The Packers have fair questions to answer about their WR room, but not for now

The Green Bay Packers don't have a clear wide receiver one. That has been put as an issue for the offense, but for not it truly isn't — at least for now. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and even Bo Melton can all be the primary receiver in a game .

"You look at these guys, each person has their own skill set and what they do great. That's the key, is trying to find that and put them in the best position to be successful," said quarterback Jordan Love. "You can plug any of these guys at any position and they'll go out there and make plays. A little of that was proven last year. We had different guys injured throughout the season and guys had to move around a little bit, play some different spots that they might not have been used to, so I definitely think that is the case."

That approach helps Matt LaFleur diversify his gameplans, and it's harder for the defense to predict what's coming.

View the original article to see embedded media.

However, there are fair questions to make regarding that roster-building plan, and how sustainable it is in the long run. Remember: This is not about 2024.

Will they be able/willing to keep them?

Right now, all these Packers receivers are playing under cheap rookie deals. The entire room (including the salaries of the players who eventually won't make the 53-man roster) combines for an $11.518 million cap hit. Justin Jefferson alone makes $35 million in yearly average with his new contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

But that won't last forever. Watson and Doubs were drafted in 2022, and as non-first-rounders, the Packers don't have a fifth-year option on their deals. Next offseason, they will be eligible for new deals, and the wide receiver market is absurdly high even for non-elite players — that's why the Packers idea is working so well, but also why it brings long-term questions.

Let's say that Watson and Doubs are worth something around $18 million per season, the area where Christian Kirk and Jerry Jeudy got signed (and I'm not even considering percentage of the cap when signed to make things simpler). Would the Packers be willing to go that far? A year later, Reed and Wicks will be eligible for extensions as well.

There is still time for general manager Brian Gutekunst to evaluate these players and sort them by importance to the offense. But in terms of market, it's much easier when you have a dominant player like Davante Adams . You pay him, and build the rest of the room with cheaper options. Without that figure, it becomer harder to choose which ones are worth paying, and how much.

How many?

If all the top 4 receivers will make something around $10 million and $20 million on the market, keeping them all would cost the Packers a number close to $60 million per season. That's not completely absurd, as teams with two top receivers (like the Miami Dolphins with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle) spend that.

But it doesn't seem like the Packers will be willing to spend so much at that position — especially because it's not a position that Gutekunst values as much as the external world.

So if the Packers decide to pay some but not all of them, how many and who will they choose? Do they choose the top two pieces (probably two of Watson, Reed, and Wicks), or do they select the top one and the other with a controlled cost (let's say, Reed and Doubs)?

The next couple of years will be imperative for the Packers to understand how important each of them is, and if their market values match that role.

Is it sustainable?

Retired Packers writer Vic Ketchman used to say that wide receivers are "dime a dozen," and a lot of Packers fans agree with that perception. While receivers are important in today's game, it's been easier to replace them with a strong supply coming out of college every year.

But that doesn't mean that it's easy or guaranteed to get good players. Gutekunst himself spent a third-round pick on Amari Rodgers and a fourth-round pick on J'Mon Moore. The executive has been on a heater lately, but history tells us that it doesn't tend to be sustainable. There will be hits and misses.

If the Packers decide that drafting young receivers is the way to go and allow the current group to leave in free agency, they will have to start everything from the ground up again. When a team pays a big-time quarterback like the Packers will do with Jordan Love, it expects him to elevate the pieces around him. But that's not an automatic process. It takes time for the new players to learn the system and to develop chemistry with the passer.

For now, the Packers are happy with an offense without a true WR1. In 2024, it will most likely work based on what they showed last season. But there are fair long-term questions, and this roster-building model is so unique that we don't have a track record of answers.

Related: Jordan Love is comfortable without a true number one wide receiver on the Packers