Packers’ Receivers Lack Bang for Limited Bucks

Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback. Matt LaFleur has a great scheme. Will that be enough to overcome the trade of Davante Adams?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – You get what you pay for.

That adage isn’t always true in the NFL, of course. As the case was with David Bakhtiari last season, big-money investments might not pay big dividends. Also as the case was last season, bargain-bin addition Rasul Douglas was worth his weight in gold.

Nonetheless, looking at NFL positional payrolls can paint a pretty solid picture of the talent on the depth chart.

With All-Pro Davante Adams traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, Marquez Valdes-Scantling possibly on his way to Kansas City to join the Chiefs and Equanimeous St. Brown already in Chicago with the Bears, the remaining Packers receivers are taking up a combined $12.49 million of the salary cap in 2022. That’s the eighth-lowest figure in the NFL.

In this case, the Packers really are getting what they pay for.

While there might be enough cap space to add a veteran receiver, the Packers have only two receivers with noteworthy experience. The first is Allen Lazard, who is the on-paper No. 1 receiver at the moment. He’s set to play under the restricted free agent tender of $3.986 million. The second is Randall Cobb, who took a pay cut to stay in Green Bay alongside Aaron Rodgers. His reduced cap number is about $4.15 million.

Amari Rodgers, a third-round pick last year who was pushed aside following the return of Cobb, has a cap hit of $1.11 million. The depth chart is rounded out by minimum-wage players. Juwann Winfree, Malik Taylor and Rico Gafford are slated to earn $895,000 in 2022 while Chris Blair is scheduled to pocket $705,000.

Adams (123 receptions, 1,553 yards, 11 touchdowns), Valdes-Scantling (26-430-3) and St. Brown (9-98-0) combined for 158 catches for 2,081 yards and 14 touchdowns. The returning quintet of Lazard (40 receptions, 513 yards, eight touchdowns), Cobb (28-375-5), Winfree (8-58-0), Rodgers (4-45-0) and Taylor (2-14-0) combined for 82 receptions for 1,005 yards and 13 touchdowns. Gafford, who went undrafted in 2018, caught two passes in 2019, zero in 2020 and didn’t play in a game in 2021. Blair, who went undrafted in 2020, hasn’t played in a game.

So what? Aaron Rodgers is a four-time MVP and Matt LaFleur can scheme guys open, right? Yes, that’s true. But, at some point, the most talented players on the field are going to win the key snap in the game.

To get to the Super Bowl, the Packers must get past the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams. And therein lies the problem.

The 49ers’ receivers are taking up about $4,500 more cap space than the Packers’ receivers. So, close battle in terms of talent, right? No, of course not. The Packers have totally blown off the receiver position, counting on the greatness of Rodgers and Adams to be the rising tide that lifts all boats. The 49ers have Deebo Samuel, a second-round stud in 2019, Brandon Aiyuk, a promising first-round pick in 2020, and Jauan Jennings, a seventh-round pick in 2020, on rookie contracts. They combined for 157 receptions and 24 total touchdowns last season.

The Buccaneers have the highest-paid group of receivers in the NFL with a combined cap charge of $41.4 million. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are studs who each topped 1,000 yards last season. The Bucs replaced Antonio Brown with Russell Gage, who caught 66 passes for 740 yards in Atlanta. Plus, 2021 fifth-round pick Tyler Johnson added 36 receptions for 360 yards.

The Rams’ receivers rank seventh with a combined cap charge of almost $29 million. Superstar Cooper Kupp caught a ridiculous 145 passes for 1,947 yards 16 touchdowns last season. Van Jefferson, a second-round pick in 2020, is an ascending talent who caught 50 passes for 802 yards and six scores. And Allen Robinson joined the team last week. He’s a year removed from catching 102 passes for the Bears.

It's the Rams’ example that makes a mockery of the wishing and hoping that Rodgers and LaFleur can offset the loss of Adams. The Packers and Rams have great coaches, great quarterbacks and the same great system. Rodgers has Lazard and Cobb. Stafford has Kupp and Robinson.

Nothing else needs to be said.

With Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, the Packers will run the football. With perhaps the best secondary in the NFL and the addition of Jarran Reed to help the run defense, the Packers will keep teams off the scoreboard.

But, when push comes to shove, can Rodgers possibly match Brady big-time throw for big-time throw? Can Rodgers overthrow Stafford as the NFC’s championship quarterback? Unless general manager Brian Gutekunst finds Justin Jefferson 2.0 (and maybe 3.0), the answer is an overwhelming no.