The Green Bay Packers have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL heading into the 2023 season. Their inexperience is a major concern but it was necessary in some instances to get the team’s salary cap situation back under control.
After a few years of spending a lot of money to try and build a quick contender around Aaron Rodgers, the Packers are reverting back to their old ways of spending. That means a lot of potential value with young players on contracts that they are outperforming.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that numerous Packers were part of a recent exercise that Ryan Fowler of Bleacher Report put together. He built the best team possible under the current NFL salary cap rules and four players from Green Bay made the cut.
One of the players was second-year wide receiver, Christian Watson. The Packers’ second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of North Dakota State was part of the backups on Team A that Fowler put together.
His $2.1 million salary provides the roster with some salary relief in an absolutely loaded group. Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings, CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys, Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions and Jahan Dotson of the Washington Commanders round out the wide receiver corps.
The next Packer to make the list is offensive lineman Zach Tom. With a salary of $996K and a ton of versatility, he is the perfect pick for such a team. He is listed as the swing tackle, but as we saw during his rookie season, he can fill in across the entire unit.
Moving to the defensive side of the ball, we have Karl Brooks. A sixth-round pick out of Bowling Green in the 2023 NFL Draft, Brooks has made quite an impressive this offseason. He has seemingly jumped Packers’ fourth-round pick Colby Wooden on the depth chart, showing some nice pass-rushing skill from the defensive tackle spot.
Last but not least, star cornerback Jaire Alexander made the cut. With salary relief coming in the form of 2022 draft picks Sauce Garnder of the New York Jets and Tariq Woolen of the Seattle Seahawks, the contract of Alexander is an easy one to fit.
One of the best cornerbacks in the league, Alexander deserves a spot on this list. A first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Packers star is the backbone of their secondary and someone that Joe Barry will be relying on to shut down one half of the field or shadow the opponent’s No. 1 receiver.
