Packer Central

Reeling With Injuries at Receiver, Packers Add Former Draft Pick

The Green Bay Packers, with almost all their top receivers out due to injuries, brought back a former practice-squad player, Kawaan Baker, on Tuesday.
Bill Huber|
The New Orleans Saints drafted receiver Kawaan Baker in the seventh round in 2021.
The New Orleans Saints drafted receiver Kawaan Baker in the seventh round in 2021. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers, with almost all their top receivers dealing with injuries, brought back a familiar face when they claimed Kawaan Baker off waivers from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday.

The transaction is not official but the Packers did make a pre-emptive roster move by waiving cornerback Isaiah Dunn, who has been out with a knee injury.

Baker was a seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft by the Saints. He played in two games as a rookie, with all 27 career snaps coming on special teams.

Baker spent his rookie season on the Saints’ practice squad. The Saints released him in 2022 after he served a six-game suspension, and he finished the season with practice-squad stints with the Packers, Eagles and Saints again. He spent training camp with the Saints in 2023 and training camp with the Patriots in 2024.

This year, he spent a week with the Raiders.

Baker played at South Alabama. He caught 128 passes for 1,829 yards and 16 touchdowns in four seasons, highlighted by 51 receptions for 659 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior in 2020.

At 6-foot 1/2 and with 4.45 speed in the 40, Baker turned in an excellent pro day, which helped him get drafted. His Relative Athletic Score was 9.06.

“Kawaan Baker is someone that has position flex relative to you see him line up in the slot,” then-Saints coach Sean Payton said after the draft. “He’s a high-IQ player for the receiver position. He's played in multiple positions. We will probably work him outside to begin with.”

In four career preseasons, he caught 11-of-16 targets for 122 yards with zero touchdowns and one drop.

Baker compared himself to Deebo Samuel in terms of his physicality and ability to break tackles.

“Man, just me as a person, I feel like people just have to know that I'm very humble very to myself and I'm very much a competitor,” he said after being drafted. “I've been a competitor all my life and everything. I'll say my game, just gave me the ball, so I made play, I break tackles. I’m real fun to watch.”

Green Bay’s receiver depth has gone down the drain. Christian Watson remains on the physically unable to perform list due to last year’s torn ACL. Dontayvion Wicks (calf) has missed the last several practices, and Jayden Reed (foot) has been out for the past week. On Tuesday, they were joined on the sidelined by veteran Romeo Doubs, who collided with Evan Williams, and rookie Savion Williams, who hasn’t been able to stay on the practice field.

That’s five of the team’s top receivers.

“Everybody just to put their best foot forward,” one of the last men standing, first-year player Julian Hicks, said of what’s next headed into Thursday’s joint practice and Saturday’s preseason game against the Colts. “We need everybody onboard. We need people to make plays and we need people to know the playbook. Everybody’s got to be on top of their sh**. I know that’s what they’re going to expect out of us – no drop-off. Just continue to work.”

While the Packers have avoided any significant injuries, the accumulation of injuries has become a major challenge with two weeks left in training camp.

“No, I don’t. Right now, I don’t,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday when asked if he felt good about the healthy of his team. “We’re missing a lot of key players that are integral to our success as a football team. It is what it is. It’s an opportunity for some other guys but we definitely had some injuries strike up at some positions where it’s made us pretty thin.”

At least first-round pick Matthew Golden is going strong. He’s had an excellent training camp, which included winning a couple of one-on-one matchups against Jets star Sauce Gardner on Saturday.

“I think particularly for young players but all players, every snap that you have is valuable to learn something from, whether it’s good or bad, and I think particularly when you haven’t seen things – this is the first time you’re seeing things – you’re going to grow from it,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Tuesday.

“Some players grow faster than others. It’s just the way it goes, but I think it’s always about trying to see things for the first time, learn from it and try to get into a comfort zone, so you’re not thinking. Once you get into that comfort zone, usually their true talents kind of come out.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.