Best Receivers Available in Free Agency
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers struck out on the top wide receivers in the recent NFL Draft. If you think general manager Brian Gutekunst might turn to free agent to supplement the group, don’t hold your breath.
In a look at the top available free agents, SI.com’s Conor Orr listed Paul Richardson and Taylor Gabriel.
“It isn’t the worst market if you’re looking for a budget field-stretcher or general jack-of-all-trades receiver,” Orr wrote. “Richardson was plagued by injuries in Washington but, at his best, was a middle-tier home run option (703 yards, six touchdowns, 55% catch rate in his final year with the Seahawks) and could slide into a role for a team still in search of vertical proficiency. Gabriel, meanwhile, finished a two-year run in Chicago where he caught nearly 100 balls on 141 targets and also contributed in the running game.”
The Packers have no shortage of receivers, with Davante Adams surrounded by Allen Lazard, free-agent addition Devin Funchess, the third-year trio of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown and Jake Kumerow, Canadian import Reggie Begelton and undrafted free agents Darrius Shepherd (2019), Malik Taylor (2019) and Darrell Stewart (2020).
“Once we got to the middle and towards the end of the draft, I just didn’t think there was great opportunity to add a player that was going to make an impact on our roster this year,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the draft. “You guys know how hard it is for young players at that position to make impacts early on, certainly with some of the guys that we’ve had in the past that became really good players, but it took them two or three years to get there. We have a few of those guys who are entering that second or third year of their career that you expect a lot of them.”
