Packers bring back Kevin King on a one-year deal

Aaron understands why fans might be less than enthused by the Packers decision to bring back cornerback Kevin King on a one year deal.

 

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12 points
 

Comments (56)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
NJMagic's picture

March 23, 2021 at 11:38 am

Ugh. I understand the rationale, i understand the lack of money to go after a DB with more upside (Adore?), I just dont understand why they couldnt find anyone who would be a more competent starter on that DB#2 role. Wouldnt we rather have a fading but intelligent player, or a mediocre but consistent player in that role?

You never know when King's lapses will doom the team in a big game.
Well, then again, perhaps the answer is...."every big game"

i look forward to the hundreds of disappointed comments to follow....

5 points
8
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cheesehead1's picture

March 23, 2021 at 11:50 am

Say it ain’t so. For the most part I like what Gute has done with the exception of the Graham signing which I hated and now this one. King, IMO, is who he is, which is average at best plus his injury history is very troubling to say the least. I don’t get it but hope Gute and King prove me wrong. GPG.

4 points
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KenEllis's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:51 pm

It is a patent Packer move to bring back a poorly performing Packer player.

King was so unwanted by the rest of the NFL that no team was willing to cough up a guaranteed $3M for our 26 year-old former top pick of the 2nd round.

Oh well, now we get to re-live Ted's decision to bypass Watt, worry about Kevin's latest boo boo, and re-play King's wonderful performance in the NFCCG in January all over again.

Glory be.

Who do you think Gutey will sign next? Redmon? Lancaster? Are Bostick or Perry doing anything these days?

2 points
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jannes bjornson's picture

March 23, 2021 at 03:53 pm

They call it the "Perry Rule"

0 points
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Nobody's picture

March 23, 2021 at 07:30 pm

Once burned, twice shy. This is a head scratcher. I mean I understand it money wise, but he who doesn't remember the past, well you know. If I was Kevin King I would be worried about constantly being booed. I mean I can't say he will be, but if I was a betting man. QBs are definitely going to go to his side. Maybe, 3rd DB, but I wouldn't start him opposite of Jaire, but I guess as a slot DB? I'm just guessing, but I think Kevin King main problem is his attitude being #1 and level of play #2. Dunno guys, I understand it, but it scares the heck out of me.

3 points
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Nobody's picture

March 23, 2021 at 08:29 pm

6 million Dollars for Kevin King?
We could have paid 10 million for Will Fuller!
And the fans would have gone nuts!!
Packers could have cut Dean Lowery
Heck I would have been more ecstatic if we would have Signed Jamaal Williams back!!

I think it was a horrible move by Gute, but that's coming from Nobody you know.

2 points
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BrettFavor's picture

March 23, 2021 at 08:46 pm

Adoree Jackson got paid on a big multiyear deal. The Giants overpaid him and Kenny Golladay.

The important part is that when healthy King plays solid football and this contract will end being like 2-4 million against the cap unless King hits all his escalators and makes the Pro Bowl, either way it's a cheap deal. He plays somewhere around his 2019 season when he was healthy and pretty good then a 2-4 million cap hit is worth it OR he stays healthy and steps up his game, he is still a young player, in this new system that made Troy Hill look like a top tier CB after years of average play.

This move gives us depth for cheap if nothing else and I think has a higher upside than people think because of recency bias. It also allows us to be more flexible in the draft... If they will restructure or extend Rodgers they could sign a mid-level veteran at D-Line or T that would allow for the most flexibility in the draft. I think we should try to trade up for Patrick Surtain Jr., assuming he drops past 15 so we can have a reasonable shot at trading up without giving up more than a third rounder. Surtain Jr. film from his last two years at Bama is pristine. Some think he's best suited in the NFL playing inside at the nickel because he's not very tall, but he has a long wingspan, jams well, and played extremely well outside against NFL talent in college. Signing King to this deal, which will be really cheap once we see the real numbers, I'd be shocked if the cap hit is more than 2-3.5 million with most of the escalators considered "not likely attainable" so they don't count against the 2021 cap and won't count against the 2022 cap unless he earns the escalators with play that will make the added money a bargain.

