Despite a season plagued by injuries and criticism, Nate Hobbs vows to prove his worth to Packers Nation when healthy, aiming to silence doubters. Will he get a chance, though?
Nate Hobbs knows this season has been bad, and he knows he has not brought much worth talking about for the Green Bay Packers.
When general manager Brian Gutekunst signed Hobbs this past offseason, there was some hope that he could be a big piece of the puzzle for the Packers as a slot corner. He had gained a reputation as a big, physical cornerback after four seasons on the Las Vegas Raiders, so Gutekunst gave Hobbs a four-year, $48 million contract with the hope that he could solidify the secondary in the post-Jaire Alexander era.
Unfortunately, Hobbs suffered a knee injury early in training camp that cost him the first game of the season. He missed four games mid-season because of another knee injury. Hobbs got back onto the field and did his best to make an impact, but then in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens, he collided with Ravens wideout Zay Flowers on a pass breakup and once again injured his knee.
“It is what it is, man,” Hobbs said of the injuries he's suffered this season, according to Bill Huber of OnSI. “It is a lot, but I just want Packer Nation to know that I have been playing through injuries all year and, no matter what, I brought passion, I brought my best, I brought all of me.
“I’m a top-tier player for this organization. When the time is right, I’ll be able to show that when I’m healthy. I wasn’t healthy at all this year. I see what people say. There’s a lot of fans that don’t like me, that think I’m not a good player. But it’s all good. I know who I am as a man, as a player. Just want to show that when I get the next opportunity.”
Hobbs is doing his best to try to win the fans over onto his side after basically being a $12 million average annual salary disappointment this season, but it's worth noting that he may not get another chance to earn his keep with the Packers unless he makes a quick comeback for the Week 18 clash against the Minnesota Vikings or plays in the playoffs.
With the way he's talking, it doesn't sound like either of those things are possible.
And yes, while his contract was a four-year deal, the guaranteed portion of it came in the $16 million signing bonus. If he's on the roster at the start of the 2026 league year, the Packers would owe him a $6.25 million roster bonus. If the Packers were to cut Hobbs, they'd save $1.05 million against the 2026 cap.
Unless Gutekunst believes the Hobbs he originally envisioned can make a comeback in 2026, the former fifth-round pick's time in Green Bay will go down as a massive dissapointment for both him and the fanbase.
“Sh**, it is what it is. That’s life, man,” he said. “I’ve come from, honestly, at points in time of my life, I’ve gotten used to bad things happening. Things that, you know, (pauses) and moving past it. I’m built for stuff like this.”