JuJu Smith-Schuster signed for $3.5 million and incentives with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jamison Crowder got $2 million from the Buffalo Bills. Jarvis Landry is still available. But there is a clear reason for the Green Bay Packers not to chase these players. They all play primarily from the slot, and that’s not what the roster needs. The top three Packers wide receivers played the majority of their snaps from the slot in 2021: Allen Lazard (53.3%), Randall Cobb (79.5%), and Amari Rodgers (87.5%). The best boundary receivers on the roster today are Juwann Winfree and Malik Taylor, and that’s obviously not nearly enough.
And that’s why I respectfully disagree with my colleague Troy Asseln, who wants the Packers to sign Jarvis Landry. I understand Landry is a good player, probably better than Lazard, Cobb, and Amari Rodgers. But he would cost a significant amount of money, and the roster would still lack an outside option. Therefore, the biggest hole on the roster would persist without the same capital to address it.
Allen Lazard will probably play more from the flanker, considering that Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Equanimeous St. Brown have departed. But the best way to use Lazard and achieve a good number of weapons at disposal for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, general manager Brian Gutekunst needs to find other alternatives.
Julio Jones and Will Fuller might be the best options available on the market. Sammy Watkins is another useful player, but injuries have derailed his value and productivity throughout his NFL career.
Odell Beckham Jr. remains very talented, and the Packers showed interest in him after the Cleveland Browns cut him last season, but the knee injury may keep him sidelined through November. Emmanuel Sanders, DeSean Jackson, and Keelan Cole are also free to sign with any team. Players like Landry, T.Y. Hilton and Cole Beasley are not the answers.
The alignment factor is also a consideration for the draft. Players like Skyy Moore, Wan’Dale Robinson, Calvin Austin III, and even Bo Melton might end up being good players, but they are not exactly what this roster needs. Considering Green Bay’s history, the profile tends to lean more toward tall and fast receivers who mostly play from the outside. Therefore, Treylon Burks, George Pickens, Christian Watson, and Alec Pierce fit better.
During the NFL owners meeting on Tuesday, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur admitted the team needs speed at receiver.
“It’s like fielding a basketball team,” he said. “You don’t want to have too many point guards or too many centers. They all have to be able to play off each other. If you look at our roster right now, we definitely need to get some speed in that room. We need a legit guy that can take off the top of the coverage.”
The good news for the Packers is that they have plenty of capital to address the dearth of receivers — something Packers president Mark Murphy highlighted recently.
“With the draft capital we have now, I’ll just say the draft is going to be very interesting. I think we can really help ourselves”, said Murphy, talking about Green Bay’s four picks in the top 60 after the Davante Adams trade.
Brian Gutekunst said the Packers don’t plan to replace Adams with only one option because it’s basically impossible to find a receiver as good as No. 17. But Gutekunst stressed that he might take multiple players to create a deeper wide receiver room.
“You never really replace a guy like Davante Adams,” he said. “It’s gonna be more cumulative and how the whole team steps up and plays and what we can add to that. I think it’s too early to tell, but I think my history and even with (former general manager) Ted’s (Thompson) history, I don’t think we’ve ever shied away from taking multiple players at one position in a draft.”
The Packers will need to rebuild the wide receiver room. But with six or at most seven roster spots available for the position, it’s not smart to fill it all with similar athletes. And there are already enough slot receivers on the roster. It’s time to find the rest.