0 points
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NorCalPacker685's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:07 pm

This is quite literally the ONE thing I did NOT want to see happen this off-season... so discouraging to think the front office couldn’t identify a single veteran free agent to provide some stability to that position. King is the absolute antithesis of stability, both in availability and performance... the guy is a liability. And once again the front office is content with being good enough, only to have the most obvious weaknesses exposed in high pressure situations... If Will Redmond is back too I may just have to change the channel when the defense is on the field next year

6 points
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jannes bjornson's picture

March 23, 2021 at 04:05 pm

" We Like Our Guys"

0 points
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PF4L's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:09 pm

PF4L March 23, 2021
Well it’s about damn time…..Finally…the team gets serious about winning that elusive 14th World Championship.
.
All they had to do was give King a raise of 4.6 million and boom!…we’re there!!
.
Rest easy Packer Nation…Gute’s got this!

5 points
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Nobody's picture

March 23, 2021 at 08:30 pm

Too Funny!!

0 points
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NJMagic's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:10 pm

Agreed. There's still hope they invest in jaire 2.0 on day 1 of draft with a rapid transition plan.

And again, I understand the rationale, and am sure the $ was right, but still can't believe they couldn't find anyone more stable to start at DB2

3 points
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splitpea1's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:23 pm

Of course they were going to re-sign King--it's the "Packer Way" on defense!

Honestly I am rooting for him though, because the spotlight is really going to be on. If he stays healthy, gives less cushion, and can be somehow coached to tackle better, then the signing is justified. We'll still be drafting two CBs probably, and unless they're busts, we can move on from King after this season.

7 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:07 pm

For 6Ml ???????? I guess we won an auction where everyone wanted King !!!!!
If Gute loves to throw money I can give my IBAN and hear if he makes me a transfer .....

-1 points
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splitpea1's picture

March 23, 2021 at 02:25 pm

Yeah, I know it's a lot. But if he's available for the full season, plays well, and gives our draft picks a chance to develop, then it's okay. If not....we screwed up. Lots of "ifs" here.

It's typical TT/Gute Packers: try to sign as many of your own as possible; usually works fine on offense, not so much on defense.

Look at it this way: at least you've finally been relieved of those Gilmore fantasies!

-1 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:23 pm

As I have said on other occasions, the problem is not having little money to spend, but how and for whom you spend it.
Now I am waiting for someone who can justify 6ML for King !!!!
Gute is trying to blame AR (his contract) for his choices.
Instead, with the money spent on AJ and King, we certainly could have signed a first-rate CB FA or in any case I repeat:
1 - if Gute had drafted a WR instead of Love, this season we could have had a WR2 starter and we wouldn't have had to sign AJ again
2 - we could have tried to trade Preston with Gilmoure
3 - instead of re-signing AJ we could have invested the same money in MLB or helped Clark (it's time to go to Lowry).
With these 3 moves the great needs would have been covered WITH THE SAME MONEY SPENT SO FAR ..... the rest we could have done with the project. I am waiting for someone to tell me that A PARITY OF MONEY SPENT !!!! this team (with Gilmoure, a WR2 and help to Clark or MLB) is worse than the current one (with P. Smith, AL and KK)
I am really disappointed ........ also because with this it is certain that we will see AR playing for the last season (and as always it will be all on his shoulders)
BAD BAD BAD BAD
Greetings from Italy
Go Pack Go

-6 points
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Pack144's picture

March 23, 2021 at 02:00 pm

This was all bad giving King 6 million. I wanted King gone but another Gute wasting money on a below average CB. No speed and gets Beat constantly. I didn't like picking King in the draft out of Washington. And I have no idea why in the world he took Love and wasted losing a 4th round draft pick to move up. I would have traded Love for the up coming draft and make up for his bone headed mistake. BUT I WAS WRONG!! We had a possible backup but now will start for New Orleans. Way to go McCarthy. Will you coaches and management wake up. But than again I was screaming for Green Bay to take Barry Sanders instead of Tony Manderich. And I knew Joe Montana was going to be a star. Maybe I should draft for the Packers I surely couldn't do worse and I know talent when I see it.

