Top FA WR Advised Against Signing With Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers might need another wide receiver

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has not been shy about his feelings toward wide receivers on his roster. In training camp, he sent a message about their drops being an issue. Rodgers doesn’t seem supportive of second-year wide receiver Amari Rodgers. On The Pat McAfee Show this week, Rodgers suggested the Green Bay Packers might be in the market for a wide receiver later this season. Free agent Odell Beckham Jr. was a pass catcher Rodgers called a friend and someone he would like to play with in the future.

The Packers’ passing has improved since their Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Rookie wide receiver Romeo Doubs has become more active in the offense. Alan Lazard has been solid since his Week 2 return. Rodgers has mentioned he’d like to get Randall Cobb involved more.

Those three wide receivers seem to be Rodgers’ favorite wide receiver targets right now. (Rookie Christian Watson has had his struggles, and Sammy Watkins is on the injured reserve.) With Rodgers only comfortable with those three targets, the Packers look to add one more elite wide receiver before a playoff run.

Beckham was warned about going to the Packers

A healthy Beckham would appear to be a great fit in Green Bay. Beckham was a solid contributor to last year’s Los Angeles team that won the Super Bowl. However, a former NFL safety warned Beckham about joining the Packers this season.

On ESPN’s First Take, Ryan Clark said that Beckham would face a lot of pressure to perform with the Packers. Which would not be a good thing to deal with returning from his ACL injury. Clark suggested Beckham should sign with the Buffalo Bills instead:

“When you come back from an ACL injury, normally you’re not all the way together until you out about a year. And so necessarily asking Odell Beckham Jr. to come back and be a number one in a place like Green Bay, that would be a ton of pressure. We would view him and look at him differently. Teams would gameplan him differently.

But what we do know, if he goes to Buffalo, they’ve got game plan to stop [Stefon Diggs] the same way many teams last year in Los Angeles, game plan to stop [Cooper Kupp] and that’s when Odell Beckham Jr. got the proper matchups. That’s when he got one on ones. And a guy like Matthew Stafford who we know only wants to throw the ball to Cooper Kupp understood what Odell Beckham Jr. could do.

The thing we learned about Josh Allen in divisional playoff round last year, he threw Gabe Davis way for 200. He’ll throw it to the dude that’s open. He’s gonna throw it to the dude with the best matchup. This is a team that’s going to be winning. This is a team that’s going to be in the hunt to win the Super Bowl and they have other weapons offensively and a top tier quarterback. That’s the place to be.”

Green Bay should still be courting Beckham

Beckham doesn’t need to be the Packers’ number-one receiver to have success. If he can come and make a few explosive plays each game as a rotational wide receiver, the Packers would be much better than they are now. Beckham would be an excellent pickup for the Packers, who already work in Cobb on a rotational basis. Rodgers and Beckham being on the same page helps with this scenario. Beckham shouldn’t feel too much pressure with the Packers this season, as the team is already starting to find a number-one receiver in Doubs.