GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - The Green Bay Packers finally made a pick in the NFL draft, taking Washington cornerback Kevin King with the first selection of the second round on Friday to fill a big need on defense.
The 6-foot-3 King adds size and speed to a secondary that was burned in the passing game and maligned by injuries.
The Packers traded the 29th overall pick in the first round on Thursday to Cleveland for the 33rd overall pick to take King, as well as first pick of the fourth round on Saturday, the 108th overall. General manager Ted Thompson had said that he was fielding calls about his first pick Friday, a potential hint that the Packers may not have been done dealing.
But minutes before the pick was announced, defensive coordinator Dom Capers was spotted in the Packers draft room at Lambeau Field speaking with Thompson. Team officials then exchanged handshakes.
The Packers hope that they've shored up the secondary. King had a 40-yard dash time of 4.43 seconds according to NFL.com.
"One of our goals this year was to try to get faster," said Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf. "I think we got the tallest corner in the draft and one that runs really fast."
Green Bay also brought back veteran cornerback Davon House in the offseason as a free agent after House spent the last two years in Jacksonville. King and House will join third-year holdovers Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins and LaDarius Gunter at cornerback.
Randall was a first-round draft pick in 2015, while Rollins was taken in the second round that season. Gunter joined the Packers that year as an undrafted free agent.
Those three players took on more responsibility last year after veteran cornerback Sam Shields went down with a concussion in the season opener. He never returned and was released this offseason. Randall and Rollins were also bothered by injuries.
The Packers had two more picks on Friday with their own selections in the second (61st overall) and third rounds (93rd overall).
