Green Bay Packers don’t need Will Fuller to be Super Bowl contenders

Not trading for Will Fuller won’t make-or-break the Green Bay Packers.

Let’s address the elephant in the room right off the bat: The Green Bay Packers front office has put themselves on thin ice for refusing to give quarterback Aaron Rodgers even the slightest bit of help for the 2020 NFL season.

There is no justification in not giving Rodgers a wide receiver in the 2020 draft or prior to the NFL trade deadline. The only wideout the team picked up was Devin Funchess and he’s currently sitting out for the 2020 season due to COVID-19. The veteran quarterback is turning 3-years old in December and the franchise hasn’t selected a single first-round wide receiver in his tenure.

All of that being said, the Green Bay Packers are not in the worst position in the NFL right now. For a team that’s constantly berated for having an abysmal roster, it seems that people are forgetting they’re 5-2 and are in first place in the NFC North.

Adding a star wideout in the short-term would have obviously been exciting, but it’s not all that necessary, especially if it results in the team being unable to afford players with expiring contracts down the road.

It’s no secret that everyone and their mother wanted Green Bay to trade for Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller. Even Fuller was sold on coming over to Titletown. But this move, or lack thereof, is starting to look better and better for the Packers.

Will Fuller would’ve caused long-term problems for the Green Bay Packers

Before a chair is thrown across the room, think about this for a moment: Fuller is in the final year of his contract, and in five years of playing in the NFL, he’s never played a full 16-game season, nor has he had a 700-yard output before.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that general manager Brian Gutekunst did give Houston the second-round draft selection they wanted. Naturally, Gutekunst would want to re-sign Will Fuller in the offseason because he gave up a significant pick to get him. He signs him to a big deal and Fuller stays for another four years as a great No. 2 option.

However, beloved wide reciever Davante Adams has just one year left in his contract and he’s due for a monstrous extension. They’ll make him one of the highest-paid wideouts in NFL history, locking him up in the green and gold for a long time — but they’d then be allocating $35+ million to one position.

This spells serious trouble given they have players like running back Aaron Jones, left tackle David Bakhtiari, center Corey Linsley and even wide receiver Allen Lazard all with expiring contracts this season, not to mention cornerback Jaire Alexander needing a new deal in the near future as well.

The Green Bay Packers can make a Super Bowl run without Will Fuller.

Contrary to popular belief, the Packers don’t need Will Fuller — or any other wide receiver for that matter. The reason people wanted him was to acquire a WR2 on offense, but they already have a guy who fills that role and his name is Allen Lazard who is back with the team after his core injury suffered against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 — a game where he tallied six receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown.

The team has done an incredible job of finding ways to win, even without their best players in the lineup. Even if they did bring in Fuller, it’s highly doubtful that he was going to be that one missing piece that instantly crowns the Packers as Super Bowl champions.

As much as the fans hate it, the franchise has never been one to make big splashes at the trade deadline or free agency. They’re one of the only teams in the NFL to live and die by the draft-and-develop philosophy.

It’s an unfortunate reality for Green Bay fans but it’s also one of the reasons the franchise is nicknamed Titletown. The front office and its staff obviously see and understand something that nobody else does. Nobody knows how much the Texans were really asking for. We hear second-rounder but we don’t know what else was on the table in order to land Fuller.

There’s a reason why Gutekunst walked away from the deal and, if it’s in the best interest for the team in the long run, then so be it. For all we know, the Packers saved themselves from seriously overpaying for a pseudo-elite wideout who wouldn’t bring them a title and would prevent the team from resigning their best players.

All that is known, though, is that the GM better be right about this. Because if he’s wrong, he’s going to have to answer to all of the fans and owners of the team, because there are not as many people who share the same amount of optimism.