In what scenarios does it make sense for Packers to draft another wide receiver?

The Packers don't have an immediate need at wideout. That doesn't necessarily mean they should ignore the position during the 2024 NFL Draft, however.

Almost exactly a decade has passed since Ted Thompson, then the Green Bay Packers' general manager, made one of the best decisions of his career.

Back in 2014, the Packers featured one of the finest receiver tandems in the league, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. Nelson had just come off a three-year run that saw him deliver 3,322 receiving yards and 30 touchdowns. The younger Cobb had come into his own during the same span. After a breakout 2012 season that saw him lead the team with 954 receiving yards, Cobb battled back from a broken fibula the following year to deliver one of the signature moments in franchise history, his 48-yard, division-sealing touchdown against the Chicago Bears.

Between Nelson's brilliance, Cobb's emergence, and a promising 2013 campaign by Jarrett Boykin (49 catches for 681 yards and three touchdowns), the Packers didn't have an apparent urgency to add another wide receiver early in the 2014 NFL Draft. The group performed so well that Thompson felt comfortable letting James Jones, an established veteran who led the league in TDs just a year earlier, walk in free agency.

However, the Packers also had an eye on the future. Nelson and Cobb each had just one year left on their contracts, and the price for star veteran wideouts had already begun to surge. Thompson couldn't know at that time whether he could re-sign either for palatable deals, especially Cobb who had made comparatively little on his rookie contract. Considering the risks involved, Green Bay looked to the draft for reinforcements.

And the 2014 rookie class had plenty to offer. Even at the time, most observers viewed it as a bumper crop at wideout. Five would go in the first round with 15 total coming off the board inside the top 100 picks. Nine went on to produce at least one 1,000-yard season. Five would eventually receive Pro Bowl nods, two of which earned first- or second-team All-Pro honors. Ultimately, the Packers opted for Fresno State's Davante Adams with the No. 53 overall selection.

Anyone familiar with the past decade of football knows what happened next. Adams emerged from Nelson and Cobb's shadows to become the NFL's best receiver. In eight seasons with the Packers, Adams caught 669 passes for 8,121 yards and 73 touchdowns, securing first-team All-Pro recognition in 2020 and '21. He earned yet another first-team All-Pro selection in '22, his first with the Las Vegas Raiders. Most expect Adams will receive a gold jacket and a bust in Canton after he retires.

Returning to the current day, that experience can help inform the Packers' plans for the upcoming draft. Just as in 2014, they have a strong receiving corps. They also possess several opportunities to select a wideout from a highly coveted rookie class, one that appears to mirror the star potential and depth of 2014. Reasonable minds can disagree about the urgency with which Green Bay should approach the position, but the situation bears more than a passing resemblance to what the team faced a decade ago.

All of which begs the question: In what scenarios does it make sense for the Packers to take another wide receiver? In the same way that not every prospect will make sense for them, neither will every set of circumstances that could unfold during the draft. Still, under the right conditions, Green Bay can and probably should bolster the receiving corps later this month.