The Green Bay Packers’ decision to exercise Darnell Savage’s fifth-year option as a first-round pick in 2019 caught a lot of people off guard. The former safety for the Packers had respectable seasons in each of his first two years, but his on-field output fell in his third year.
Despite Savage’s 117.4 passer rating and eight touchdowns when targeted, Green Bay decided to pick up his fifth-year option, hoping that 2021 was an exception and he would regain his form. Sadly, he did not improve much in 2022; he gave up a career-worst 68.2% completion percentage and a 114.2 passer rating when targeted.
Green Bay was forced to play him last season as well because of the $7.9 million cost of the fifth year option and the fact that it would count against the cap whether or not he was on the club.
The outcomes were, if not worse than anticipated. Savage not only had trouble staying on the field because of injuries, but he also missed 13.6% of his tackle attempts and let 78.3% of the passes that were thrown his way be caught.
Naturally, Savage was let to become a free agent when the Packers declined to re-sign him. Earlier in the offseason, he inked a three-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Packers seem to have learned their lesson about taking a chance on fifth-year options for defensive backs who had trouble getting on the field or performing well when they did.
Garafolo points out that Stokes performed incredibly well and was selected in the first round in 2021. He had 14 pass breakups in his debut season and gave up a meager 49.5% completion percentage.
Stokes struggled on the field and gave up an 80.0% completion rate through nine games of his sophomore season. Despite this, there was still hope that the young defensive back would be able to improve.
Unfortunately, he missed the start of 2023 as well as the remainder of 2022 due to a serious foot injury that occurred midseason.
Stokes was only able to play in three games last season after suffering a run of hamstring problems when he was finally able to return.
The Packers made the decision to decline Stokes’ option because they were unsure about his ability to stay healthy or whether he would play at the same caliber as he did in 2021.
Jaire Alexander, a two-time All-Pro, leads the Packers’ defensive backs. He is in Green Bay for voluntary offseason training. He made the decision not to come to these exercises last year.
The Packers also have Carrington Valentine, a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, who performed admirably last season as a stand-in for the injured veterans. In 2024, Corey Ballentine and Keisean Nixon will make a comeback.
In addition, Green Bay selected three intriguing safeties in the draft: Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, and Kitan Oladapo. They also signed Xavier McKinney, the finest free agent safety available. It is also anticipated that the three rookie safeties will battle it out for nickel carries.
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