The future is now for Brandon Cisse as the Packers can't afford to wait at cornerback

When Green Bay drafted Eric Stokes in 2021, they offered too much deference to incumbent starter Kevin King, who had clearly been betrayed by his body. Matt LaFleur can't make that mistake again.

As of Tuesday, Brandon Cisse was a starting cornerback for the Green Bay Packers. Carrington Valentine has missed the start of padded practices with a leg injury, opening the opportunity for the Packers’ second-round pick to prove he belongs.

He hasn’t gone quite that far, but he’s shown the talent that made him one of the top cornerbacks in the 2026 draft class. Matt LaFleur and Jonathan Gannon can’t take the traditional approach and offer deference to veterans. If this competition is even close, the tie has to go to the rookie.

The Packers have been through this before, most recently with Eric Stokes. He came through camp in 2021 after a disastrous secondary performance from Mike Pettine’s group in the NFC Championship Game. Expectations, as Aaron Rodgers publicly feuded with the team, couldn’t have been higher.

It had become obvious Kevin King no longer possessed the physical tools that made him such a tantalizing draft prospect and helped him develop into a legitimately solid player earlier in his career. Stokes didn’t play in preseason despite not being a projected starter, and the Packers went through the charade of letting King start the season.

More poor play and another injury gave way to Stokes, who hit the field and immediately upgraded that spot. Unfortunately, injuries likewise sapped him of athleticism and confidence in Green Bay, leading to the team deciding not to re-sign him and his career experience a resurgence in Las Vegas last season.

Still, a promising rookie year likely could have been even better had he had more opportunities in training camp, preseason, and early in the season to play.

Valentine doesn’t offer that same level of experience or pedigree in Green Bay. He’s going into the last year of his deal. And Cisse already shows tantalizing upside. His coaches rave about his work ethic, and as soon as the team put on the pads for 1-on-1 drills this week, he shone.

(via NBC 26)

That’s not proof he’s going to become a starting-caliber player in Year 1, but that conversation has to start now because the team has to begin preparing him to start if there’s even a chance he could get there.