We’re a couple of weeks from the 2023 NFL Draft, and the only receivers on the Green Bay Packers’ roster are the ones they drafted in 2022. The offseason after Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling found new homes, Allen Lazard is following Aaron Rodgers to New York, ushering in a full-on new era in Titletown for the first time since 2008. Whether the Packers are staring down a depressing rebuild or an expedient “reload” will largely depend on whether or not Jordan Love is a high-quality NFL quarterback.
We’ve seen rookies come in, get acclimated, and make playoff pushes right away under the right circumstances. Quarterbacks drafted in Love’s year (Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts), the year after him (Trevor Lawrence), and just last year (Brock Purdy, who was barely even drafted), have led their teams to the playoffs. Since he’s been in the lab for three years now, it’s definitely something he should be capable of. However, given what the Rodgers contract and the “all-in” approach of the past couple years have brought about, it’s increasingly unlikely that 2023 will be the best environment for Love to blossom.
Do the Packers want a veteran receiver to bring some reliability and leadership in a room full of young guys? I’d be shocked if they didn’t. They probably would’ve loved to have Lazard back, or to perhaps pursue Jakobi Meyers or Odell Beckham. But they’ve spent all offseason throwing cap hits as far out into future years as possible. However, they’re still somewhat pushing it with all the minimum-priced special teamers they’ve brought back, plus their upcoming draft class.
There’s been some noise about Corey Davis potentially being part of the return in the Rodgers trade, but he’d come with a $10.5 million price tag. At that point, they might as well wait for the Jets to release him as a cap casualty. However, it’s not as if there’s incredible depth in the free-agent receiver market. In a class that was incredibly thin to begin with, headliners Meyers and J.J. Smith-Schuster got big deals out of the gate. Here in mid-April, Kenny Golladay is the best player on the board. He’s not that much of a veteran and displayed the opposite of strong leadership in his time with the New York Giants.
Listed shortly after Golladay are Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins, of course. If Cobb plays, it’ll almost definitely be with Rodgers in New York, and Watkins was Green Bay’s failed veteran experiment of 2022, which they abandoned early in the year. Julio Jones and Jarvis Landry are pricier options, but there’s an argument to be made for one of them just for the benefits of their experience and leadership for guys like Watson, Doubs, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or whomever the Packers select later this month.
In all likelihood, the draft will help fill out the room with two or three more guys, and one will be a first- or second-round pick. There is a lot of work to do at other positions as well – safety, tight end, and in the trenches. But receiver is right up there at or near the top, and Gutekunst will be buoyed by whatever pick(s) he gets out of Joe Douglas once this trade is finalized.
To this point, the approach to the wideout position has revealed the extent to which this is a rebuilding year. No matter how interested the Packers are in bringing in established, top-tier talent, it’s simply not feasible with where the market is at, which has pretty much boxed them into doing the vast majority of this work at the draft. That basically gives them a ceiling of Watson, Smith-Njigba, Doubs, someone like Tank Dell, and a Byron Pringle-esque figure at a low price, assuming no DeAndre Hopkins miracle is forthcoming.
It will be challenging to see the wide-open NFC North — and the NFC at large, for that matter — and have a season that’s less Super Bowl or bust and more Let’s get the young guys some reps and see what we’ve got. That’s the behavior of the Detroit Pistons, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Oakland Athletics. The Green Bay Packers do not rebuild. But according to their own star left tackle, there’s no denying the state that they’re in. And he doesn’t even seem to share my optimism for this team’s ceiling, which would not only involve Love playing well but also the star-studded defense finally sniffing their potential.
So, with a lot to do and not much time before the draft to do it in, it’s probably safe to say the majority of Love’s new pass-catchers are still currently studying for midterms. Given the reckoning that awaits, maybe that’s not a bad thing.
