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The Packers signed free agent Sammy Watkins, and general manager Brian Gutekunst said Monday the receiver “has some juice left in him.” This does not mean that the team at the position is finished.
After selling Davante Adams to the Raiders and losing Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the Chiefs in free agency, the Packers remain in the receiver market. Gutekunst implied that adding another experienced receiver might not come until after the draft.
“I think across the board, at every position, I think we’re looking at everything right now,” Gutekunst said of TheAthletic.com’s Matt Schneidman. “So I think that draft is going to be really important and then we’ll see where we sit after the draft and we’ll move on from that point.”
The Packers currently have Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Juwann Winfree, Amari Rodgers and Watkins as top receivers. Green Bay hold the 22nd and 28th overall picks, but Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, Alabama’s Jameson Williams and USC’s Drake London could all hear their names before then.
“I think it’s a pretty good receiver class,” Gutekunst said. “I think the last couple were pretty deep, and I think that’s different. I think it’s just a product of how these players get through high school and college, how much more they throw the ball in college, and I certainly think seven-a-side and some of the flag football youth, those Boys have been catching and throwing for so long now.”
The Packers have not picked a first-round receiver since Javon Walker in 20th overall in 2002, and Walker is the only wideout the team has picked in the first round in the past 33 drafts.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good quarterback and that helps tremendously, so I think there’s probably going to be more opportunities for that young player if we go that route to come in and have some chances,” Gutekunst said. “Hopefully if we go this route this year things will go faster, but . . . When Tae (Adams) came in it was certainly a challenge for him to have these guys in front of him to take the chances, maybe it won’t be that much of a challenge this time but I’ll say we have some pretty good ones Players in the building who I think are very excited about their opportunity which maybe they haven’t had.”