The San Francisco 49ers are signing former Packers and Raiders cornerback Natt Hobbs to a one-year deal. Hobbs was released by the Packers a year after they signed him to a 4-year, $48 million deal, including $16 million guaranteed.
Hobbs played 221 snaps for the Packers in 2025. Hobbs played 221 snaps for the Packers in 2025. Green Bay paid him like a slot cornerback last offseason. Here’s what ACME Packing’s JustThat’is Mosqueda had to say:
But left the door open for him to compete at outside cornerback,
too (pay difference was about $6 million per on last year’s market, they had moved Keisean Nixon from slot to outside cornerback prior). They ended up needing an outside cornerback a lot more than a slot, since Javon Bullard took over the slot role and Evan Williams was a safety full-time.
All three of Green Bay’s guys were below average last year (had decent stretches but also bad stretches). Hobbs dealt with several injuries, and people kind of question if he was ever even 100 percent at all last year. Now that their slot situation is answered with Bullard moving forward, they let him go (almost no cap savings immediately but saved cash that will split over two years. He had a $6.5 million roster bonus due early this offseason, which is why Green Bay made the move (even though they don’t need the immediate cap space). He’s probably a slot. He was better there with the Raiders and did better there in Green Bay in the limited snaps where he wasn’t playing outside for the defense. Rotated with Valentine for stretches until his last knee injury here.
That’s interesting, as the 49ers have an obvious slot in Upton Stout. But the team also did not offer Chase Lucas a contract, so Hobbs is more than likely replacing Lucas and his special teams duties.
Hobbs comes from a secondary in college that featured Devon Witherspoon and Kerby Joseph. Unsurprisingly, he’s an elite athlete. Hobbs had a vertical jump in the 91st percentile and a broad jump in the 97th percentile. At 196 pounds, those are the kinds of athletes you want to have covering kicks.
