Fixing the secondary should be Packers’ primary goal

By GERY WOELFEL
If the Green Bay Packers want to take the next step toward becoming a legitimate Super Bowl contender, they’ll need to upgrade several areas.
Perhaps their most pressing issue will be addressing the secondary’s inability to create turnovers, specifically interceptions.
If you check out the four teams that advanced to the NFC and ARFC championship gams this season — the Rams, Seahawks, Patriots and Broncos — you’ll notice how each of those teams boasted top-flight secondaries.
They not only could cover, but they were adept at picking off passes. To wit:
— The Super Bowl champion Seahawks ranked fifth in the league in interceptions with 18.
— The Rams ranked tied for sixth with 16 picks.
— The Broncos and Patriots, the Super Bowl runners-up, each finished the regular season with 10.
It should be noted that eight of the top nine teams in interceptions during the regular season advanced to post-season play, including the Bears who recorded a league-high 23 interceptions.
Now, check out the Packers.
The Packers, with Jeff Hafley as their defensive coordinator, managed a paltry seven picks last season and ranked 28th out of 32 NFL teams.
Only the Cowboys (6), Titans (6), 49ers (6) and Jets (0) picked off fewer passes than the Packers.
Safeties Evan Williams and Xavier McKinney combined for five of the Packers’ seven interceptions during the regular season.
And the Packers’ starting cornerbacks?
Keisean Nixon had one. That tied him for 90th place in the league in that category.
But Nixon’s one INT was one more than the Packers’ other starting cornerback Carrington Valentine.
Some how, some way, the Packers have to secure a playmaker at the cornerback position during the offseason.
And that won’t be easy.
The Packers won’t have a first-round pick in the April NFL draft after surrendering it in a trade with the Cowboys for Micah Parsons and expecting a second-round pick to come in and be a high-end starter is a pipedream.
So the Packers will likely have to go the free agent or trade routes if they intend to bring in a high-end cornerback. And you can safely assume the Packers will have to pay a steep price to do that.
Suffice to say, new Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon faces a major challenge in fixing the cornerback problem.