It appears the one unrestricted free agent the Green Bay Packers are interesting in bringing back is cornerback Davon House. The one and only, as far as we can tell.
The only free agents the Packers have signed from their own talent pool are the exclusive rights ones. They’ve let safety Morgan Burnett sign with Pittsburgh, linebacker Joe Thomas sign with Dallas and receiver Jeff Janis sign with Cleveland.
The one guy we’ve heard they have interest in bringing back is House. And that may happen this week. House and the Packers are scheduled to talk this week. Considering the market for House has been anything but hot, we’d expect a deal to get done with the Packers.
House’s return to Green Bay in 2017 didn’t go quite according to plan. It was an injury-riddled campaign where House played in just 12 games. He finished with 44 tackles and one interception.
If House can stay healthy, he can be a solid perimeter corner. During his first season in Jacksonville (2015), House had four interceptions and defended 23 passes. Health is a big if, though. Apparently, if you play cornerback for the Packers you’ll be cursed with some kind of injury. Maybe you’ll get in 12 games.
At any rate, the Packers aren’t really losing anything by giving House another shot. They are almost certain to get him on a low-cost, short-term deal. Then they throw him in with the 35 other cornerbacks they are bound to have by the time training camp opens and make him compete.
That, ultimately, is why I don’t understand why the Packers didn’t give Sam Shields another shot. Shields decided he wanted to come back after missing most of 2016 with his umpteenth concussion and sitting out all of 2017. He signed a deal with the Rams that had no signing bonus and no guaranteed money.
So the Packers brought back old-man Tramon Williams. They’ll probably bring back injury-prone Davon House. You’re giving guys shots in hopes competition improves the position. Why not a shot for a guy who was very recently your No. 1 cornerback?