Big Additions Mean Big Questions at Receiver for Packers

The wide receiver room has been restocked.

That might be an understatement after the Green Bay Packers added two receivers with top-100 picks during April’s NFL Draft.

Matthew Golden became the team’s first receiver taken in the first round since Javon Walker in 2002. Savion Williams was added in the third round.

That means a few things for last year’s holdovers.

There were sky-high expectations at this time last year for Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, including the belief that each could be a featured receiver on a given week.

Those expectations were not met. They were not close to being met.

The Packers’ offense fell on its face during the last month of the season, including a 22-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in which Jordan Love threw three interceptions in the wild-card round.

General manager Brian Gutekunst, not content to see his passing game fall short like that again, went to work.

Adding competition to any room should be a priority for a general manager, and Gutekunst clearly wanted to do that at receiver this offseason.

Drafting any player in the first round is a statement. More often than not, first-round picks are going to be given runway to succeed almost regardless of what happens. That means Golden is going to be a fixture for this team for at least the next four seasons. The same should be true for Williams, unless he falls flat on his face like Amari Rodgers did a few years ago.

Joining the rookies will be Watson and Doubs, whose contracts will expire at the end of the 2025 season, and Reed and Wicks, who are scheduled to be free agents after the 2026 season.

Spoiler alert, all four players will not be receiving second contracts.

The most complicated piece of that scenario is Watson.

When he’s on the field, he’s a difference-maker even if he’s not touching the ball. His combination of size and speed offers tantalizing potential and, if nothing else, a skill defenses must account for on every snap.

However, he suffered a torn ACL in January against the Chicago Bears. His timeline is uncertain, but both he and the team remain optimistic.

“My recovery’s going really well. I’m in a really good spot,” Watson said.

"I've gotten a lot in my life but there's still a lot of things that I want, so I'm going to keep on fighting for it."

Packers wide receiver Christian Watson discussed battling injuries throughout his NFL career and how rehab is going for his torn ACL. #Packers pic.twitter.com/bWxjdD8u1U
— Ellie French (@elliefrenchTV) May 4, 2025

“He looks like a freak,” coach Matt LaFleur said before rookie camp last week. “He’s been great. He’s been outstanding, just a great attitude. He’s working hard. That’s really all you can ask of anybody.”

His face was glowing when he spoke of Green Bay’s fourth-year receiver. That is true almost every time LaFleur speaks about Watson’s selfless mentality and all they ask him to do in the offense.

Sometimes that comes at the expense of opportunities with the ball in his hands. Watson finished last season with just 29 catches but averaged 21.4 yards per reception – second-best in the NFL among all players with at least 20 catches.

While he was the team’s most impactful receiver, the consistency just has not been there. Watson’s most productive season came as a rookie, when he caught 41 passes and scored seven times, with most of his production coming in the second half of the season. However, due to injuries and other issues, Watson has fallen short of 30 receptions each of the past two seasons.

With the financial market for receivers continuing to explode, would the Packers give another contract to Watson if he returns after Thanksgiving? Would Watson want to take a one-year, “prove-it” contract in a place where he may not have as many opportunities to prove he can be a top-tier receiver?

Those are all questions that can only be answered in time.

The other receiver from the 2022 draft class who will enter the season on an expiring contract is Doubs.

Through his three seasons, Doubs has been solid if unspectacular. After missing two games with a concussion, he returned with a protective Guardian Cap to close the regular season but sustained another concussion in the playoffs, when the Packers’ medical staff had to flip him onto his back before helping him off the field.

He also missed a game due to a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

What kind of contract would the Packers be willing to offer a player with two concussions and at least one instance of having to be disciplined?

As much as teams do care about the well-being of players, the NFL is a cold business. The Packers are surely asking themselves if Doubs’ play outweighs some of the potential issues that a long-term commitment could bring.

Of all the returning receivers, the most interesting case is that of Reed.

On the surface, Reed seems like a slam dunk to get a second contract. Reed has led the team in receptions and receiving yards each of his two seasons. He does a lot of the jet-motion and gadget stuff that LaFleur likes to incorporate while serving as the team’s part-time punt returner.

Reed is a really good receiver, but not one without his warts. For all the conversation surrounding Wicks’ drop issues, Reed was not much better last year.

He’s also small. The Packers list him at 5-foot-11, 187 pounds. Golden is 5-foot-11, 194 pounds. Reed’s slight stature forces LaFleur to protect him by limiting his usage and makes him a liability in the run game.

How much can the Packers play Golden and Reed at the same time? Usually, bigger players are better blockers, especially in a power run game that the Packers are shifting toward with Josh Jacobs in the backfield.

That’s why the Packers have typically leaned more toward bigger receivers like Watson and Doubs.

Reed rarely played in two-receiver sets a season ago. The Packers have made an investment in the tight end position with Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. LaFleur could want to run more sets with two tight ends on the field to attack defenses in a multitude of ways. Even with one tight end, Williams’ size could take some of those gadget-role snaps from Reed.

A second contract in Green Bay would not be cheap for Reed. Can the Packers give a contract to someone they have to limit? It’s at least a question worth considering.

Reed’s draft classmate, Wicks, might be the most tantalizing of them all. He’s their best separator. He’s always open. The problem was he struggled once the ball hit his hands. Wicks led the team in drops and had the second-highest drop rate in the NFL in 2024.

Still, he played the most snaps among the team’s receivers due in part to his size and physicality as a blocker.

The problem is Wicks’ career has been up-and-down dating back to college. He was great as a junior but struggled as a senior. He looked like an ascending player as a rookie, only to falter as a second-year pro.

Ultimately, the biggest indicator of what the Packers’ long-term plans are at this position is going to be time.

If all the receivers who took a step back from last year improve, combined with progress from this year’s draft class, they’ll have a champagne problem, as Joe Barry used to like to say.

Regardless of what happens in the future, Gutekunst made a statement during the draft.

Play better, or you’ll have to play elsewhere.

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