NFL Rumors: Packers Targeting Free-Agent Receiver For Aaron Rodgers?

The Green Bay Packers desperately need to make an upgrade at wide receiver after trading Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders. The organization has taken at least one step in doing so by pursuing one of the best free agents still available.

The Packers are meeting with Sammy Watkins Thursday, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports. Although no deal is imminent, Watkins could become one of Aaron Rodgers’ top targets for the 2022 NFL season.

Watkins had 27 catches for 394 yards in 13 games for the Baltimore Ravens last season. The receiver had spent the previous three years with the Kansas City Chiefs, for whom he averaged 47.4 yards per game. No receiver on the Packers’ roster even averaged 35 yards per game in 2021.

In Kansas City’s Super Bowl LIV victory, Watkins played a key role with five receptions for 98 yards.

Watkins might not be a Pro-Bowl-caliber player, but he’d immediately become one of Green Bay’s best receivers. Allen Lazard had a career-high 513 yards last season and sits atop the Packers’ depth chart. Randall Cobb is a favorite of Rodgers, but the veteran last had more than 441 yards in a season in 2019.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling was second on the Packers with 39.1 yards per game. He signed with the Chiefs in free agency.

Adams led the Packers with 123 receptions for 1,553 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2021. He was targeted over 100 times more than any other Green Bay player.

Adams had nine catches for 90 yards in the Packers' 13-10 loss against the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional playoffs. Rodgers only completed one other pass to a wide receiver.

The Packers own the No. 22 and No. 28 picks in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.