Getting Defensive About Cornerbacks Part 1

By  CHarris

The Packers re-signed Sam Shields. Packers fans rejoiced. Peter King called Shields pedestrian. Packers fans didn’t know how to feel.

By calling Shields pedestrian, King insinuated he was overpaid. He listed a number of other cornerbacks whom he felt were better including Alterraun Verner, Brent Grimes, Vontae Davis, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Aquib Talib. Packers fans know Shield’s limitations, but who’s right, Peter King or Ted Thompson?

There are a lot of things to consider including who’s ACTUALLY the better cornerback and what are the contract numbers. Let’s look at the numbers for corner backs signed so far:

Player, Team	Contract Length	Total Contract Number	First Year Base	First Year Signing Bonus	First Year Other Bonuses	First Year Cap Hit
Sam Shields, Green Bay Packers	4 Years	$39 Million	$1.5 Million	$3.125 Million	$937,500	$5.563 Million
Alterraun Verner, Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4 Years	$25.75 Million	$5 Million	0	$3.25 Million	$8.25 Million
Brent Grimes, Miami Dolphins	4 Years	$32.025 Million	$2.475 Million	$1.5 Million	$25,000	$4 Million

When it comes to the overall contract value, Sam Shields is certainly getting paid like the best cornerback in this group. His contract, valued at $39 Million over 4 years, is more than each of the free agent (not cut) corners signed after him (so far) and, weirdly enough, didn't even seem to inflate the contracts for those that came after him. So is Ted Thompson valuing Shields too much or is the money actually warranted? Let’s look at the stats. I looked at Advanced NFLStats.com and compare all the free agent corners to see how Shields stacked up against his competition in 2013. I've included the definition to some of the stats below. End Part 1

Player, Team	+WPA	+EPA	Solo Tackles	QB Hits	Passes Defensed	Fumbles Forced	Interceptions
Sam Shields, Green Bay Packers	0.74	23.3	51	1	17	0	4
Alterraun Verner, Tennessee Titans	1.49	44.0	49	0	23	0	5