When the Vikings made the final selection in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft on Thursday night, it made clear that Aaron Rodgers and the Packers would not add a first-round wide receiver or trade for an established star to potentially replace what he lost in Davante Adams in the NFL draft.
The first round of the draft saw wide receiver Marquise Brown traded from the Ravens to the Cardinals, AJ Brown traded from the Titans to the Eagles and six wide receivers drafted within the first 18 selections.
USC's Drake London went at No. 8 to Atlanta, Ohio State's Garrett Wilson went No. 10 to the Jets, Chris Olave went to New Orleans at No. 11 and Alabama's Jameson Williams went No. 12 to Detroit.
Green Bay, which had two picks—No. 22 and No. 28—late in the first round, chose two defensive players from Georgia, inside linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. It brought Green Bay’s streak of not drafting a wide receiver in the first round to 20 years.
However, in the last two decades, the Packers have drafted Adams, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings in the second round, James Jones in the third round and Packers Hall of Fame receiver and Donald Driver in the seventh round of the 1999 draft. In fact, Driver, a HBCU product out of Alcorn State, holds the franchise’s all-time records for most career receptions and receiving yards.
Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show late Thursday night to discuss why Green Bay had not landed a new weapon for Rodgers. The Packers star said the team has “been in the mix for some of the veteran guys” but most teams are not too thrilled with the idea of sending a talented wideout to pair up with the league’s reigning MVP.
“There’s not a lot of teams that want to trade receivers to Green Bay, so I feel like we are at the back of the line for a lot of these teams,” Rodgers said.
“Our picks are usually late, and nobody wants to trade in the conference a guy like Deebo [Samuel], probably. But at the same time, if you are not going to pay Devante [Adams]… but going out and paying another guy, I don’t know if that makes a ton of sense.”
While the void still remains at the wide receiver position heading into day two of the draft, Green Bay has two selections in the latter portion of the second round on Friday.
“There’s some veteran guys out there that I think could be possibilities,” Rodgers said. “We have two picks in the second round tomorrow, and I’m sure there are some guys that they probably like… I feel like we’ve been in the mix, but does San Fran want to trade Deebo Samuel to us?”
“Probably not,” one of McAfee’s producers, imitating Mel Kiper Jr., quickly responded.
He added that he doesn’t believe the front office wanted to reach on a wide receiver after the run on the position earlier in the first round.
“Well, I think it’s something we’ve got to address for sure, but I think what you’ve got to remember as well is, of all the positions in the draft, if you go back through the history… a lot of receiver busts in the first round,” Rodgers said per The Athletic. “It didn’t seem like, from what I heard, that there was maybe a Justin Jefferson in this draft.”
However, the Packers will have to make a move to replace Adams, who was traded to the Raiders on March 17. Adams started in 16 of the 17 games for the Packers last season, hauling in 123 receptions for a career-high 1,553 yards and 11 touchdowns.
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