Getty
Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine.
The Green Bay Packers need to add talent in the secondary, not subtract it, but even that obvious fact — highlighted by the defense’s blatant deficiencies in the cornerback room — may not save Carrington Valentine from the cut line this summer.
So wrote Moe Moton of Bleacher Report on Sunday, May 17, when he dubbed Valentine the most talented player still on the Packers’ roster whom the team may cut before Week 1 rolls around.
In 2025, Carrington Valentine saw an uptick in defensive snaps compared to his first two years, lining up for 70 percent of the plays. He recorded 31 tackles and four pass breakups, but that isn’t enough to secure a lead role.
Under new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, rookie second-rounder Brandon Cisse, sixth-year veteran Benjamin St-Juste and rookie sixth-rounder Domani Jackson could compete for snaps on the boundary of the secondary, leading to questions about Valentine’s short-term future.
Valentine, a seventh-round selection out of Kentucky in 2023, has played in 49 games over his three-year pro career and started 30 of those contests. He has tallied 18 pass defenses, two interceptions and two forced fumbles across that span.
The soon-to-be 25-year-old cornerback has one year remaining on his $3.9 million rookie contract.
Brandon Cisse Poised to Start for Packers This Year as 2nd-Round Rookie
GettyGreen Bay Packers cornerback Brandon Cisse.
Green Bay put a significant amount of its draft capital over 2026 and 2027 — both of its first-round picks, to be precise — in the Micah Parsons basket after dealing for the superstar pass-rusher in a blockbuster deal with the Dallas Cowboys late last summer.
Absent a first-rounder last month, the Packers landed on Cisse with the No. 52 overall pick in Round 2 as its first rookie selection of 2026. Cisse has high-end physical tools entering the NFL from South Carolina, but he lacks the ideal polish of an outside CB starter.
That said, the Packers are thin enough at the position that Cisse is likely to get his shot this year, and probably as early as Week 1.
“This was the Packers’ greatest need,” Rob Demovsky of ESPN wrote following Cisse’s selection on Day 2 of the draft. “If there is a position where a rookie could start from Day 1, it’s cornerback. But it has to be the right cornerback. They needed an outside corner with size, length and speed, and Cisse fits all three.”
Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine Both Free Agents After Upcoming Season
GettyCornerback Keisean Nixon of the Green Bay Packers.
Keisean Nixon was the Packers’ other outside starter at cornerback alongside Valentine last season.
Nixon earned the No. 37 ranking out of 112 cornerbacks who saw enough snaps to qualify in 2025, per Pro Football Focus. Valentine ranked 58th. However, neither is under contract beyond 2026.
Thus, Valentine’s longevity in Green Bay is probably tied to how well/quickly Jackson comes along as the No. 201 overall pick out of Alabama.
“Jackson, who spent two years at USC before two at Alabama, has good size at nearly 6-1 but was benched during last season before regaining his starting job late in the year,” Demovsky wrote. “He had only two interceptions at Alabama, both in 2024.”
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group's family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible