The Green Bay Packers began the offseason with a major problem, bordering on a crisis on their hands.
After watching the receiving corps around Jordan Love regress dramatically while being mired in inconsistency throughout the 2024 season — not to mention become besieged by injuries, including Christian Watson likely unavailable for at least the bulk of 2025, general manager Brian Gutekunst had to act.
It wouldn’t be enough to trot out Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks for Love when the regular season kicks off in September, so the Packers stuck to their playbook to solve it.
Green Bay Packers’ NFL Draft Haul Is a Revealing One
By passing on Davante Adams, missing out on trading for Cooper Kupp, and avoiding the free agents at the top of the market at receiver and focusing on the NFL Draft, there is much to be gleaned about general manager Brian Gutekunst’s team-building vision and core philosophies.
“General manager Brian Gutekunst doesn’t often target players in their 30s,” Bill Barnwell points out for ESPN. “So, it’s no surprise Adams went elsewhere this offseason. Gutekunst did target fresh options at receiver, though, as Green Bay used its first-round pick on speedster Matthew Golden and a third-rounder on super-athlete Savion Williams. The Packers already had one of the league’s deepest groups of wide receivers before this offseason, and everyone on that depth chart is currently on the 2025 roster.
“The draft picks might signal Gutekunst’s attitude toward the growing cost to roster high-end wide receivers and whether he thinks it’s a good value to pay $25 million or more per year to any of the current Packers wideouts. Since trading Adams, they have spent just over $37 million on their receivers, the sixth-lowest figure for any team over the past three seasons. Playing on what was comfortably the league’s most run-heavy team in neutral game scripts last season, it might not make sense for Green Bay to spend a ton at the position.”
Gutekunst and the Packers seem intent on staying affordable at reciever while resetting the lock on building around Love with ascending playmakers. To date, the franchise’s strategy has yielded one of the youngest up-and-coming offenses in the sport, but the real indicator will be whether Love and his collection of weapons are capable of leading a playoff run.
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