What to Know: Packers sign WR Jayden Reed to rookie deal
By Paul Bretl
All 13 members of the Green Bay Packers 2023 draft class are now signed. Wide receiver Jayden Reed has signed his rookie contract, according to his agent David Canter.
Although training camp is just a week away for the Green Bay Packers, because Reed is a second-round pick, it’s not abnormal that his deal is just getting completed. With the guaranteed portion of contracts for second-round picks increasing each year, there is typically more negotiating that has to take place between the agent and the team, which can prolong the process.
The Packers didn’t announce that fellow second-round pick Luke Musgrave’s deal was done until Wednesday. Last year, second-round pick Christian Watson didn’t sign his rookie contract until July 20th. And this year, there are still 10 second-round selections who remain unsigned.
The details of Reed’s rookie deal have not yet been reported, but Spotrac has projected that Reed’s contract will be worth $7.18 million over four years, with $2.22 million guaranteed, and comes with a cap hit of $1.31 million in 2023.
The addition of Reed adds more speed to the Green Bay Packers offense. Although not an official time, Packers VP of Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan mentioned that Green Bay clocked Reed at 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process.
Reed is a versatile player, with Sullivan also adding that he has the speed to win on the outside and the strength to win from the slot. He is also someone who could be utilized on jet sweeps, and he comes to the NFL with both kick and punt return experience from his time at Michigan State.
Throughout OTAs and minicamp, Reed was consistently working with the first-team offense as the third receiver behind Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. I imagine that as Green Bay gets deeper into their offensive installs, we will see Reed move around more, but he spent a lot of time in the slot during these practice sessions open to the media.
Prior to signing Musgrave and Reed, Over the Cap projected that the Packers had $14.29 million in available cap space. Ken Ingalls, who independently tracks Green Bay’s salary cap, estimates that the total cap hit for those two players will total $2.85 million.