Packers’ Veteran Receiver, Jeff Cotton, Makes Statement With Two Touchdowns

The oldest receiver on the Green Bay Packers’ roster is a 26-year-old with zero receptions but obvious talent.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jun 9, 2023 4:20 PM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ oldest receiver scored two touchdowns at OTAs on Tuesday.

Who’s the old man on the youngest receiver corps in the NFL?

Jeff Cotton, who turned 26 just before this year’s draft. Of the oldest receiver on every NFL roster, Cotton is the youngest.

“It definitely is wild,” he said.

Cotton entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho in 2020. He spent the 2020 season on the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad and the 2021 season on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad. After failing to make the Jaguars’ roster in 2022, he spent a week on the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad before signing to the Packers’ practice squad for the second half of the season.

He has played in one game in his career, logging one snap on offense and 14 on special teams as a COVID replacement in 2021.

Nonetheless, because he’s been around some top receivers, he’s doing what he can to help guide a receiver corps that includes six rookies vs. only two with more than five career receptions. Leadership is something he’s taken seriously dating to his time at Idaho.

“I’ve been around a lot of vets,” he said, “Keenan Allen, Marvin Jones, Marvin Hall, Zay Jones, C(hristian) Kirk and picked their brains and kind of take the advice they’ve given me and feed it to the young guys as much as I can.”

Cotton might appear to be the long shot in the battle for a roster spot. While the receiver corps is young, it’s also brimming with potential with three selected in the 2022 draft and three more added in 2023.

Battling against six recent draft picks would appear to put Cotton behind the eight-ball.

“It’s funny you ask,” Cotton said. “I was talking to one of my friends last night. I’m on my fourth team, fourth year. I’ve been in five offenses now. It’s controlling what I can control, putting my best foot forward each and every day, and just doing the best I can.”

The best he can could be enough, because Cotton is talented, too. At Idaho, he was an FCS All-American with 83 receptions for 1,076 yards and six touchdowns in 2019. The skill-set is there, too, with size (6-foot-2) and athleticism (4.38 in the 40).

At Tuesday’s practice, Cotton scored the winning touchdown in a 2-minute drill with a leaping grab of Sean Clifford's pass along the sideline in which he kept both feet inbounds. It would have been an impressive grab had it been made by Davante Adams or Christian Watson. Earlier in practice, he hauled in a scoring strike from Danny Etling.

Plays like that will keep him in the hunt for a roster spot.

“I feel like it’s kind of up in the air right now,” he said after walking through the locker room with a noticeable limp. “Once camp comes around, the preseason, just doing my job and put the best possible film on tape and go from there.”