If you ask people around the NFL and fans of the league who has the most promising and up-and-coming team right now, many would say the Green Bay Packers.
After the Packers traded future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers last offseason, many were skeptical they could find their footing and remain competitive. But Jordan Love, Rodgers’ replacement, played very well throughout the second half of the season, and they unexpectedly made the playoffs. Once there, they were within minutes of reaching the NFC Championship Game before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
That success has led to high expectations for this coming season.
Fans who are high on Green Bay’s chances in 2024 will point to its upstart wide receiver room, which includes Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks.
However, the Packers do have a problem with that group.
Do the Packers have too many receivers who want the ball?
While it is a “good” problem to have, it is a problem nonetheless, and former star wideout Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson spelled it out on “Nightcap” to host Shannon Sharpe.
“The Packers are stacked at wide receiver,” said Johnson. “They got a little 4×1 track team at the receiving corps. Very very very good young receiving corps, and the fact that they were able to get them all at the same time at such a young age is going to cause problems later on when it’s time to get paid.”
Sharpe then piggybacked on what Johnson said and pointed out another rising star who will have to get paid soon.
“I think Christian Watson, if he can stay healthy, man that dude’s special,” he said. “They got four dudes that are one (or) one-ish. You have to get as much out of them as you possible can while you have them because guess what? Jordan Love is going to want a quarter of a bill.”
Love is heading into the final year of his contract, and many expect that he will get an extension from the Packers not too long from now.
But soon after that, each of their four promising wideouts will also be due for extensions as well.
Perhaps not all four of them will prove to be keepers. Such is the reality of developing young players and going through the discovery phase with them. But the NFL’s salary cap is very troublesome to navigate, because, unlike what the NBA has, it is a “hard” cap where teams absolutely cannot exceed the set threshold.
Make no mistake: The Packers seem to have a bright future. But it will not be easy for them to win another Vince Lombardi Trophy, and some of it is due to the business aspect of the NFL.
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