a championship run.
Every year, Green Bay is viewed as a Super Bowl contender. They haven’t made it to the big game since 2011. Not bad, better than most, but it still feels like they’re coming up short when they have a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Instead, they let Tom Brady, playing on a new team, in a new system, with a new playbook, come into their stadium and walk out the NFC Champions. King was a big reason why.
Rodgers has been metaphorically and literally screaming for his front office to put the pieces in place to finally get over the hump. Once again, they have failed to do so. By bringing back King and by not making any splash signings, the Packers are only setting themselves up for a 2022 divorce with Rodgers.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Apparently, “insanity” is the name of the Packers’ offseason plans.
