I can’t understand why Derek from Eau Claire doesn’t want somebody who plays like his hair is on fire.
Or has all the intangibles.
Re: your response to Kim from Hudson, WI, it was actually Bruce Clark, not Bruce Smith, who dissed the Packers for the CFL in 1980.
Yeah, we got that corrected shortly after the column was posted. Clearly, some subliminal synapses in my brain working on a revisionist history turned Bruce Clark into Bruce Smith for the Packers.
Well, I hope that puts a pin in all the crows and their caws for a veteran WR. Great signing. Cap-friendly, one year “prove-it” deal, veteran WR who has great hands and route-running skills. Let’s just hope we get the Rams version of Watkins and not last year’s Ravens version.
I think the whole key for Sammy Watkins is to stay healthy, which he hasn’t been able to do, especially the last few years. As Wes noted in his “5 things” piece, he had 18 catches for 292 yards in the first five games last year before getting hurt, missing a few weeks, and then being unable to pick up where he left off. The signing makes sense for both parties. The Packers get a proven, been-there-done-that veteran at a palatable price, while Watkins gets a year to catch passes from Aaron Rodgers and hit the market again in ’23.
Brian from Maple Grove, MN
It seems like Gute likes to go into the draft not being forced into a corner by having a glaring position of need if he can help it. An example would be signing Kevin King to a one-year deal last year and Reed and Watkins to one-year deals this year. Would you say the team is in a position to not have to rely on a rookie starting at the beginning of the season at any position?
Health permitting, it would appear so. I hadn’t thought of the approach in those terms until you framed it as such. Last year, Gutey ended up drafting Josh Myers to start at center from the get-go (and then Royce Newman won a job, too), but that would appear to be more the exception than the rule in his tenure, and other…