Former Green Bay Packers receiver Allen Lazard is having a tough time finding a new home this offseason. Frankly, he's been having a tough time finding a role in a post-Green Bay/Aaron Rodgers world.
Certainly, he didn't find it with the New York Jets in 2025, with whom he surprisingly restructured his contract for last summer.
Hauling in just 10 receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown from Tyrod Taylor, Lazard was released midseason for the first time in his career after constantly fighting his way onto the roster during his Packers tenure. In New York, he failed to live up to a four-year, $44 million contract that was signed under the pretense that he'd be a top Rodgers weapon.
Instead, it remains to be seen if he'll even open the 2026 season with a job.
Packers Fans Watch as Allen Lazard's Career Trends Down
For one year, 2024, Lazard looked respectable. He finished with 37 receptions for 530 yards and six touchdowns, a massive improvement from the 2023 season, which was supposed to be Rodgers' first in the Big Apple, but ended up being another failed Zach Wilson run. Unfortunately, before and after Rodgers was the Jets' QB1, Lazard looked lost.
Lazard was expected to end up on the Pittsburgh Steelers with Rodgers, but the team's brass went with Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling instead. Now, with Rodgers potentially returning to the Steel City for one last go, Lazard could join in for the ride.
That could raise an uncomfortable question about Lazard's career beyond 2026.
Can He Succeed Without Rodgers?
It's a shame we only talk about Lazard in the context of playing with Rodgers. If his former Jets and Packers quarterback decided to stay retired, would Lazard even have an NFL career to speak of? He didn't make it the full year during the only campaign Rodgers wasn't his teammate.
Lazard was a great story in Wisconsin, playing his way into the mix and earning career stability by being a top target for the best QB of his generation. Unfortunately, the story is almost entirely reliant on an outside force.
Could Green Bay restore his career? Lazard does have experience playing with Jordan Love, though there'd need to be some smoothing out of some tension after the veteran WR bolted the first chance Love had as the starter.
At the same time, having Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Dontayvion Wicks, and Savion Williams on the roster doesn't exactly leave room for a reunion.
With that said, the time for a reunion has passed. All Cheeseheads can do now is forgive Lazard for leaving and pray that he can find meaning in the NFL beyond Rodgers. Otherwise, there might not be much time remaining in his post-Packers career.