Outside of the NFC East, the Vikings reside as the conference’s only over-.500 team. That leaves several teams that entered the season on the contender radar amid a middle-class glut.
The Packers’ three previous Matt LaFleur seasons have produced three, three and four losses; 2021 featuring a half-hearted Week 18 effort after clinching home-field advantage. Green Bay’s 2022 edition is already at three losses, and conversations about adding pieces at the trade deadline are believed to be ongoing.
Multiple GMs believe the Packers are looking for wide receiver help, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. This update comes after Aaron Rodgers suggested, via ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, GM Brian Gutekunst will be in the mix if an opportunity to add a worthwhile player arises.
Issues at wide receiver date back to the team’s decision to move forward with the Davante Adams tag-and-trade maneuver. Marquez Valdes-Scantling‘s defection to the Chiefs followed days later. The Packers negotiated with Adams during the 2021 offseason but could not close a deal before his contract expired. Rodgers attempted to convince Adams to stay, and the Packers offered a more lucrative contract compared to the five-year, $140MM deal the Raiders authorized. But the Fresno State alum became intent on leaving Green Bay. The Pack also tried to re-sign Valdes-Scantling but did not surpass the Chiefs’ offer of three years, $30MM ($8.56MM guaranteed). That left a major void in what had been an Adams- and MVS-fronted receiving corps for years.
The Packers have gone with a combination of midlevel veterans and rookies at the position, but injuries have intervened. Sammy Watkins remains on IR, continuing a trend for the journeyman receiver, and Christian Watson — for whom the Packers vaulted up to No. 34 this year — has missed two games thus far. Randall Cobb suffered an ankle injury during the Packers’ loss to the Jets and is expected to miss extensive time. Training camp standout Romeo Doubs has contributed in spurts, but the Packers have not seen much from rookie receivers traditionally during the Rodgers era. Amari Rodgers, a 2021 third-round pick, has not carved out a role on offense.
This has put the onus on Allen Lazard, who has 20 receptions for 285 yards and four touchdowns in his five-game season. Lazard worked as a tertiary target during the Adams-MVS period. It will be interesting if the Packers will now acquire someone to complement him.
Chase Claypool has surfaced as a potential option. While it is not known if the Packers are pursuing the third-year Steelers pass catcher yet, Fowler adds the former second-round pick was believed to be available this summer. Claypool, who is signed through 2023, is coming off his season’s best game — a seven-catch, 96-yard outing against the Buccaneers — and makes sense as a player who can help Kenny Pickett develop. The Steelers do, however, used another Day 2 pick on a wideout this year (George Pickens) and extended Diontae Johnson through 2024.
With so many NFC teams sitting at 3-3 or 2-4, it might take a bit longer before true sellers emerge. Only two AFC teams enter Week 7 with one win. Among those, only the Texans profile as a team who would consider dealing away a receiver. Odell Beckham Jr., of course, resides as the top available option. He will have multiple suitors and is not expected to be available to return from his ACL tear until November or potentially December. Green Bay remains on the OBJ radar.
The Packers are averaging 17.8 points per game. That number sits 24th and also ranks as the lowest six-game scoring average during Rodgers’ run as a starter, per ESPN Stats and Info. With the team’s oft-questioned receiver plan helping contribute to this production dip, Packers trade buzz figures to pick up ahead of the Nov. 1 deadline.
Different year, same story.
Packers need wr help.
Packers are going to pursue wr help via trade before the deadline.
Deadline comes and goes, Packers make no moves, for wr or anything else.
When asked why no additions were made, GM says “we tried hard, were in on some guys, but at the end of the day, we weren’t able to get a deal done/nobody moved the needle enough to pull the trigger.”
Fans go ballistic, even when they knew this would be the outcome all along.
other years the wr position was not as much of a perceived need as this year…because Adams was always there. that’s the difference this year. a move will be made…more out of mere necessity than anything else. especially with cobb now also missing 2 to 4 weeks. they will most certainly make a move for a wr before the deadline.
They haven’t drafted a wr in the 1st round in 20 years, and it’s talked about every week.
Just like the need for a wr to compliment Adams the last 4 years he was there.
They needed to do something either in the draft or by trade for 6 years, and didn’t. Whether the need is greater this year is irrelevant, they still won’t. If they do ANYTHING, it’ll be a waiver claim of some lousy team’s castoff.
They needed a second wideout even when Adams was there. With Adams, Green Bay was just good enough to lose to the best teams in the playoffs. Instead of acquiring anybody to help with that obvious need, the Packers did everything else and said, “Look how much better we are!”
