A year later, Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward is still angry.
He’s angry that the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him, didn’t even offer him a contract when he hit free agency last year.
Hayward had his ups and downs with the Packers, from a spectacular rookie season with six interceptions to being replaced as an outside corner during his final year with the team. Hayward was moved to the slot in favor of rookie Damarious Randall during the 2015 campaign.
Most people thought Hayward was better suited for the slot and seemed to have lost his playmaking ability. He didn’t record a single pick in 2015.
The Packers, seemingly well-stocked at the position with Sam Shields, Randall, Quinten Rollins, LaDarius Gunter and Micah Hyde, let Hayward walk.
As we all know, the Packers weren’t well-stocked enough at cornerback in 2016. Between subpar play and injuries, they finished 31st in pass defense.
Hayward, meanwhile, went to San Diego and led the NFL in interceptions with seven. He also defended 20 passes. Hayward proved himself a fine outside cornerback and usually lined up against the opposition’s No. 1 receiver. He made the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors.
He made the Packers look stupid.
Why the turnaround?
Anger.
“I’m like ‘Wow. They really think I’m a shitty player,'” Hayward says. “They didn’t offer me at all. I felt like I was the best player at the position when I was there. It kind of was like, ‘Dang.’ I’m glad now I’m a L.A. Charger. I got to show my true talents. Got to travel with No. 1s and show people what I can do. I’m glad I’m not there with those guys. I’m glad I’m here.
“I’m going to come out here each year and try to prove those guys wrong, again, that they should’ve signed me.”
We definitely see both sides of this story.
Hayward has proven himself a talent and clearly, the Packers could have used him last year. On the other hand, no one could have envisioned what happened with the Packers’ cornerbacks in 2016. Everyone — us included — talked about the position in terms of a team strength going into the season.
Perhaps if Hayward would have found the motivation he had last year while he was in Green Bay, he’d still be there.
He was mediocre at best after his rookie year. I saw no reason he should have been offered big money.
He got a very reasonable and cheap contract for a starting corner….
Ditto Kato.
You 2 are fucking idiots who never plate or watched the game if football then..he looked like he had HUGE potential that rookie year..which he obviously did
You must have been watching different games that I was. HE WAS HORRIBLE after his rookie season. 2 years later he couldn’t cover anyone, was getting burned over and over and had no INTs. At the time they released him he had no value. If he played like he did for GB like he has for San Diego of course he’d still be here. But he didn’t even come close. He looked like Ahmad Carroll out there.
You are such a blowhard xlordvie. So many grammatical and spelling mistakes. But I digress. Yes, Hayward was great as a rookie. I thought the packers may have had their next #1 corner. She showed little after that, and was not good in 2013 or 2014. I vaguely remember him being fairly highly rated by PFF in 2015, but so was Quinton Rollins. I am assuming the Packers brass didn’t want to overpay a spot corner. Especially when they had a couple guys they thought could fill that role
Hahaha the biggest tool on this website with the least football knowledge calling me a blow hard lmfao
And over grammatical errors? You’ve already tried to use that against me in previous posts. Not to mention if your going to use that against me please check your own comments for errors.
P.S. he only played 3 games in 2013.. He had 3 interceptions in 2014..and In 2015 he had 60 tackles 7 for a loss
2016 speaks for itself. But as you say Kato the packers didnt want to over pay (a measly 5 million per year) on a PROBOWL cb. After all they had guys to fill that role. Right?
You guys should knife fight.
Ok
My recollection was Whitt and Capers in 2015 indicated Hayward was playing at a high level. The Int’s were not coming for Hayward because of some penalties and drops. There were at least 3 rookies that were showing potential on the team and the Scout-in-chief must have felt that the move was to younger and cheaper players. That did not work out last year in a big way.
You can give some pros and cons for Hayward, but the decision is made and over. The one question I have is why not offer a contract to Hayward. Try to get the other team(s), even though the Chargers may have been the only offer to Hayward, feeling like they needed to up their price and years. You never know the 5th round comp pick for Hayward could have turned into a 4th.
If Hayward is still with the Chargers in 2019 he will get his chance to try and show the Packers on the field, not by words, what they let walk away. Nothing Hayward did last year or could do this year has any effect on the Packers good or bad. You would think if Hayward is as good (and as mad) as he thinks he was in 2015 he could have had his pick of teams to stick it to the Packers at least twice a year. Not so sure that there was a big market for Hayward after the 2015 season.
Not only did Hayward suck in games, he probably sucked in practice, too. I believe MM and TT put a lot of emphasis on practice – whether the guy gets it, whether he’s earned playing time on Sunday. So you see a guy not really putting in the work needed and you’ve got some rookies with promise, why even extend him an offer?
Hayward clearly needed the motivation to excel. That’s on no one but himself.
So if practice is so important to TT and MM, and if you don’t practice well you see reduced playing time on game day. Why did Hayward have the 3rd most defensive snaps in 2015 at 909. The only players with more snaps on defense were Dix and Matthews. Hayward had more snaps than any other corner on the team.
Who was behind him in the depth chart? Randall, Rollins, and Guenter.
So, Hayward sucked less in practice in 2015 than Randall, Rollins, Gunther, and Goodson? Whitt said in mid December 2015 “Casey has been solid,” Whitt said. “He has more winning performances than anybody else in the room. Just hasn’t intercepted the ball.”
http://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2015/12/18/hayward-again-packers-inside-man/77564094/
I didn’t say he did. I said “probably”. All I meant to imply is that there are lots of factors that go into these decisions of which we know but a few.
Obviously there are many factors at hand, but it makes me wonder how much this has to do with the defensive system. You don’t even offer someone a contract and the next year they turn into an all-pro?