The Packers have a surplus at wide receiver, and that leaves the team with a roster quandary, Ryan Wood of USA Today writes. Last year, the Packers were the only team in the league to carry seven receivers on the initial 53-man roster. This year, the Packers will have at least seven receivers deserving of a roster spot, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll go with that untraditional allotment again.
Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, and Geronimo Allison make up the team’s top four WRs. Beyond them, there’s former small college star Jeff Janis, the speedy Trevor Davis, fifth-round rookie/possession specialist DeAngelo Yancey, seventh-round rookie/one-time top prospect Malachi Dupre, NFL legacy Max McCaffrey, and a few more intriguing talents.
It will be interesting to see which receivers make the Packers’ final cut in early September. It seems like at least a couple of the discarded WRs could quickly find work elsewhere.
Here’s more from the NFC North:
- Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com looked at the Lions‘ defensive tackle depth chart. With Haloti Ngata, A’Shawn Robinson, and Akeem Spence as locks for the roster, there is now a fourth spot in play since Khyri Thornton will be serving a six-game suspension to start the year. There are a few notable names in the mix including Ego Ferguson, Jordan Hill, and Bruce Gaston. Twentyman notes that the Lions carried five DTs last season, but we might not see a repeat since players like Cornelius Washington and Anthony Zettel are able to play both inside and outside.
- Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer says he would love to use rookie Dalvin Cook as his kick returner. However, he says the decision will ultimately be up to head coach Mike Zimmer (Twitter link via SiriusXM). The Vikings believe that Cook can be their lead running back of the future (and they have the ability to void Latavius Murray‘s contract after this season), so they might not want to give the high-risk role to him.
- Bears defensive end Akiem Hicks has changed agents as he looks ahead to free agency.
- This week, PFR’s Dallas Robinson gave us an in-depth recap of the Lions‘ offseason.
Couldn’t the Packers try to package a wide receiver with a draft pick to get an upgrade somewhere else on the field? Why not trade from a position of strength?
Trades are rare in the NFL, I think most teams are comfortable just waiting for the Pack to cut some of those guys and then attempting to sign them.