ESPN not impressed with Packers offseason moves

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wasn’t impressed with the Packers’ offseason work.

After reaching the NFC Championship Game this past January, this was expected to be the offseason that the Green Bay Packers pushed on in an attempt to get another championship with Aaron Rodgers.

Get Rodgers some more receiving talent, making the most of a historically strong draft class at the position. Fix the run defense issues by adding a game-changing linebacker and restocking the defensive line depth. Add some more depth at offensive tackle and cornerback.

A quiet free agency period then a quarterback-running back combination with their top two draft picks certainly wasn’t the expectation.

Packers near the bottom of ESPN offseason rankings

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell has ranked each team’s offseason work this spring, with the Packers all the way down at No. 27. Oddly enough, that’s still good for second-best in the NFC North, but it’s clearly not what the fans had in mind.

While Barnwell did praise the Packers for the reasonable deal Ricky Wagner signed, and he did note that Devin Funchess could be a good addition considering how cheap his contract was, his top complaint was the failure to revamp the wide receiver corps:

"“In an offseason in which the draft was full of wide receiver talent and veteran wideout prices were depressed, the Packers really couldn’t come away with more than Funchess?”"

It’s hard to disagree with that assessment. Missing on the top free-agent wide receivers was understandable considering the draft class that awaited. But then not drafting a single receiver in April was more than just a head-scratching move, it’s a potentially unforgivable one.

It’s hard to imagine the same issues from last year not being repeated: Davante Adams playing at an elite level but no other receiver offering consistent production.

If Jordan Love goes onto become a star, this will be considered a home-run offseason. But even after drafting Love, the failure to add receiving talent could hurt this team in the short term.