The Packers typically aren’t big spenders in undrafted free agency. They were in order to sign Johnathan Baldwin. Get to know Baldwin through his position coach at UNLV, former NFL defensive back Akeem Davis.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers used one of their seventh-round draft picks on Tulane cornerback Micah Robinson. In undrafted free agency, they signed UNLV cornerback Johnathan Baldwin to a contract that included more guaranteed money than Robinson received.
Teams liked Baldwin, as evidenced by the bidding war to sign him. They just didn’t like him enough to draft him.
What did they miss?
“I don’t know. But, I’ll tell you what, Green Bay got it right,” UNLV cornerbacks coach Akeem Davis, a former NFL defensive back, told Packers On SI. “He’s going to go there and he’s going to make a splash. He’s going to be a four-core guy on special teams immediately. And then he’s going to work his way up somewhere on that depth chart. And he’s going to earn his keep every single day.”
Baldwin perhaps went undrafted because of his predraft testing; he measured 5-foot-11 5/8, ran his 40 in 4.50 seconds and posted a Relative Athletic Score of 5.16. Nonetheless the Packers, who typically are stingy with their undrafted free agents, guaranteed $115,000 in terms of signing bonus ($15,000) and base salary ($100,000).
At UNLV, Baldwin started at safety in 2022 and 2023 before shifting into the slot in 2024 to help the Rebels get their best defensive backs on the field. He thrived at his new positions with career highs of three interceptions, 13 passes defensed and nine tackles for losses.
According to Pro Football Focus, 48 FBS-level, draft-eligible defensive backs played at least 200 snaps of slot coverage in 2024. Baldwin was eighth in snaps per reception and 14th in yards per snap.
“I think it went well for him,” Davis said of the transition. “He’s a very intelligent football player. Good FBI (football intelligence), good football IQ. He’s very, very moxie at the position, savvy, a good blitzer, strong, can get his hands on people and affect them in that way. And he can cover. He has really, really good ball skills, as well.
“Anytime you can line up and you can run with people, you can put your hands on people and be physical with people and play the ball in the air, then you got a chance. And that transition for him, of course, it’s a different space on the field and so he had to adjust to that. But, man, when you’re a ball player, you adjust on the fly and you go out and you roll.”
The Packers are listing him as a corner.
“He is a pure defensive back,” Davis said.
“I think he’s a whatever the scheme needs” type of player, Davis added. “He’s going to be the physical presence in that scheme. He has the range to go sideline to sideline but he also can come downhill. I think if you are Cover-3 team and need a dropdown hammer, Kam Chancellor-type – I’m not saying he’s Kam Chancellor; I’m just saying ‘type’ – then he can play that role. But then again, you can also put him on the roof because he’s instinctual enough and he can play in space and he’s got the ball skills to be able to go track it.”
Davis said Baldwin is “an all-ball guy” with an “infectious personality” and a studious approach to the game.
“I think he was already a pro when he got here. He will be one of the first guys in the building, one of the last guys to leave,” Davis said. “He watched just as much film as us coaches did, he was as involved in game planning as we were, and I think that’s going to bode well for him in this transition because that’s what the pros do. That’s their lifestyle, and he’s already developed those habits.
“Now, he’s just got to continue to remain consistent and take advantage of those opportunities when they come because the film that he puts out there is going to be his resume. He’s going to need to take advantage of those things every single doggone rep – every single rep – and he will do that. Knowing Johnathan, he will do that.”
In 2013, Davis went undrafted out of Memphis. He wound up playing in 21 games from 2014 through 2016. So, as a former NFL player who has coached players who have reached the NFL, he knows what it takes.
So, now that Baldwin has made it, why is he going to be worthy of Green Bay’s big investment and carve out a lasting career?
“He’s going to stick because he’s a glue guy in the locker room. He’s smart, he’s got good football intelligence, he can play the game from the neck up, and then he’s going to be a four-core special teams guy,” Davis said.
“He’s going to be all gas and no brakes, and that’s kind of what that Green Bay culture is over there. He’s a hard-working, blue-collar-type guy that’s going to create value for himself somewhere. And it’s going to be hard for them to get rid of him because of all of that value he’s going to add.”