Head coach Mike McCarthy has made it clear that he wants the Green Bay Packers to be more aggressive in free agency. According to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, McCarthy is "fed up" with general manager Ted Thompson's approach to free agency. After a frustrating season where a lack of quality depth doomed the Packers, McCarthy wants the team to spend some money in the offseason and bring in bigger names as the wide receiver position will take priority come free agency.
The Packers have a roster heavy on wide receivers, but low on quality talent. When Jordy Nelson was lost for the season and Andrew Quarless went down with an injury, the Packers failed to bounce back. The team simply could not get enough consistency from other players on the roster in order to make a real impact and that can be expected to change in 2016.
The first step will be to evaluate the current roster. According to the Journal Sentinel, both James Jones and Davante Adams want to be back in 2016, but neither are guaranteed a return. Jones has an expiring contract after inking a one-year deal with the Packers. He stepped up to have a team-high 890 yards off 50 catches. Despite his age, Jones is worth taking a look at for the future. Adams might be the odd man out. Injuries held him back this season while he failed to gain any consistency on the field. If the Packers are pressed for cap space he could be out with a release.
McCarthy told ESPN that getting another big body across the middle would help the Packers. There is plenty of talent on the free agent market the Packers can take advantage of. Travis Benjamin, Rishard Matthews, Marvin Jones and Jermaine Kearse are all available and could be perfect fits for Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay.
"Philosophically, to me, to have a successful passing game you have to have big targets that can run through the middle of the field -- whether it's a tight end, whether it's a big receiver," McCarthy said, via ESPN.com. "You look at the production of Jordy when he went inside [to the slot position], now you're dictating to the defense what coverage they can play to you."
The good news for Green Bay is they will get a healthy Nelson back on the field. According to ESPN's Rob Demovsky, the Packers expect Nelson to be just as good as he was before the injury when he gets back on the field which will be like getting a new free agent in the offseason.
