Before we know it, college football will be here, so while the 2025 NFL draft is still roughly 10 months away, it’s not too early to begin crafting your watch lists of draft-eligible prospects for the Green Bay Packers.
Pro Football Focus has recently done some of the heavy lifting, going through all 11 positions and picking the top 10 draft prospects from each. Here is who they chose at wide receiver. For more details on each player, click here.
Luther Burden III, Missouri
Given the youth that the Packers have at the receiver position, just as they did this past April, they will enter the 2025 draft with the luxury of not having to address this need if the right player isn’t available.
Of the Packers’ top-six wide receivers from the end of last season, only Bo Melton is technically a free agent next offseason. However, according to Over the Cap, he will be an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he cannot negotiate with other teams and will return on a league minimum deal.
The Packers will also still have Samori Toure under contract as of now, and potentially Grant DuBose as well.
However, as we all know, the draft is about planning ahead, and the Packers do that better than many teams. The 2025 season will be the final year for both Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson on their rookie deals. With the wide receiver market having exploded, realistically, both players may not be back in 2026. Perhaps this results in the Packers trying to get ahead of that by bringing in some additional competition to develop.
For that main reason, I wouldn’t be surprised if GM Brian Gutekunst enters next year’s draft with wide receiver on his radar. But with Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks still under contract for two more years at that point, along with the potential for either Doubs or Watson to return in 2026, I still don’t envision it being a pressing, early-round need.
“I don’t ever subscribe to the thought process, ‘Hey, we’ve got a pretty good team. These guys might not have a chance to make the team,’ said Gutekunst prior to the 2024 draft about having 11 draft picks.
“I’ve talked a lot about competition in every (position) room and how much it accelerates the growth of your football team. I think that’s the best way for your team to move forward, so to me, there’s never enough. You never have enough ammunition to build your room, so there’s significant competition in every room. I think that’s really important.”
The Packers currently have seven official picks in next year’s draft, one in each round, and are projected to receive a compensatory pick for losing Yosh Nijman in free agency, which would give them eight selections in total.
