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How Can Packers Improve Receivers After Losing Davante Adams, DK Metcalf?

Posted on March 10, 2025 - 7:33 am by

Now that the Packers missed out on Davante Adams and DK Metcalf, what’s the outlook at receiver in free agency and the draft?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With DK Metcalf traded to the Steelers and Davante Adams having joined the Rams, how on earth are the Green Bay Packers going to put a championship-worthy receiver corps around Jordan Love in 2025?

The problem confronting general manager Brian Gutekunst is the free-agent class as a whole is past its prime and the draft class lacks its usual power.

Those factors are why the 32-year-old Adams got a two-year deal worth $46 million and why the Seahawks received a second-round pick for Metcalf, who agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $150 million. The law of supply and demand drove up the price for both.

Whether Gutekunst was right or wrong to pass on them is irrelevant. The fact is he did pass on both, and a passing game that needed to get better after last year’s disappointment did not get better.

So, now what?

NFL free agency will unofficially start on Monday, when teams are allowed to begin contract negotiations. With the Bengals using the franchise tag on Tee Higgins and Adams joining the Rams, it’s slim pickings.

Sports Illustrated’s list of the top 50 free agents included nine receivers, highlighted by Higgins at No. 1 overall and Adams at No. 10. While the abundance of receivers might seem like a good thing, most of the free agents grab a bottle of Gatorade to dissolve their Metamucil.

No. 11 – Chris Godwin, Buccaneers (29 years old for Week 1): Godwin’s streak of three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons was snapped by last year’s dislocated ankle. He is a high-quality receiver but hasn’t averaged 13 yards per catch since 2019. His average target last season was 5.7 yards downfield, so his 50 catches were generally the equivalent of a long handoff. He had zero drops but also zero catches on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.

No. 22 – Stefon Diggs, Texans (31): Diggs’ streak of six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons (five consecutive 1,100-yard seasons) was snapped by last year’s torn ACL. He should be ready for Week 1, or close to it, but that’s a significant injury for an aging player.

No. 32 – Marquise Brown, Chiefs (28): Re-signed by the Chiefs and likely too short for Green Bay’s tastes, anyway.

No. 34 – Amari Cooper, Bills (31): After topping 1,000 yards in five of the past six seasons, Cooper in 14 games for the Browns (six games) and Bills (eight games) in 2024 caught 44 passes for 547 yards and four touchdowns. With Josh Allen for the playoffs, he caught six passes for 41 yards in three games. Of 84 receivers who were targeted at least 50 times, Cooper and Green Bay’s Jayden Reed were tied for the third-worst drop percentage.

No. 38 – Darius Slayton, Giants (28): In six seasons Slayton’s career-high numbers were 50 receptions for 770 yards. He had the fifth-highest drop percentage in 2024 but has a career average of 15.0 yards per catch.

No. 44 – Keenan Allen, Bears (33): Allen made the Pro Bowl with the Chargers in 2023, when he had his fifth season of 100-plus catches and 1,100-plus yards. In 2024, he played in 15 games and caught 70 passes for 744 yards and seven touchdowns. He had the 15th-highest drop percentage.

No. 46 – DeAndre Hopkins, Chiefs (33): Hopkins had 75 receptions for 1,057 yards for the Titans in 2023 but 56 catches for 610 yards with the Titans (six games) and Chiefs (10 games) in 2024. Like Cooper with Allen, Hopkins was a nonfactor in the playoffs with Patrick Mahomes. In three games, he caught three passes for 29 yards. His 2.0 YAC per catch during the regular season was the worst in the NFL.

What about Cooper Kupp, who will be traded or released by the Rams? Kupp will be 32 at the start of the season. After leading the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2021, he missed eight games in 2022 and five apiece in 2023 and 2024. In 12 games, he caught 67 passes for 710 yards and six touchdowns.

For the last several NFL drafts, teams had grown accustomed to receiver classes overflowing with big-time prospects. Not this year, though Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka or Texas’ Matthew Golden would be appealing if they lasted to Green Bay’s spot at No. 23.

There are no guarantees with any rookie, much less a rookie receiver. However, pass-first offenses have permeated the college ranks and even the high schools. Today’s receiver prospects enter the NFL having caught more passes and run more routes than a generation ago.

The last time the Packers drafted a receiver in the first round was Javon Walker in 2002. He caught 65 passes in two seasons at Florida State. Egbuka caught 81 in 2024 alone.

In 2024, three rookie receivers had at least 1,000 yards, including Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas, who was drafted at No. 23 overall, and the Chargers’ Ladd McConkey, who was drafted in the second round.

In fact, the past five years, nine rookies had 1,000 yards (21 had 800 yards) and 15 had 70 catches. From 2010 through 2014, five rookies had 1,000 yards (14 had 800) and four had 70 catches. From 2000 through 2004, two had 1,000 yards (six had 800) and two had 70 catches.

“There was a time where the receiver position was really hard to come into the league for the first couple years and make an impact,” Gutekunst said. “We’ve seen that change. Just the way these guys are coming up through high school and college football is different than it used to be that allows these guys to make a bigger impact earlier.”

It will be too much to ask any rookie to be Justin Jefferson and take the league by storm. There’s no doubt the Packers will need Reed, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks to step up in terms of consistency and reliability, but it will be up to Gutekunst to find an instant-impact performer, whether it’s squeezing a good year out of a 30-something veteran like Kupp or striking gold in the draft.

By refusing to pay top dollar to Adams or Metcalf, doing so just became a lot harder.