All offseason, the Packers have made a lot of moves and adjustments to the roster. One of the major moves the Packers made this offseason was not re-signing Wide Receivers Allan Lazard and Randall Cobb. Both signed with the New York Jets and joined former Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That left the Packers with a young wide receiver room that in total have only one season under their belt.
That leave one question most Packer fans are wondering. Should the Packers sign a veteran wide receiver to help the young group?
Advantages
Adding a veteran Wide Receiver can help the Packers Wide receiver room immensely.
The advantage to signing a veteran wide receiver would be that they can help in the development of receivers like Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and others.
Watson did have a good 2022 season, catching 7 touchdowns and over 600 yards receiving. But that was with Lazard as the number one receiver.
We don’t know how Watson will do as the main target for Jordan Love, but having a veteran receiver could help as it would take some of the attention defenses would put on Watson.
The veteran receiver doesn’t have to be a clear-cut number one receiver though, like a DeAndre Hopkins.  It could just be someone who could be their number two or even number three receiver, like Kenny Golladay or Equanimeous St. Brown.
If you sign a veteran that has been there and done that, it could help the Packers Wide Receivers a ton just by learning from their experience. It can also provide a safety net for first year starter Jordan Love.
Disadvantages
There are some disadvantages though if the Packers are looking to sign a veteran Wide Receiver.
One of them is that the market this late in Free Agency isn’t very good, especially at the wide receiver position.
As mentioned earlier, probably best receiver on the market right now is DeAndre Hopkins, who was recently released by the Arizona Cardinals. But Hopkins is looking for top receiver money when it comes to his contract and signing with a new team. That is something that the Packers probably can’t afford to do with their salary cap situation.
That would only leave a few wide receivers that Packers could potentially get, some of the options as mention before are Kenny Galladay, Equanimeous St. Brown, Breshad Perriman and N’Keal Harry would fit the description of what the Packers are potentially looking for. All are under the age of 30 and have some potential.
But the Packers had a similar situation last year entering the 2022 season. The only veteran wide receivers on the roster at that point were Randall Cobb and Allan Lazard.
Their solution was to bring in Sammy Watkins and that didn’t pan out so well. In nine games with the Packers, the former first-round selection only registered 13 receptions for 206 yards. Watkins also didn’t score any touchdowns during his time with the Packers.
Whether or not the Packers decide to sign a veteran receiver to the roster in 2023 remains a question. One thing is for sure, the Packers wide receiver room will have a different look to it come opening day in September.
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Hau Khuong has been a Packers fan since 1996. He currently works as a video editor in Green Bay and writes for PackersTalk.com and you can follow him on twitter at @HauKhuongSports.
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