The Green Bay Packers finished the 2024 NFL regular season as one of the better-scoring teams in the league.
However, the absence of a legitimate no. 1 threat downfield for the Packers remains an issue for the NFC North division franchise.
That is despite the fact that Green Bay has a deep cast of talented wideouts, including the likes of Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks. And that’s not to mention the recent addition of former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman.
Perhaps the Packers can unload one of those weapons this offseason to help them get closer to finding a true WR1 — or at least add to their assets, something that Bradley Locker suggests in a piece on Pro Football Focus.
Locker believes that while Watson may be an attractive trade bait among Packers receivers, the wideout’s serious knee injury in the 2024 campaign weighs down his value in the market. This brings Locker to Doubs, who he thinks carries more potential as a trade asset.
“The bottom line is that Green Bay probably will not re-sign both Watson and Doubs next offseason, and the latter could net more capital right now,” wrote Locker.
Watson and Doubs both still have one more year left in their current contracts. The 25-year-old Watson has a cap hit of $2.94 million in 2025 while the 24-year-old Doubs has a cap hit of $3.33 million this year. As Locker also noted, it’s unlikely that Green Bay would ink both wide receivers to new deals, so a healthy downfield weapon like Doubs could be better off sent elsewhere in exchange for a usable piece — or pieces — the Packers can use in the future.
No Packers player had touched 1,000 receiving yards in the 2024 campaign. Reed led Green Bay with 857 receiving yards to go with six touchdowns on 55 receptions and 75 targets while tight end Tucker Kraft was second on the team with 707 receiving yards and seven scores on 50 catches and 70 targets. Watson and Doubs had 620 and 601 receiving yards, respectively.
Watson was the better deep threat for Green Bay that season as he recorded a team-best average of 21.4 receiving yards per reception to just 13.1 yards per catch by Doubs. However, Doubs had a better receiving success rate of 59.7 to just 47.2 by Watson, per Pro Football Reference.
