GREEN BAY, Wis. – Taken individually, the free-agent departures of cornerbacks Eric Stokes, Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell aren’t a big deal for the Green Bay Packers.

In their totality, though, they will stress the team’s young cornerback depth.

Finally healthy, Stokes in 2024 started seven games and played the eighth-most defensive snaps. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. When Stokes missed most of 2023, Ballentine came to the rescue and started six games. Rochell, a fourth-round pick by the Rams in 2021, wasn’t a factor on defense but was a key player on special teams. They signed with the Colts and Chiefs, respectively.

While the Packers signed Nate Hobbs in free agency, the expectation is the team will release Jaire Alexander if a trade can’t be worked out.

That means the Packers will have added one cornerback this offseason while parting ways with four. Those four last season played 1,026 snaps on defense and another 349 on special teams.

“We need numbers because we do have some free agents coming up,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the end of the season, “so we’re going to need numbers and kind of just see where that room goes. Then, obviously, Ja will impact that, as well.”

There’s no doubt the Packers will draft a cornerback or two. In 2019, Gutekunst addressed “numbers” problems on the edge and at safety with a combination of free agents (Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Adrian Amos) and draft picks (Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage). He did it again in 2024 with Xavier McKinney in free agency and Javon Bullard and Evan Williams in the draft.

However, the cupboard isn’t exactly bare as the team starts planning for 2025.

Kamal Hadden and Kalen King spent last season on Green Bay’s practice squad.

Hadden was a sixth-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs last year. In 2023 at Tennessee, he intercepted three passes and broke up eight more in just seven games. He’s got good size (6-foot-1) but below-average speed (4.57 in the 40), but the ball production in the best conference in the sport is hard to ignore.

King was a seventh-round pick by the Packers last year. In 2022 at Penn State, he intercepted three passes and led the nation with 18 pass breakups. With his production falling off a cliff in 2023 (zero interceptions, two breakups), paired with disappointing testing (5-foot-11 1/4, 4.61 in the 40), a prospect deemed a first-round candidate almost went undrafted. But, the ball production in 2022 is impossible to ignore, and he showed a nose for the ball during training camp.

“He’s a lot like Keisean (Nixon),” position coach Derrick Ansley said last season. “He’s learning inside and outside, he’s moving around. He’s never really played nickel before at Penn State; he’s always been an outside-lane guy. I’m really proud of the way he’s attacked that workload. He played pretty good in the preseason, and he played inside and outside and tackled and played physical. So, we’re really proud of his progression.”

Plus, the Packers signed Isaiah Dunn and Kaleb Hayes after the season. Both are former undrafted free agents. Dunn played in 17 games with one start for the Jets (2021) and Seahawks (2022).

Will any of them be good enough to, if nothing else, play on defense in a pinch? That’s what OTAs and training camp will determine. The pressure will be on them, though, and the door to opportunity will be wide open, especially if the draft board doesn’t fall in such a way that the Packers land a corner with a pick in the first two or three rounds.

Of course, it’s not all about defense. The gateway to a spot on the 53 – and a place on the gameday roster – will be through special teams. Free agency took its toll there, too.

Linebacker Eric Wilson, who led the team in special-teams snaps by a huge margin, signed with the Vikings in free agency. Ballentine was sixth in snaps and Rochell played almost half of the snaps during the 20 games in which he played.

Ballentine and Rochell were reliable role players. Both would have been inexpensive to re-sign – Ballentine got a minimum salary and a $167,500 signing bonus to go to Indy. Instead, Gutekunst is betting on a year of seasoning will get King and Hadden ready to contribute in 2025. They’ll get every opportunity to show what they can do.