By the time Aaron Rodgers returned to camp, we pretty much knew what he wanted. He was going to run it back one more time, à la The Last Dance, and wanted contractual flexibility to do so. We knew there would be a big press conference where he explained the holdout. Hell, we probably could have anticipated him tossing the ball into a net from 40 yards out.
But the biggest surprise was also the most interesting. He wanted Randall Cobb back, if only to drive home the message that he felt the Green Bay Packers took away his weapons and mistreated veterans as they neared 30.
While many are noting this puts pressure on the reigning MVP to have his voice on some roster additions finally heard, the other side of the coin is just as intriguing. There is some pressure now on Cobb to produce this year.
Make no mistake about it, Cobb established himself as a dynamic, shifty slot receiver in his first eight years in the league before departing Green Bay. But now he’s a 30-year-old wideout who’s clearly in the fourth quarter of his career. Yet, the Packers ultimately ceded to Rodgers’ demands, and Cobb was at Nitschke Field last week.
Davante Adams is the clear No. 1 wide receiver for the Packers, and it isn’t even remotely close. In fact, he’s probably the best wideout in the NFL right now. The wide receiver room vibes go as Adams goes.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the likely No. 2 wideout on the depth chart, and then there’s a whole batch of options for the No. 3 spot that includes Allen Lazard, Cobb, rookie Amari Rodgers, and maybe even Devin Funchess.
So how is there pressure on Cobb to produce this year?
It’s quite simple. Rodgers made it clear that a lot of his frustration with Green Bay’s front office stemmed from him wanting his voice heard when it came to some of the roster decisions. In his first press conference since returning a little over a week ago, No. 12 mentioned names like Micah Hyde, Casey Hayward, T.J. Lang, Julius Peppers, Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews, and others that he felt were disrespected by the front office on their way out and should’ve returned to Green Bay. With Cobb’s return, Rodgers got his wish of bringing back a familiar face.
But while there’s pressure on Rodgers to show he knows what he’s talking about by second-guessing management, there’s even more on Cobb to prove Rodgers right. If Cobb comes out this season and gets the snaps and playing time and looks as though Father Time has caught up to him, it all circles back to Rodgers. We all know this wasn’t Gutekunst’s idea.
“I think that’s a big part of it. Without Aaron, we probably wouldn’t be pursuing that,” Gutekunst said Thursday. “This was a very important thing for Aaron, and that’s why we did it.”
He did clean it up after those initial comments by praising Cobb’s locker room presence.
“We realized this was an important piece for Aaron early on in this thing,” Gutekunst said. “Having Randall Cobb in our building is a positive. What he brings as a player and a person to our locker room is a positive, specifically to our quarterback, which is a very important piece of what we’re trying to accomplish in 2021.”
It’s just so strange to have a guy who isn’t going to be No. 1 on the depth chart, isn’t going to be No. 2, yet will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders to prove his quarterback right.
Usually, a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver has a big game once every few weeks and is showered with praise for doing so. Rodgers’ choice will be scrutinized if Cobb is like any other WR3 or WR4 and makes an intermittent impact.
Randall Cobb’s return is a happy reunion, and he won’t be expected to go out and secure 90 catches on 100 or more targets with 10 touchdowns. But he’ll need to do more than his 38 reception, 441-yard output last year with the Houston Texans to show that the move was the right one and that Rodgers knows what he’s talking about.
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