On Monday, the Green Bay Packers made a roster move that could be of interest to a number of teams by waiving former first-round pick Sammy Watkins, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
While Sammy Watkins has not made the impact many believed he could in his career when the Buffalo Bills selected him fourth overall in 2014, he has shown at times to be an effective wide receiver. He would have stops throughout his career after the Bills with the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and this season with the Green Bay Packers.
Now with about three weeks left in the regular season, there could be a number of teams interested in adding Watkins for the remainder of the season and potentially into the playoffs.
4 NFL teams that should put a waiver claim in for Sammy Watkins
Buffalo Bills
One of the first teams could be the team that actually drafted Sammy Watkins to start his NFL career in the Buffalo Bills. The wide receiver position has been a point of focus the past few weeks as the Bills had Odell Beckham Jr. in for a visit and have added former Bills’ wide receivers John Brown and Cole Beasley to their practice squad.
The team entered this season hoping that Gabe Davis and Isaiah McKenzie could take that next step as their second and third wide receivers but the production hasn’t been there.
The addition of Sammy Watkins could give Josh Allen and this offense a deep threat on the outside as a potential backup to Davis or even split the snaps with him.
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans entered this season with a three-year streak of making the playoffs and after this past weekend, that streak looks to be in serious doubt. The Titans would come up short against the Los Angeles Chargers while the Jacksonville Jaguars won in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys to move only one game back of the Titans.
This offseason the Titans made a surprising move by trading away A.J. Brown and while they used a first-round pick on Treylon Burks and traded for Robert Woods, the production hasn’t been there. Although the offense has been centered around Derrick Henry, the offense needs a wide receiver to keep opposing defenses honest.
The Titans have been without Treylon Burks for two games now and it remains to be seen when he can return. However, even if Burks returns soon the addition of a veteran wide receiver like Watkins could take some pressure off the rookie while moving Woods into the slot and hopefully open up some of the middle of the field for him.
New York Giants
The New York Giants are coming off a big win over the Washington Commanders and are currently in a playoff spot. However, they will need to keep winning to remain in that spot, and adding depth at wide receiver could be a big boost for this offense.
The Giants were another team that had Odell Beckham Jr. in for a visit a few weeks ago and the wide receiver position would appear one that they want to improve. This is not surprising when considering their current trio of wide receivers is Isaiah Hodgins, Darius Slayton, and Richie James.
The Giants’ offense is still going to lean heavily on Saquon Barkley, who has had an incredible season, but adding another wide receiver Daniel Jones could help this offense and give Brian Daboll another playmaker to scheme into this offense.
Baltimore Ravens
The final team is one that Sammy Watkins knows well as he played for them last season and would seemingly make the most sense among the four teams listed. In his one season with the Ravens, he had 27 receptions, 394 receiving yards, and one touchdown.
As is the case with the other teams on this list, they are dealing with injuries or underperformance at the position. When they lost Rashod Bateman for the year due to a foot injury, it really impacted the depth. This past week, the Ravens’ Top 3 wide receivers were Devin Duvernay, Desean Jackson, and Demarcus Robinson.
The Ravens now have the chance to add a wide receiver that knows the system, could probably start as early as this week, and gives them another veteran option once Lamar Jackson is able to return.