Packers 2024 Season Thread

[HarryDoyle]

Look at the receiving corps of the NFC playoff teams and ask yourself where you would rank Green Bay's. Mine would be at sixth or seventh. This team needs a needle mover #1 receiver, I don't care where they get him from.

[LouisEly]

4 hours ago, bigred said:

That shouldn't be difficult to do, because GB will be about $65M under the salary cap. I think the main problem, could be coaxing a top WR to sign with such a young team. 

With Watson unlikely to be healthy next year and Doubs possibly needing to medically retire, I don't think that any top WR is scared of Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Heath, or Bo Melton beating him out for WR1.

They really need a veteran WR - #1 or not - to come in and teach these young guys the nuances of being a NFL WR, practice habits, paying attention to details, etc.  Sometimes that needs to come from a peer, not a coach.

[bigred]

On 1/6/2025 at 1:32 PM, HarryDoyle said:

Barkley cost a ton to get for Philly and still traded for Brown and gave him a fat extension. Teams can make it work. It's time to put the cap restrictions excuse to bed. The Packers have a dearth of high end talent to compete with the elite teams. Jacobs, possibly McKinney and that's it. They need a receiver to compliment the run game. An elite pass rusher will also help in the secondary. At least get one of those guys.

Cap restrictions isn't just an excuse. It's a real thing that teams HAVE to think about. 

[bigred]

13 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

With Watson unlikely to be healthy next year and Doubs possibly needing to medically retire, I don't think that any top WR is scared of Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Heath, or Bo Melton beating him out for WR1.

They really need a veteran WR - #1 or not - to come in and teach these young guys the nuances of being a NFL WR, practice habits, paying attention to details, etc.  Sometimes that needs to come from a peer, not a coach.

I didn't say anything about them being scared of being beat out. Most top WR types will almost certainly prefer to sign with a team that's a serious contender to win a SB, and with a veteran QB. 

[bigred]

7 hours ago, adambr2 said:

I get it, but Adams was a 2nd round pick with a bit more upside, Wicks was a 5th.

I do think Wicks has value, I just think Packer fans (and I’m sure fans of all teams do this) tend to overrate their own. 

There’s plenty of Packer fans out there who think Romeo Doubs is a legit #1, because well, he’s our guy.

I still recall folks convinced that Equanimeous St. Brown was a 2nd round talent, who, with great fortune just happened to fall to us in the 6th.

Every so often a Puka Nacua slips through the cracks and fools everybody, but for the most part, these scouts are pretty good at their job and most guys still on the board in the 5th and 6th are in fact 5th and 6th round talents.

The only people out there who think Doubs is a legit #1, are probably residents at the Winnebago Mental Heath facility. 

[bigred]

7 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I think it's entirely possible one of the current WRs becomes the "true #1" everyone is clamoring for. I think it's probably Reed. I think some are being way too dismissive of where these guys are in their development.

Doubs is starting to give me Terrence Murphy vibes (not a similar situation just a high-ish pick who is going to have a short career). The suspension and the head injuries are just not a good thing. 

But I think going into next season hoping it happens is a bit of a risk.

Doubs was a day 3 pick(4th rd). That's not high-ish. 

[LouisEly]

14 minutes ago, bigred said:

I didn't say anything about them being scared of being beat out. Most top WR types will almost certainly prefer to sign with a team that's a serious contender to win a SB, and with a veteran QB. 

The Packers tied for the 8th most wins in the NFL with the 5th best point differential on the 3rd toughest strength of schedule in the league.

Maybe they're not the Lions or Vikings or the Eagles, but the list of teams that are better Super Bowl contenders is not much longer than those three and the Packers aren't much more than a half-step below those three.

[bigred]

2 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

It doesn't help that the most physically gifted WR on the roster (Watson) hasn't been able to stay healthy enough to develop, and the receiver who appears best suited for those intermediate/possession type routes (Doubs) also now has head injury concerns.  Those are probably #s 1 and 2 on the depth chart when healthy, and them on the field would make the depth the Packers have with the rest of the young wideouts look really damn good (especially Reed and Wicks as #3-4 options).  

It's not a surprise to me that the offense struggled with big plays in the passing game the last month or so, when both Watson and Doubs were taking turns missing games due to injuries.  Both of them being question marks (or in Watson's case a likely afterthought with that knee injury) heading into 2025 means the Packers need to target signing a big time veteran WR and draft one early.  Depth isn't valuable at a position in the NFL unless it's led by at least one impact talent - right now the Packers don't have that in their building at wideout.

