The Green Bay Packers are coming into the month before the NFL draft after a quiet winter and while the team kept Randall Cobb, they still have some needs, with wide receiver and tight end areas of concern and names like Zach Miller, Jermaine Gresham and James Casey could be free agent options along with Wes Welker and Greg Jennings and this comes as Maxx Williams could be a draft target.
The team brought back Cobb on a decent sized contract and now they likely will look for cheap options on the market for depth. NFL.com reports that Welker could be an option, but so far he has not had any suitors on the market following his run with the Broncos. The tight end spot is an area of need, as the team has Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless, but may want more there. James Casey, Rob Housler and Zach Miller are all free agents along with Gresham.
Gresham is coming in after dealing with back surgery this offseason and that could keep some teams from signing him. Gresham had 62 catches last season for 460 yards and five touchdowns and while the Benagsl were not interested in bringing him back at first, the Cincinnati Enquirer says that may change if he stays on the market. The Raiders and Gresham were talking earlier in the offseason, but stopped once he had surgery. The Raiders and Browns are options along with the Packers.
The team has Davante Adams along with Jeff Janis and Jared Abbrederis behind Jordy Nelson and Cobb, but Mike McCarthy may want some more options and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media said on Total Access that Wes Welker could be a depth pickup. Abbrederis is coming back from an ACL injury and that could mean this year could be an iffy one for him, while Janis is young and untested.
Welker had over 110 catches in five of six seasons with the Patriots and he could be a nice fourth or fifth option at his age. Jennings was released by the Vikings and he has had some interest from the Dolphins and has also met with the Carolina Panthers. Jennings had 59 catches last season and over the past two years with the Vikings he has had 10 touchdowns.
According to Walter Football, Maxx Williams, Clive Walford and Nick O'Leary are some of the top prospects coming out along with Tyler Kroft and Jeff Heuerman. The Packers got rid of Brandon Bostick after his terrible mistake in the NFC championship game and while they have Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless, those two are mostly untested. The team may want to add some depth at the position and some of those draft prospects could be options in the later rounds.
According to Pro Football Talk, so far this offseason Welker has had "no buzz" on the market and that is in part due to his age and past injury issues. Last season Welker had just 49 catches for 464 yards, which were his lowest totals since back in 2006. Welker put up some amazing numbers while playing with Tom Brady and in 2013 he had 73 catches for 778 yards while playing with Peyton Manning in Denver.
