If the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft showed me anything about how Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers feel about their wide receiver room, they believe it needs to get better – and fast.
It also signaled that they don’t seem all that interested in extending Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, a pair of receivers they drafted in 2022.
After the Packers made the surprising decision to draft two receivers with two of their first three picks in this year’s draft, they suddenly have a somewhat crowded receiver room. Wide receiver was undoubtedly a need entering this year’s draft due to a combination of factors. Last year’s group dropped a lot of passes, Watson tore his ACL, and Doubs had concussion and attitude issues.
By the end of the season, the writing was on the wall. The Packers would look to improve the top of their depth chart.
Matthew Golden broke Green Bay’s 22-year streak of not taking a wide receiver in the first round and will immediately compete for starting snaps. He has the size and speed the Packers will be missing with Watson on the shelf for the season’s first three months. Clocking a 40-yard dash time of 4.29 and a 1.49 10-yard split, he’s a bit faster than Watson, who ran a 4.36 40-yard dash. Golden is exactly the kind of explosive athlete needed to stretch the field, which they won’t have without Watson.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone if Golden becomes Green Bay’s No. 1 receiver and Jordan Love’s go-to target by playoff time, which Watson has proven he cannot be trusted to do, given his injury history. That feels ominous for Watson, who’s in a contract year. Seeing how he likely won’t touch the field until December, it would take a monster postseason performance to convince me otherwise.
With the 87th-overall pick in the third round, Gutekunst added Savion Williams out of TCU, a chess-piece receiver. While Williams isn’t a direct replacement for Doubs the way Golden is for Watson, he brings a unique element to the offense that Matt LaFleur must fully utilize. Williams can line up outside, in the slot, or even in the backfield – a versatile, movable piece the Packers haven’t had since the Tyler Ervin days.
I don’t see a world where LaFleur will want to take Golden and Jayden Reed off the field; they are poised to be the offense’s most dynamic and impactful playmakers at wide receiver. The team also seems to love Dontayvion Wicks, sticking with him last season as he battled a bad case of the drops. Wicks is arguably their best separator, thanks to his incredible foot quickness off the line. If he can find a cure for the drops, he’s another player they won’t want off the field. That leaves Doubs as the odd man out.
If the Packers take that Year 3 leap in the Love era, they will likely have conversations about new contracts for Reed and Wicks around this time next year. Therefore, handing out a big extension to Doubs beforehand could complicate that process. An offense featuring the law offices of Golden, Reed, Wicks, and Williams should scare defensive coordinators.
We also have to consider Doubs’ recent concussion issues and his one-game suspension last season. He suffered two concussions weeks apart, the second of which ended his season when he had to be helped off the field during the Wild Card playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In his season-ending press conference, LaFleur admitted he was “absolutely” concerned moving forward, saying,
“Anytime a guy gets two concussions,” he said, “I can’t help but be concerned.”
Doubs’ suspension for the Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Rams also must weigh on Gutekunst’s mind. While Doubs returned and played when healthy for the remainder of the season, anytime a player essentially “takes his ball and goes home” like Doubs did, it raises a red flag about his long-term commitment. The Packers are trying to build a long-term champion caliber core, and Doubs’ actions last season don’t signal he should be part of it.
The Packers suddenly have a long list of extension candidates. Zach Tom is at the top of that list because he’s become a core player on the offensive line. Fellow linemen Rasheed Walker and Sean Rhyan are also entering the final years of their rookie contracts.
Will Green Bay be okay letting both walk? Quality offensive linemen aren’t cheap. Aaron Banks is a good but not elite player, and the Packers just signed him to a four-year, $77 million deal. I would expect Walker and Rhyan to command deals in that range.
Then there are the decisions on Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt. While we are still a few weeks away from the deadline to pick up their options, Gutekunst continues to speak glowingly about both players, and they seem firmly in the team’s future plans. I expect the Packers to discuss an extension with them during or after the season.
Gutekunst has always liked drafting a season ahead at positions of need. With the team already projected to be over the salary cap next season, handing out big contracts to either Watson or Doubs doesn’t seem to be in the cards. As the proud owner of a green No. 9 jersey, it might be time to add a Matthew Golden jersey to my Christmas list.
