Green Bay Packers: 5 Free Agent Additions That Still Make Sense

Taylor Gabriel WR

Many are still frustrated and/or perplexed that the Green Bay Packers left the loaded 2020 draft without selecting a single wide receiver. According to GM Brian Gutekunst, early on the board just didn’t fall the right way and by the time they got to Rounds 3 and beyond, Gutey wasn’t sure that any of the remaining options were upgrades over who they already had on the roster.

And that reasoning makes complete sense to me. But what I like about Taylor Gabriel – other than that he isn’t going to break the bank – is that he gives the Packers a skill-set that they don’t really have at the position currently.

This is a unit with a lot of big bodies but at 5’8″ – 165 pounds, Gabriel gives them a speedy, prototypical slot presence, which is something that they didn’t have in 2019.

There’s really no way to sugarcoat it, the 2019 season was a down one for Gabriel as he was plagued by injuries and the drops. But prior to that season, he was an uber-reliable pass catcher and made plays with the ball in his hands.

From the 2016 to 2018 seasons with Atlanta and Chicago, Gabriel appeared in 45 out of 48 games, caught almost 70 percent of the passes thrown his way for 1,645 yards and nine touchdowns. This is the player that Green Bay would hopefully be getting if they signed him and as I’ve already mentioned, he’s a change of pace from the receivers they already have on the roster.