-1 points
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Lphill's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:27 pm

Packers are not all in, never will be , this is a joke , please let Rodgers leave after this season , bring on Love and watch the Packers tank like the old days.

-8 points
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13TimeChamps's picture

March 23, 2021 at 04:04 pm

............right on schedule

-4 points
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Lphill's picture

March 23, 2021 at 07:55 pm

The only people happy about this signing are Kevin King, Tom Brady and 13Timeloser !

2 points
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13TimeChamps's picture

March 24, 2021 at 10:04 am

I never said I was happy about the signing. The point is you're never happy about anything. You must be miserable to be around.

1 points
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stockholder's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:33 pm

Best Gute move in two years. This secondary was rated 4th last year. if your a serious fan of the NFL draft and getting back to the super-Bowl. Then this was Logical, and had to be done. Williams was paid 5 mil./// (an extra mil. for team chemistry was a no brainer.) They were not going to make the same mistake twice. Hayward, Hyde, and Williams showed you Why. Now king can show everyone he's worth every penny.

1 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:08 pm

I guess we won an auction where everyone wanted King !!!!!

-1 points
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Cheesey51's picture

March 23, 2021 at 12:59 pm

Quoting, Aaron Nagler," the offseason is a long season, and let's see what the GB front office can do to improve the defense"
I cannot believe, Kevin King has returned. I know he was caught napping on the next to last play of the 1st half of the NFCChampionship and it came to seal our fate. (It was one of many blunders by GB)
I can only have faith in the new style defense our new DC is bringing and fitting King and Josh Jackson in their zone planned secondary.
Disappointed. It's going to be a long offseason
Cheesey51

0 points
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Razer's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:08 pm

I guess I just don't have the patience to see the value in this signing. Four years of average results and rehab gets you a $6 million dollar "let's see what you have" contract. I don't see how the Packer defense has gotten any better. I will say that King will have the spotlight on him early and often as teams work his well known weaknesses. Let's hope that he spends more time honing his craft because he is going to need it.

2 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:10 pm

for 6 ML ?????????

-4 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:12 pm

I remember that someone claimed it was a mistake to take Fuller at 9ML !!!!!!!!!

-1 points
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rstain99's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:16 pm

yuk! You are telling me the list of vets out there were not better than this guy, please! Sorry just not the guy to step in and make a tackle when needed. Seems always have a bump here and there how many games did he miss in first contract. Trade Rodgers give him a chance to win you have wasted so many years with lousy defense. Was reading about how AR wanted them to commit to him this certainly gave him his answer. Gute time to move on no better than Ted, no plan in place defense wins championships not 4 and 8 with 8 seconds to go in half and you get caught thumb in your arse. Ballgame! King of the stiffs

-4 points
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nstewart1's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:43 pm

I was hoping for a little better, but with a couple of draftees coming in, the "other" CB positions could still look better. Maybe King will stay healthy, and play OK. Other FA CBs were going for big bucks, so were priced beyond what GB could muster.

2 points
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TarynsEyes's picture

March 23, 2021 at 01:59 pm

King and his agent knew they had the FOs balls in their grip, and just had to wait, and then squeeze a little. LMAO!!!

0 points
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egbertsouse's picture

March 23, 2021 at 02:23 pm

Nailed it. Jarrett Bush 2.0

-1 points
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egbertsouse's picture

March 23, 2021 at 02:30 pm

My new bumper sticker: Honk if you think Gute should be fired.

So far nobody honked but I live in Minnesota.

