GREEN BAY, Wis. The Green Bay Packers have signed veteran receiver Sammy Watkins to a one-year contract, a source said on Thursday.The team made it official on Thursday afternoon. Multiple reports said the deal is worth up to $4 million.The fourth pick of the 2014 NFL Draft by Buffalo, Watkins looked like one of the next great receivers when he caught 65 pa ses for 982 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie and 60 pa ses for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns during his second season.However, he played in only eight games in 2016 and his career has never gotten back on track. Buffalo traded him to the Los Angeles Rams just before the 2017 season. With Packers coach Matt LaFleur serving as offensive coordinator, Watkins caught 39 pa ses for 593 yards
Max Fried Jersey and eight touchdowns. Watkins joined the Chiefs in free agency on a three-year contract worth $48 million. Even with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, he averaged 43 receptions, 538 yards and 2.7 touchdowns from 2018 through 2020. He spent last year with the Baltimore Ravens alongside Lamar Jackson. Playing on a one-year, $5 million deal, Watkins caught 27 pa ses but had five drops, according to Sports Info Solutions. He played in 13 games mi sing three due to injury and the December game vs. Green Bay due to COVID.During the final five games of the regular season, Watkins played in four. He averaged about 15 snaps per game and didnt catch any of his three targets. Declining production notwithstanding, Watkins will provide another veteran receiver for a team that didnt have many of them following the trade of Davante Adams and the
Josh Donaldson Jersey free-agent departure of Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The signing likely wont change the Packers draft plans receiver remains a critical need when they are on the clock with their two first-round picks in 14 days but it will help ease the transition that quarterback Aaron Rodgers faces without his favorite target from the past six seasons.Scroll to ContinueWhile receiver is one of the deepest positions in this years draft, there is no guarantee the Packers will get a Watkins-like Year 1 splash. Over the last decades worth of drafts, from 2012 through 2021, a
Kevin Gausman Jersey total of 21 receivers were selected between No. 18 (four picks before Green Bays spot at No. 22) and No. 32 (four picks after Green Bays spot at No. 28).Of that group, only two receivers finished their rookie season with 1,000-plus yards. One was Justin Jefferson, the 22nd pick of the 2020 draft by Minnesota who dominated his rookie campaign with 88 receptions for 1,400 yards in seven scores. The other was Kelvin Benjamin, the No. 28 pick of the 2014 draft by Carolina who turned 73 receptions into 1,008 yards and nine scores.Calvin Ridley (No. 26 by Atlanta in 2018) and DeAndre Hopkins (No. 27 by Houston in 2013) also topped 800 yards as rookies.Those four strong rookie seasons were countered by four major busts. A.J. Jenkins, the 30th pick of the 2012 draft by San Francisco, was a healthy scratch for most of his rookie season and dropped his only target. Laquon Treadwell, the 23rd pick of the 2016 draft by Minnesota, caught one pa s in nine games. Josh Doctson, the 22nd pick of the 2016 draft by Washington, mi sed most of his rookie season due to an Achilles injury and caught only two pa ses. NKeal Harry
Sean Newcomb Jersey , the 32nd pick of the 2019 season by New England, mi sed the first half of the season with an ankle injury and caught only 12 pa ses.Generally, rookie receivers have become more productive in recent years. The four receivers taken from No. 20 through No. 49 last year, Kadarius Toney, Rashod Bateman, Elijah Moore and Rondale Moore, averaged 45.5 receptions and 477 yards.Obviously a couple of those wideouts in the top end of the cla s last year, performed really well, said receivers coach and pa sing-game coordinator Jason Vrable, who was on Buffalos staff for Watkins first two NFL seasons. No ones a for-sure bet, but I think its an accumulation of things. When you go on the field, to be confident, and thats the hardest part getting a guy to truly walk out there and look acro s from him and see Jaire (Alexander) and truly believe in yourself, like I can beat this guy one on one. Not only do I know my route, I know the details of it, but
Kurt Suzuki Jersey then Ive got to beat a guy whos a dominating force on the opposing side of the ball. Typically, every team has an elite corner, so youre going up against guys that youve just got to have that confidence. I think that, for some guys, takes a little bit more time than others. You look back at Davante, I obviously drafted Sammy in that cla s, and Sammy was a great player, but I think Davante was a two-star coming out who continued to develop and progre s, right, he was the ninth receiver drafted. It was a continued climb. He got his confidence there, he learned the playbook, he learned what Aaron was looking for, maybe what the staffs were looking for. So, its just a gradual growth and everyday finding a way to get 1 percent better.
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