He's constantly hurt, because he needs to start eating some serious amounts of calories, and gain weight & muscle. 

[bigred]

2 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

The Packers tied for the 8th most wins in the NFL with the 5th best point differential on the 3rd toughest strength of schedule in the league.

Maybe they're not the Lions or Vikings or the Eagles, but the list of teams that are better Super Bowl contenders is not much longer than those three and the Packers aren't much more than a half-step below those three.

Until they make a deep run in the playoffs with Love as QB, imo, they can't truly be considered legit contenders 

[adambr2]

26 minutes ago, bigred said:

I didn't say anything about them being scared of being beat out. Most top WR types will almost certainly prefer to sign with a team that's a serious contender to win a SB, and with a veteran QB. 

Nah, money trumps all of that by a lot. Calvin Ridley was the top prize of last year’s FA class. Tennessee was/is a dumpster fire with no QB, but they paid him, and he took it.

Granted the FA class of receivers is better this year, but I have serious doubts that Higgins or Godwin are going to restrict their market to all but the top 5 teams just because Jordan Love isn’t Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen and the Packers aren’t the Chiefs or the Bills.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

14 minutes ago, bigred said:

Doubs was a day 3 pick(4th rd). That's not high-ish. 

I couldn't really care less where they are picked. He was a guy that looked like he was going to be a significant part of the team, except now he has headcase and head injury problems and I doubt he has a second contract in GB.

[HarveysWBs]

WR room needs an infusion at the top, for sure. But I’ll second the idea that if I had to pick a guy to extend who is in the room right now, it’s probably Wicks for me, considering health and future ceiling. I think Wicks becoming 80% of Davante Adams would not shock me. Maybe he never figures out his hands, maybe he’ll never have Adams’ alien-like feel for the game. But nobody else on the roster creates separation like he does. He’s the best route runner on the team by far, and he’s up there with anybody else in the league in that regard. He just has to learn to catch.

Have him do catch drills and jugs machine all offseason long, offer him a deal while his value is rock bottom, and let’s profit (I know nobody does this in football, his agent would be fired for malpractice, but I’d offer this if I thought there was any way it would get accepted).

But they need an alpha in there. 2025 is go time, and there’s no more excuses anymore. You don’t get Jacobs and McKinney together at once anytime you want it. It. Is. Time.

[bigred]

18 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Nah, money trumps all of that by a lot. Calvin Ridley was the top prize of last year’s FA class. Tennessee was/is a dumpster fire with no QB, but they paid him, and he took it.

Granted the FA class of receivers is better this year, but I have serious doubts that Higgins or Godwin are going to restrict their market to all but the top 5 teams just because Jordan Love isn’t Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen and the Packers aren’t the Chiefs or the Bills.

Not all players automatically go for the $. Some do actually value winning a SB more. Plus, if they're not sold on Love, it would definitely be a factor they consider before deciding which team to sign with, because if Love doesn't play great, they know their #'s will likely suffer because of it too. 

[adambr2]

8 minutes ago, bigred said:

Not all players automatically go for the $. Some do actually value winning a SB more. Plus, if they're not sold on Love, it would definitely be a factor they consider before deciding which team to sign with, because if Love doesn't play great, they know their #'s will likely suffer because of it too. 

You could just as easily say they’d prefer to be here because of opportunity for targets as the clear #1 receiver in the offense. 

I highly doubt any receiver doesn’t want to come here because they’ll be catching passes from Jordan Love. If they have 3 offers and they’re all about equal, maybe they don’t want to play in a small town, maybe they don’t want to come play in the cold, I can see that. But because Love is the QB? He was a little disappointing this year, I’ll be the first to say that. But even in a disappointing year you could’ve done a lot worse.

[bigred]

1 hour ago, adambr2 said:

You could just as easily say they’d prefer to be here because of opportunity for targets as the clear #1 receiver in the offense. 

I highly doubt any receiver doesn’t want to come here because they’ll be catching passes from Jordan Love. If they have 3 offers and they’re all about equal, maybe they don’t want to play in a small town, maybe they don’t want to come play in the cold, I can see that. But because Love is the QB? He was a little disappointing this year, I’ll be the first to say that. But even in a disappointing year you could’ve done a lot worse.