1 points
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Nate-1980's picture

March 24, 2021 at 06:07 pm

I broke my horn after reading this comment, so many honks.. I’m sorry but how do you justify this buffoons moves, he’s not a good gm..

0 points
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Leatherhead's picture

March 23, 2021 at 02:37 pm

Well, I guess the people in the Packers personnel department are pretty stupid.

Or a lot of the posters here don’t know what they’re talking about.

One or the other. I know what I think.

1 points
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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

March 24, 2021 at 01:46 am

With King: GB went 10-1.
W/O King: GB went 2-3.
GB gave up 24.6 pts/gm W/O King.
GB gave up 22.3 pts/gm with King.

I think it is fair to say that GB is better when King plays.

I don't hate King's return. I think $6M is too much, but then, I expect it will turn out to functionally be less than that amount. I also preferred Troy Hill, or if you want size and a player who appears to be ascending, Ahkello Witherspoon.

2 points
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PatrickGB's picture

March 24, 2021 at 09:07 am

I agree. And it’s a one year rental with no reported dead cap hits. If the team drafts CB they need time to get up to NFL speed and the team needs lots of CB’s. Some of Kings glaring mistakes might have been due to Pettine’s scheme and some to his injuries. And let’s face it with Alexander on one side our opponents will always prefer to put their best WR somewhere else. I think that King will improve and he is better than anyone of his backups and the team really did not have much choice.

1 points
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Nate-1980's picture

March 24, 2021 at 06:09 pm

Yeah drafting a qb the year before an mvp season for your “declining” Qb, was a great move right ? They never make dumb choices, oh wait..

0 points
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stockholder's picture

March 23, 2021 at 02:51 pm

Such Negative thinking. Give King credit for wanting to come back. King is in his Prime. Expect a contract extension. Bet they make him a team Captain. The guy will be the glue that holds the secondary together. I'm expecting him to lead the team in picks again. I also see a bunch of unselfish guys that wanted to bring back one of their own.

2 points
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NJMagic's picture

March 23, 2021 at 03:44 pm

I think people are also missing this contract is UP to 6 million.
I am guessing that this is a VERY team-friendly contract in terms of cap and unlikely to earn incentives.

so another way to look at it is.... for ~5 million total (Slot+King) that kept their secondary intact AND have flexibility in draft to take OT vs CB, and may even be in on another DB or WR once the market continues to soften.

that being said - DAMN did i want Fuller and Jaire as our 1-2

1 points
2
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 03:48 pm

And then we mean we weren't able to find 3ML of space to cover Fuller's cost difference ???????
bad bad bad bad

-4 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 03:47 pm

I believe that he is happy to return ..... where he finds another team that gives him 6 ML after the past year and with all the health doubts that he carries with him ....
Richard Sherman
Adoree Jackson
Malcolm Butler
Brian Poole
Quinton Dunbar
Casey Hayward
AJ Bouye
Rasul Douglas
Bashaud Breeland
Kevin King
Darqueze Dennard
Mackensie Alexander
Nickell Robey-Coleman
Gareon Conley
Jason McCourty
they are all better !!!!!!
And with this evaluation of King the problem is the money given to AR ???????

-2 points
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mbpacker's picture

March 23, 2021 at 04:50 pm

Not thrilled with KIng coming back. But I do agree, that QB's like Rodgers contract hamstrings flexibility. I get QB is the most important position especially a hall of famer. But to me know one is worth that much. Aaron knows it will hamper the Packers but he wants his money, an ego thing to me to be the highest paid. He has so much money maybe just a little less we could have afforded Fuller or others. Maybe if I was in his shoes I would feel the same but I'm not.

