The Packers selected Georgia LB Quay Walker with the 21st pick. There is a time and a place for this.
In his first public comments since signing a three-year, $150 million extension and the trade of his No. 1 wide receiver, Green Bay Packers quarterback Rodgers said he was surprised by the team trading former receiver Davante Adams.
Rodgers said that he had communicated with Adams before he came back to the Packers and that he believed his return to the team would affect their ability to reach a deal with the two-time All-Pro.
It was a little surprising with Davante, I was still thinking he was going to come back, Rodgers said. I wish him the best in Vegas, I have so much love for him and appreciate the time we spent together, but I felt like he was going to be back. That is a big hole to fill.
The Green Bay Packers traded Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders. The wide receiver market was reset when the Raiders signed him to a five-year contract. His departure left the Packers without a wide receiver room, and it got worse when he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs a week later.
The Packers did not pick a receiver in the first round of the draft, something they have never done in Rodgers 17-year career. He said that he had been communicating with the team throughout the night and that he was not upset or surprised by their decision.
There are a lot of receiver busts in the first round, so teams have to exercise caution.
With the top-six receivers off the board, the Packers only had first-round grades on those six and general manager Brian Gutekunst went heavy on defense and heavy on Georgia.
Gutekunst was interested in trading up to take a receiver that he liked.
Gutekunst said there was a couple, there was a few. They are really good players. I think you have to look at the asking price and see if it makes sense.
Rodgers said he knew the Packers were hoping to land when the Packers picked Wyatt. Rodgers spent a day at the facility last week, even though he hasn't been there for workouts. He and Gutekunst had a meeting to discuss the state of the team. Gutekunst said that coach Matt LaFleur was texting Rodgers during the draft.
Gutekunst said, "He is unbelievable, I mean where we were and where we are now, I would say is night and day." I am very appreciative of that. He was here last week and we talked about our team and some of the things we might want to do in the future.
That conversation is always valuable to me. There was a lot of texting going on next to me when I got into this process with our scouts.
When he has two second-round picks and a third-round pick, Gutekunst won't force a receiver pick.
He said that he doesn't think we have to. We have a lot of picks left. We will see how that goes, whether we stick and pick or move around.
Rodgers said that the Packers were in the mix for some of the receiver on the trade market, but admitted that it was difficult to add a receiver in that way.
He said that we are probably at the back of the line for a lot of these teams because there is not a lot of teams that want to trade receivers to Green Bay. I feel like we have been in the mix, but does San Francisco really want to trade Deebo Samuel to us?
I'm sure Packer nation will be wondering why we didn't take a receiver or trade up but at this point, you have to have some faith in the organization and faith that whoever we bring in tomorrow and the rest of this
We are going to be in the mix this year.
Green Bay found talent at receiver after the first round, specifically Greg Jennings, Randall Cobb, James Jones, and Adams.
He said that the Packers will miss Adams but that it is part of the game.
It is a wonderful profession, it is a tough business. He said that those who have been able to play for so long realize that. I thought that the number that we offered would make a difference, but in the end I think he was ready to move on and wanted my help in making that happen.
It was a difficult position to be in, because I love him and I want him to be happy, and he is definitely going to be missed.
Rob Demovsky was a contributor to this report.
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