Green Bay Packers: Several WRs Missing from Voluntary OTAs
By Paul Bretl
Today marked the second practice of on-field OTAs for the Green Bay Packers — the first one open to the media — and while this is a voluntary portion of the offseason workouts, overall, there was a very good turnout with 79 of the 89 players on the roster attending.
However, there was one position group, in particular, that was missing a large core of its members—and that was wide receiver.
Missing from the voluntary OTA practice were Davante Adams, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Devin Funchess, and Equanimeous St. Brown. Presumably, what will end up being the top wide receiver targets on this team, excluding Amari Rodgers.
Now, I know, the initial thought could be that this has something to do with Aaron Rodgers, but as Matt LaFleur told reporters after the practice, he spoke with each of those players individually and doesn’t believe this is a “coordinated effort” on their behalf to skip—and we have no reason not to believe him.
For players like Valdes-Scantling, Lazard, and especially Adams, there isn’t really anything to gain from these practices. LaFleur isn’t implementing anything new; in Year 3, they’re now familiar with the playbook, and these players have their spots already cemented in the lineup.
With that said, I will say that I was a bit surprised that Funchess and St. Brown were not present, given that their statuses on the team are much more up in the air. In fact, I don’t believe either is a lock to make the roster at this point. But again, these are veteran players who chose not to participate in a voluntary activity—there’s nothing to read into here.
By missing these practices, Adams won’t be receiving his $500,000 workout bonus, and Funchess was to receive $50,000 had he attended, according to Over the Cap. None of the other three players were set to receive any financial compensation. It’s also worth mentioning that Adams is in the final year of his current deal, and while it is assumed that an extension will take place, we haven’t heard anything about that recently. Again, we shouldn’t try to glean anything from Adams’ absence, but it is noteworthy.
With Aaron Rodgers also not in attendance, Jordan Love is taking the QB1 reps, and considering how little action he saw a year ago — even in practices as the third quarterback on the depth chart — this would have been a good opportunity for him to work with the top receivers, with LaFleur noting how important chemistry is. But instead, we will have to wait until mini-camp to see the Green Bay Packers’ top receivers in action.
As I’m sure you can tell — or at least I hope — we shouldn’t read much into this. I wouldn’t call the absence of these receivers newsworthy, but I would call it noteworthy.