-1 points
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Fabio's picture

March 23, 2021 at 04:49 pm

Better to call Tramon back and retire KK

-4 points
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PhantomII's picture

March 23, 2021 at 07:08 pm

Well.....After an offseason of being bashed. I expect King to come back in the best shape of his life and ready to exact revenge for every humiliating moment of pain. We will see if King has used this time of humility and is focusing on righting the ship. Plenty of blame to go around. Soft play calling by Pettine 1st half. Jones fumble, Redmond INT drop, Amos letting TE behind him on goal line, Not giving help over the top by Pettine, Not calling time out to get the coverage right ML/ Pettine. Rodgers not running it in on 3rd down when it was wide open. ML not going for it on 4th down. Matter of fact the entire team should be embarrassed and pissed and come out firing on all cylinders and finish the season right, with a Trophy. GPG

1 points
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Irish_Cheesehead's picture

March 23, 2021 at 07:34 pm

Yay?

0 points
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Nobody's picture

March 23, 2021 at 07:40 pm

I think you can get players like Aaron Rodger's to cover up a bad coaches mistake, but a bad player can make a coach look like a real idiot.
But, who am I to say. I'm nobody.

0 points
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Nobody's picture

March 23, 2021 at 07:40 pm

I think you can get players like Aaron Rodger's to cover up a bad coaches mistake, but a bad player can make a coach look like a real idiot.
But, who am I to say. I'm nobody.

0 points
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Lphill's picture

March 23, 2021 at 08:06 pm

Well hopefully Rodgers will enjoy hosting Jeopardy more than losing championships and he will decide to retire and become the permanent host so Jordan Love can remind us all of how bad the Packers once were .

0 points
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2
BrettFavor's picture

March 23, 2021 at 09:18 pm

This move gives us depth for cheap if nothing else and I think has a higher upside than people think because of recency bias. It also allows us to be more flexible in the draft... If they will restructure or extend Rodgers and/or Davante they could sign a mid-level veteran at D-Line and/or O-Line (maybe Lane Taylor on a close to minimum deal) that would allow for the most flexibility in the draft.

Side Note: I think we should try to trade up for Patrick Surtain Jr., assuming he drops past 15 so we can have a reasonable shot at trading up without giving up more than a third rounder. Surtain Jr. film from his last two years at Bama is pristine. Some think he's best suited in the NFL playing inside at the nickel because he's not very tall, but he can play outside. He did at a very high level against future NFL WRs at Bama for multiple years. Maybe he plays inside his rookie season and then moves outside the year after, but I think it's a long shot he is available by the time we could reasonably trade up to get him. This is a DEEP CB draft class though and Gutey has traded up or down (or both) in every first round this far... I like that he's more aggressive, but draft n develop has to be our core or bringing in players with free agency and trades will just be making up for poor drafting instead of plugging a hole or adding depth to have more flexibility in the draft. Given the salary cap situation, I like most of what Gutekunst has done outside of drafting Love and waiting so long to restructure/extend Rodgers likely because he wants the flexibility to let him walk after 2022 or 2023 without massive dead money on the cap. I understand the need to prepare to move on from aging stars, especially at QB, but Rodgers play lately and guys like Favre, Brady, Brees, etc. playing well into their 40s should alleviate any concern Rodgers won't play at minimum an elite level for at least 3 more years. His past season was the second best all time. He did his job in the postseason too. You know the Packers have given up an average of almost 35 points in the games Aaron Rodgers has lost at QB in the playoffs? In addition to his insane regular season stats, when Rodgers starts in the playoffs his team averages more points per game than any other QB in postseason history. He won't match the career playoff numbers for Brady because the AFC East and AFC was a cake walk for the Pats for huge chunks of time. The Steelers and Ravens were the main competition for most of the time besides the Colts when Peyton was still there.

