Receiver clear top offseason priority for Packers offense but solutions less obvious

The Packers will need to address wide receiver this offseason. How they choose to do that remains entirely unclear at this stage.

In the wake of the Green Bay Packers' 22-10 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, head coach Matt LaFleur and his offense have come under fire. The unit started slow for the third game in a row and ultimately committed three turnovers. By any objective measure, Green Bay's offense fell well short of the mark.

Still, as the Packers enter the offseason, their to-do list on offense has few items to address. What will the front office do at center with starter Josh Myers set to hit free agency? How will the team replace retiring quarterbacks coach Tom Clements?

While the Packers will need time to address those matters, neither poses significant complications. Green Bay has already identified some options to fill Clements' role while Myers' health and market will effectively determine the outcome at center.

Conversely, the Packers will have to pour considerably more time and effort this offseason into solving their No. 1 priority on offense: the receiving corps.

A year ago, the Packers had a particular vision for their receiving corps. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks had each delivered stellar rookie seasons while Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson added a reliable safety net and premier deep threat to the passing game, respectively. While none of the four stood out as a clear primary target, the group provided quarterback Jordan Love with enough upside and versatility that the team felt comfortable moving forward with the group into the 2024 season.

Reasonable minds can differ as to how well that plan worked.

On the one hand, the Packers' passing game finished the regular season third in DVOA, directly ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Detroit Lions. Green Bay did this against one of the hardest defensive schedules in the league, a consideration that has largely gone unacknowledged.

As for the individual receivers, Reed spent much of 2024 as one of the NFL's most efficient and dangerous weapons. With or without Jordan Love under center, Reed provided electric plays from all over the formation. And even with his production disappearing at times, the wideout finished the year comfortably over 2 yards per route run, generally considered the line separating the good receivers from the average ones. Watson cleared that threshold as well, ranking top 15 in the league overall among qualifiers. And though Wicks had a dreadful start to the season, he quietly rebounded during the second half.

However, those factors only represent part of the story. None of the four wideouts took the reins as the clear leader. The Packers finished third in the NFL in drops (26 by NFL Next Gen Stats' accounting), many coming on third down and in the red zone. Making matters worse, Watson ended the year with a torn ACL while Doubs exited the wild-card game with his second concussion of the season. Those issues and others contributed to the passing game's inconsistency down the stretch.

As the offseason begins, Doubs and Watson each have varying degrees of health and availability concerns. They also have just one year left on their contracts. Meanwhile, both Reed and Wicks remain works in progress. While any of the four could plausibly develop into a prized No. 1 receiver, it appears increasingly likely that all of them plateau before that point for one reason or another.

With that in mind, the Packers will need to take a more proactive approach to the receiving corps in 2025. Even LaFleur, the coach who once claimed that the topic of a lead receiver induced nausea, seems more receptive to the idea than in the past.