The Green Bay Packers have reloaded in the 2022 offseason, but what moves might they wish they could take back? Let’s look at three free agency do-overs.
The Green Bay Packers have had an okay offseason in 2022, but it’s difficult to get past the loss of Davante Adams.
The Davante Adams trade to the Las Vegas Raiders really set in motion a chain reaction of moves the Packers may live to regret over the course of the 2022 season.
With Aaron Rodgers’ sand timer running low, how could the Green Bay Packers’ 2022 offseason have been different (better)?
Green Bay Packers should have gone after WR Allen Robinson
Every team has its own budget and budgetary restrictions, to be certain.
However, it also stands to reason that if the Green Bay Packers were willing to pay a substantial sum of money to Davante Adams to bring him back into the fold, then they could have afforded Allen Robinson at a significantly discounted rate.
Now, it’s possible that it was Robinson’s goal all along to get out of the NFC North and go to play for the Los Angeles Rams.
With that being said, money talks, and the Packers are also championship contenders.
Allen Robinson has proven that he can be a dominant receiver even with spotty quarterback play. Imagine what he could do with Aaron Rodgers throwing him passes.
Apparently, that hypothetical scenario wasn’t appealing enough to the Packers to go after Robinson and make a serious play for him, which is something I think they’ll live to regret.
Instead, the Packers brought in Sammy Watkins on a low-risk deal and wound up drafting Christian Watson early in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Frankly, the Packers could have still made both of those moves in addition to signing Robinson to the same deal the Rams did at three years, $46.5 million.
Green Bay Packers should have signed RT La’El Collins
Early on in NFL Free Agency, the Green Bay Packers re-signed cornerback Rasul Douglas to a three-year deal worth $21 million.
That figure is pretty reasonable considering the tremendous year Douglas had for the Packers in 2022, but that’s also a pretty big chunk of change to pay a guy that may only be your third cornerback in 2022.
The Packers obviously have invested a ton in their secondary in recent years with high draft choices and big money to Jaire Alexander recently, making him one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL and the highest-paid corner in the league.
Given the other investments they’ve made at cornerback, why didn’t the Packers allocate some of the assets they paid to Rasul Douglas for a more pressing need at the right tackle position?
Even if the Packers’ goal was to replace Billy Turner in the NFL Draft over the long-term, I think that signing someone like La’El Collins would have been a much better use of $21 million over the next three years than re-signing Rasul Douglas.
Collins has been a very effective player at the right tackle position when healthy for the Dallas Cowboys and his availability this offseason was somewhat of a surprise.
The Cincinnati Bengals run a similar type of offense to the Packers so Collins could have definitely been a scheme fit for them.
Green Bay might regret not being a bit more aggressive in free agency at the tackle position, in general.
Green Bay Packers should have signed tight end OJ Howard
Perhaps I’m overrating OJ Howard a little bit, but I don’t really think so.
It still doesn’t make sense to me why he signed as a backup to Dawson Knox for just $3.5 million.
The former first-round pick out of Alabama was a big-play threat at the tight end position his first couple of years in the NFL, and his value understandably took a hit the last couple of seasons when he suffered some injuries.
The Bucs have obviously been using Rob Gronkowski a lot more in the last couple of seasons as well as Cameron Brate, and Howard’s departure in 2022 felt imminent.
Now, he’s joined the absolutely loaded Buffalo Bills roster where he will be a secondary option to Dawson Knox, who has really started coming on in recent years.
The Packers actually paid more money to Robert Tonyan, although not by a lot.
Even though Tonyan has experience in the Packers’ offense and familiarity with this coaching staff, this felt like an area where the Packers could have either doubled up or perhaps taken a shot on a talent like Howard.
Howard will be just 28 years old in November and still should have plenty of really good football ahead of him.
The Packers’ unwillingness to make bold moves at offensive skill positions could be their downfall in 2022. As effective as they have been at adding defensive pieces, Aaron Rodgers has a pretty average or worse supporting cast offensively.
And it could have been a lot better.