No disrespect to Brady, but he's has a top ten defense every year of his career except for two years. For perspective, Aaron Rodgers has had only two top ten defenses his entire career. Brees? Only 3-4 years. Peyton Manning? 3 years. Mahomet? None yet. Brady 18 out of 20 years with a top ten defense. Football is the ultimate team game and having a top 10-12 defense is pretty much a prerequisite to win the Super Bowl. Only three teams have won it without a top 12 defense, one was Peyton Manning with the Colts ranked 14th. I'm talking total defense rankings, not scoring rankings. The combination of scoring and yards given up with some adjustments for the analytical versions. My favorite analytic for measuring top defenses includes a version of strength of schedule by factoring in how good the offense has been playing over time, but it's not common yet like DVOA or even EPA/WPA or success rate analytics. I highly recommend Stats LLC and Zebra Technology for any other film/analytic nerds and especially coaches. Playing with analytics in mind and keeping analytics on your high school players removes so much guess work and makes good game planning less time-intensive.

0 points
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rstain99's picture

March 24, 2021 at 01:13 pm

You hit it right on the head top ten defense and elite QB perfect combo, no lets sign stiffs like King (should have given him 1 yr 1million on a prove it deal. For once I just want a stud defense that is not this bend not break, attacking LB's run stuffers at Dline. Even King could cover in that scheme. No lets keep paying the bargain basement players.

1 points
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4thandinches's picture

March 23, 2021 at 10:20 pm

We really don't know the contract terms yet, so hard to say if this is a good or bad deal. It will be nice to have some veteran depth and this does really free us up to draft BPA. Another silver lining is, since we're returning the same defense, it'll be easy to evaluate our new DC! Ha!

4 points
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That’sWhatCheesehead's picture

March 23, 2021 at 11:10 pm

I would hope this means that LaFleur and Gutekunst mostly blame Pettine for King’s play in the NCFCG...so...hopefully they’re right.

2 points
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Fubared's picture

March 24, 2021 at 08:51 am

Wondering how the f leflower approved this. it's insane. Zimmer would have canned the guy an hour after the loss. Got to clean up in aisle 5 and fix things. This makes zero sense.

0 points
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rstain99's picture

March 24, 2021 at 07:13 am

Aren't you people frustrated with the lack of commitment, this guy can make 6 million this year he is lucky to have a job, everyone saw his play last year and into playoffs. Deer in the headlights 90% of the time the other 10% he is patting himself shaking his finger "don't you come to my side with that crap" really tired of it. No other team in the league is happy to just make the playoffs, GB is lets get that North crown again yippy! get pounded in the playoffs. 20 years the Pats made it 6 SB trophies miss one year and they call in the national guard. There is no room for being mediocre. You have an elite QB put a average defense out there and give him a chance to win. 2-3 good defenders after that all bargain basement including the King, TJ was there and Teddy decided he wanted a soft corner that couldn't catch a cold in a rainstorm. Long list of Pac 10 that have failed in GB, Clark and Clay aside. 12-5 in 21, lose in playoffs as they can't play defense. Sound familiar

0 points
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Fubared's picture

March 24, 2021 at 08:46 am

Want to hear a funny one. Had a horrible nightmare last night that the pack, instead of bringing in a free agent, spent a ton of money to re sign king, praising him for his efforts. Wow that was scary.

3 points
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greengold's picture

March 26, 2021 at 04:45 pm

WOW. Football much, people?

Not a SINGLE PERSON mentioned the fact that the Packers generated ZERO PASS RUSH. Tom Brady sat there in the middle of pockets where NO ONE GOT HOME, NO ONE APPLIED PRESSURE, and dropped dimes all over the field at will.

ANY CB/DB is going to get their jock handed to them under those circumstances, regardless of how good they are.

Bringing back Kevin King on a one year incentive laden contract for $6M is a solid move, while they look to possibly address the position in the draft, and with what is left of the offseason. That is not a lot of money these days, and if he returns healthy, to 2019 form? That is a bargain for little to no talent drop off and familiarity with the team for a run.

Anyone recall Jarred Bush? How many were calling for his head? He just made huge plays to help us win our last SB. You never know. Just relax, because you can't do anything about it anyway. I trust in Gutekunst. We'll see.

0 points
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