With Aaron Rodgers – fortunately – on board for at least another season, the Green Bay Packers‘ priority ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft seemed clear: to add talent at wide receiver after a couple of notable departures this offseason.
The Packers had no choice but to grantDavante Adams hiswish and trade him to the Las Vegas Raiders, where the star wide receiver will reunite with Derek Carr. On top of that, they saw how Marquez Valdes-Scantling hit the free agency.
But far from strengthening the WR room, Green Bay has opted to use their two first-round picks on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt. But why they did not choose a wide receiver? Here’s what Packers GM Brian Gutekunst had to say.
This is why the Packers didn’t draft a WR in the first round
While many teams in the league decided to trade up in the first roundto get the best prospects at the position or, on the contrary, trade down to get a star WR in return, the Packers selected two defenders. According to Gutekunst, they did so because they still have draft capital and time to add receivers.
“I think having weapons for him to go to is important,” Gutekunst said, per Bill Huber of SI.com. “We play in September, and we’ve got nine picks the next couple days and a whole summer before we get to that first game. So, I think certainly by the time we get to that first game, we’re going to add some one way or another to that room. Hopefully, it’ll fall right for us the next two days but, if it doesn’t, I don’t think we can reach and make bad decisions just because they’ve got a WR by their name.”
NFL Rumors: This is the WR Aaron Rodgers wanted Packers to Draft
While Gutekunst had his explanation for the Packers’ controversial decision, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said in an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show that Rodgers wanted Treylon Burks, who was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the 18th overall pick.
“The word I got was that Treylon Burks was the guy that [Aaron]Rodgers liked, that he’d done the most work on, that he kind of wanted,” Rapoport said. “He went earlier than we thought, they made all the calls, they wanted to move up.When Burks went, they were done because they weren’t going to trade for any of the other guys.”
Whether Rodgers’ interest in teaming up with Burks is true or not, the fact that the Packers didn’t want to use their highest pickson other WRscould make sense. They could have landed other talents, though, but maybe they were simplynot sold on any of them. Only time will tell if they were right or not.