I get it, this last year most of the wideouts were gone by the time they picked in the first. But they did not really try in free agency or in trades either, and haven’t for the last four plus years. Now they don’t even have Adams, and Tonyan hasn’t displayed the same brief level of productivity that gave Green Bay a TE for a year. There’s not really anybody else there. I’m not sure that Claypool, as high a potential as he has, will be reliable enough to turn the tide immediately, but he may be their best option if he is available. If Trubisky starts again, I’d expect Claypool to post better numbers. He and Trubisky have much better chemistry than he and Pickett. How that affects his availability is yet to be seen.
Green Bay desperately needs a reliable number one, and preferably a veteran-and I’m not really sure who is available right now (unless my hunch that Hopkins is being set up for a trade is true, and even then, I’m not sure who could afford his cap hit-and same possibly but less likely with Michael Thomas).
What “ Sammy Watkins” on IR. NOOOOOO WAY
Why do teams waste money on this guy every year?
Jerry Judy should be available
Denzel Mimms
Should’ve held the line with Adams. Worst case scenario he doesn’t sign and you’re in the same position now anyways. Best case he plays and give you 100 catches.
if they held the line…Packers would not have been able to spend the 20 mil that the tag was for. they in turn spent that money to resign Campbell and Douglas. as well as sign reed…Watkins…O’Donnell…and by proxy of picks…wyatt and Watson. most of those moves woukd not have been possible if we held serve. and we still would have lost adams as well.
It’s almost as if people have zero idea of the WRs GB has internally devoted the last 30 years….
They don’t have the luxury of time right now to develop. That is the issue.
Well, they actually made him a better offer supposedly than Las Vegas. Adams was fed up with Green Bay already, from at least the season before. I don’t think that the offer was the part at fault.
If the team wanted to they could have said sign the tag or sit out. The only recent comp dor that scenario was Bell who ended up losing a year of pay and then never being the same player.
Adams likely would’ve signed and played under the tag.
Who could have predicted WR would have been a problem??
They spent a 2 on a receiver from an FCS school and their significant addition was Watkins.. lol
They should trade for Brandin Cooks or see what DJ Moore would cost.
Both of these guys are better options than Claypool, and I say that as a Steelers fan. Cooks would seem cheaper and therefore more realistic.
Imagine had they pursued WRs (draft picks, upgrades, wtfever) instead of drafting Jordan Love?
Trying to be smarter than everyone else.
I have been saying this for quite awhile. With all these players wanting to be highest paid at my position and teams meeting those demands it is only a matter of time till teams will have to make a decision whether or not to pay them and when they do they will face payroll issues. Might be a major reason Tyreek Hill and Devonte Adams were traded. Soon teams will not have any room on their payrolls.
You know what both of those teams have in common a top paid qb and an overpaid o lineman. GB 50per to Rodgers and 23 to bahktiari. KC paying a GUARD 16per on top of frank clark and Chris Jones to go along with making 25-30 per to go along with mahomes. It’s just what teams choose to value.
What do you think they could get if they trade Aaron Rogers?
Should have already happened imo….
At this point? Maybe a mid to lowers 1 and a 3-4. Could have pocketed 2-3 firsts last offseason plus a 2 and 3.
They should of traded him to Denver for what was rumored last year. They would of got at least what Seattle got for Wilson or more. IMO they would be better this year and in the future.
Rodgers looks disinterested and that isn’t going to change by picking up somebody else’s disgruntled third string receiver at the trade deadline.
Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with Will Fuller and why he remains both unsigned and undiscussed? I get it… he’s horribly injury prone very small and fragile essentially along with his blazing speed the similarities to desean jackson are almost eerie…and he was a major dud as a free agent signing for Miami…so I understand the drawbacks and why he didn’t get a major offer this off-season… but he’s still relatively young, has had moments of tremendous game breaking ability and at this point in the season he would almost certainly be willing to sign for the minimum. So why is a player with this much talent, experience and at least something of a successful track record not even getting any looks? This is a player the Packers we’re said to be heavily interested in a couple of years ago at the trade deadline and now you could get him for no draft capital and no financial risk, plus the Packers are far more desperate for talent at WR than they were at this time a couple years ago. How is he not worth at least adding to the practice squad and giving a look? Is there something we don’t know about him off the field??
Wow Rodgers must have some serious pictures of G.B’s management as leverage somewhere, he tells them in a presser to go out and get offensive help and they just cave and are doing so, reminds me of before the season when they inexplicably decided that Love wasn’t the future and Gave this guy an extension with what? OPT OUTS, and even a raise holy crap batman.
Please save DJ Moore for that tire fire in Carolina