Signing running back Saquon Barkley put the Philadelphia Eagles over the top in 2024.
The Eagles already had a great offensive line, two stud wide receivers, and a quarterback in Jalen Hurts, who had shown he could get to a Super Bowl.
Green Bay has a really good roster, nobody doubts that. ESPN’s Mina Kimes says despite that, the Packers are in a tricky spot.
On her latest episode of “The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny,” Kimes dove into what Green Bay has and still desperately needs.
Great team. Really good players but needs at very expensive positions and I think that’s a frustrating place to be in as a franchise, Kimes said of the Packers. You need a difference-making wide receiver and a difference-making edge rusher. Otherwise, your team is great!
Packers fans have been banging the drum all offseason for the team to acquire, in some form or fashion, a true No. 1 wide receiver. Brian Gutekunst might believe the team doesn’t need a top dog, but the numbers say otherwise.
The Packers haven’t had a wide receiver eclipse 800 yards since Davante Adams did so in 2021.
Going with a quantity method last year was fun initially. However, it proved ineffective, primarily down the stretch, when Green Bay’s passing game regressed.
As for edge rusher, at the moment, the Packers are putting a lot of eggs into the basket of Lukas Van Ness showing massive improvement after two quiet years.
Rashan Gary is good but hasn’t shown the ability to be elite.
Kimes knows it isn’t easy to scoop up a No. 1 wide receiver and a stud on the edge, but she believes doing so would clearly put the Packers over the top.
They need a closer on both sides of the ball. They need an edge rusher who can just get at the quarterback you know, at the end of a playoff game and they need a receiver who can get you a bucket versus man coverage. They’re so close and if you could just drop those two things in this would be Super Bowl-caliber roster.
Finding a bonafide No. 1 wide receiver isn’t easy. Green Bay could’ve attempted it by pursuing Adams in free agency or trading for DK Metcalf. It passed on both.
Trey Hendrickson is still on the market as a trade candidate and would check the box as a superstar edge rusher. The cost could be steep, though.
Kimes isn’t wrong about the universal idea that this Packers roster is really close but not quite at Philadelphia’s level yet.
