Green Bay Packers Free Agent Target: WR Breshad Perriman

The Green Bay Packers need some serious help at the wide receiver position and adding free agent Breshad Perriman to the mix could be a part of the solution.

It didn’t take much of watching this 2019 Green Bay Packers’ offense to realize that outside of Davante Adams they were lacking some serious talent at the wide receiver position. We all know it and if you look at any of the mock drafts that have been released, it’s clear that everyone around the NFL knows it as well.

While the Packers’ plan heading into the 2019 season was to rely on their young receivers, it just never came close to working out.

Geronimo Allison just flat-out struggled and Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s snap count decreased as the season went on. Meanwhile, Jake Kumerow still didn’t see consistent playing time, Equanimeous St. Brown was on IR before the season began, and J’Mon Moore was cut.

Fortunately, we saw the emergence of Allen Lazard as the season progressed but overall the wide receiver position in Green Bay was simply, underwhelming.

And while this year’s loaded draft class presents the Packers with a tremendous opportunity to land a game-changer, adding some additional help in free agency beforehand, isn’t a bad idea either. But with the needs that they have to address elsewhere and their limited spending power compared to 2019, if you’re holding your breath for an Amari Cooper or Robby Anderson signing, I suggest you stop.

However, adding a veteran with a modest price tag could prove to be very valuable as the Packers look to bring this passing game to life in 2020. And one name, in particular, to keep your eyes on that could do just that, is Breshad Perriman who is coming off of a career year in Tampa Bay.

Perriman is a former first-round pick taken in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately, he would never see the field during his rookie season as a camp injury eventually turned into an IR stint and the three years that followed after that were quite disappointing.

Over that three-year span, which included two years with the Ravens and another in Cleveland, Perriman would find little success. He appeared in just 37 games, totaled 916 receiving yards with five touchdowns. Now, he did flash some playmaking ability with his 15.5 yards per catch during that time, but the drops and inconsistency were almost too much to overcome.

But his 2019 season in Tampa could be the turning point in Perriman’s career. As the season went on he would see his playing time increase and after appearing in 14 games he would total 645 receiving yards at a whopping 17.9 yards per catch with six touchdowns. This also includes three straight games with over 100 receiving yards to finish the season.

The drops that plagued Perriman during his first two playing seasons have greatly diminished with just one recorded drop over the previous two seasons combined according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

As far as what Perriman brings to the table, he really is right up GM Brian Gutekunst’s alley. At 6’2″ – 215 pounds, Perriman has good size, very good speed, and overall he’s just an athlete who can make big plays as we saw multiple times in Tampa.

Coming out of Central Florida in 2015, Perriman had a fantastic Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 9.95 out of 10. For those unfamiliar with RAS, what it does is it takes a player’s measurements and times from the NFL Combine or a Pro Day and through a mathematical formula, it rates them on a 0 to 10 scale among their position group.

So of course, Perriman’s 9.95 makes him not just one of the most athletic receivers in that draft class, but overall as well.

On top of all of that, Perriman has some versatility as well which is something that Matt LaFleur will be a big fan of. While many may think of him as a receiver who lines up strictly out wide, he’s shown that he can be a weapon from the slot as well and played 156 snaps from there last season.

And when discussing Perriman, we also have to mention Milt Hendrickson’s connection. Currently, Hendrickson is the Green Bay Packers’ Director of Football Operations but before taking over that role, he spent 14 seasons with Baltimore in their player personnel department and was a part of the staff that originally drafted Perriman.

Not to mention that in Hendrickson’s short time with Green Bay, we have already seen the Packers pursue a few former Ravens.

As far as what it could cost to sign him, Perriman is coming off of a one year – $4 million deal in Tampa but according to Spotrac, he is expected to land a two-year deal with an average annual value of $8.7 million. Really a very reasonable contract for an ascending receiver who is still just 26-years-old.

As the Green Bay Packers look to overhaul and infuse the wide receiver position with some much-needed juice and talent this offseason, Breshad Perriman’s playmaking ability would be a welcomed sight in Titletown and he should absolutely be on Gutey’s radar.