The Green Bay Packers will be doing whatever it takes to get past the divisional round of the playoffs in 2024. Jordan Love’s first full season under center started off rocky, but it finished leaving the organization feeling extremely confident about their future.
Now the Packers could be in prime position to add a veteran who decided he isn’t done playing yet.
The Green Bay Packers Are Being Linked To 99-Game Safety
According to Richard Louis of FanSided:
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, former Baltimore Raven safety Tony Jefferson is coming out of retirement and plans to plan in 2024.
He would be a great addition to an already revamped safety room. The Packers gave McKinney a four-year, $68 million deal before adding Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, and Kitan Oladapo in the 2024 NFL Draft. Adding a veteran like Jefferson to that group could pay major dividends.
Jefferson had nine years of NFL experience and has suited up for four different teams. In his career, he registered 492 total tackles, 9.5 sacks, and four interceptions.
He’s played a lot of football in both the regular season and the playoffs. Add in the fact that he’s 32 years old and would be the oldest player in the room.
Teams are always looking for veteran leaders and the perfect player fell into Green Bay’s lap.
Would The Packers Add A Veteran To The Safety Position?
Green Bay completely revamped the Safety position. They let Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, and Jonathan Owens walk in free agency.
They also signed Xavier McKinney (which was massive) and drafted three Safeties in April. Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, and Kitan Oladapo will fight for their rookie lives to get as much playing time as possible.
However, adding veteran presence to a position that is extremely young wouldn’t be the worst idea. Especially if it is a low risk/high reward type of signing.
According to CBS Sports:
Jefferson announced his retirement from the NFL in March of 2023 after spending 10 seasons in the league and playing for four different franchises. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma in 2013 and signed on with the Cardinals.
He spent four years in Arizona before beginning the first of two stints with the Ravens, initially signing a four-year, $34 million deal in March of 2017.
Jefferson started in all 35 of his games played for Baltimore from 2017 to 2019 before suffering a torn ACL that ended his season and his first go-around with the club. He had a brief tenure with the 49ers in 2020 before returning to the Ravens.
The last time he played in an NFL game came in January of 2023 (Week 18 of the 2022 season) as a member of the New York Giants.