I understand, though the opportunity for targets wouldn't mean much, because if Love isn't accurate enough to get them the ball on a regular basis, their #'s would suffer because of that. Love seems slightly above average, but not by much, imo. The cold weather here, is always something free agents ponder, when deciding if they want to sign here. 

[bigred]

On 1/6/2025 at 12:36 PM, Fear The Chorizo said:

If contract numbers make sense, Tyreke Hill wouldn't be a bad idea for a season or two.

Easy pass on Hill. He's basically a 1 trick pony, who's a borderline headcase, and doesn't usually play well in the cold. 

[LouisEly]

7 hours ago, bigred said:

That shouldn't be difficult to do, because GB will be about $65M under the salary cap. I think the main problem, could be coaxing a top WR to sign with such a young team. 

Only $40M under the cap:

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space

The $65M does not include dead money or projected cost of their draft picks.

Might be able to add about $7M for Alexander, but if he can't pass a physical they owe him the salary anyway and might make more sense to keep him and see if he can be ready for the start of the season.

[bigred]

3 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Only $40M under the cap:

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space

The $65M does not include dead money or projected cost of their draft picks.

Might be able to add about $7M for Alexander, but if he can't pass a physical they owe him the salary anyway and might make more sense to keep him and see if he can be ready for the start of the season.

https://lombardiave.com/updated-packers-cap-space-should-concern-nfl-2025.

Ahem.......

[bigred]

4 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Only $40M under the cap:

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space

The $65M does not include dead money or projected cost of their draft picks.

Might be able to add about $7M for Alexander, but if he can't pass a physical they owe him the salary anyway and might make more sense to keep him and see if he can be ready for the start of the season.

https://lombardiave.com/updated-packers-salary-cap-space-years-biggest-shopping-day

[OldSchoolSnapper]

10 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Only $40M under the cap:

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space

The $65M does not include dead money or projected cost of their draft picks.

Might be able to add about $7M for Alexander, but if he can't pass a physical they owe him the salary anyway and might make more sense to keep him and see if he can be ready for the start of the season.

I hope they deal Alexander. They have already adjusted to playing without him and the results were OK. Bring in a pass rusher and that would help more than getting Alexander. He's never healthy and he's a malcontent. 

[RobDeer 45]

I think Jaire and Watson are both too risky.  Never healthy.  That said, Watson was our only difference maker for at WR IMO.  Not that he was great, but he did change things a lot when he was on the field.  I definitely wouldn't pursue Hill.  I think he will fall off quickly as he starts to lose speed.  Godwin doesn't seem like the type of WR to bring in.  Higgins is interesting but he also seems to be banged up a lot.  I could be wrong on that but that's what it seems like.  So I have no idea what to do at WR but I think you guys are right who say we need a veteran presence.  

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Watson should be back as they don't have a choice anyway with the injury. He won't be ready most likely by September, but ACLs aren't what they used to be and he costs nothing. At best, he's a deep threat they can bring in during the middle of the season and give a boost to the offense, and maybe try and earn a second contract. All teams will have the same hesitancy to sign him, so he may have a future as a role player if he can prove next year that he can rehab this thing. But he is low-risk, high-reward, for one season anyway. 

Offensively, they need depth on the OL (seems like everyone always needs this) and a WR IMO. Defensively, MLB has been a problem on this roster for 20 years. It's time for a drastic measure to address that.

 

[Fear The Chorizo]

Jaire needs to be traded for just about anything at this point if the Packers walk away with some cap relief, too.  The knock on him was his size coming out of college likely leading to injury concerns at the NFL level, and that has really played out as he's aged (and once he signed that extension which he honestly did deserved based on his on-field performance).

Between him and Bakh, those contracts have been pretty rough. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Two tidbits from LaFleur's presser today:

1) Tom Clements is retiring - ouch

2) That second INT was very much a poor route by (I think?) Kraft. Route was supposed to go 20 yards. He sat down at 15. LaFleur said he saw exactly what Love saw and that was on the route runner.

[LouisEly]

10 hours ago, bigred said:

https://lombardiave.com/updated-packers-cap-space-should-concern-nfl-2025.

Ahem.......

Over the Cap has been proven to be the most accurate.  It's literally what they do.

And that page that you linked is 404.  Ahem...