Packers clear the way for Matthew Golden to emerge in Year 2

GREEN BAY, Wis. — If it wasn’t clear before the Green Bay Packers traded receiver Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, then it should be now: They’re clearing the way for Matthew Golden to move up the depth chart.

This after they previously let Romeo Doubs leave in free agency to sign with the New England Patriots.

Despite a rookie season in which the Packers never seemed to make Golden a focal point of the offense, they came away feeling the 2025 first-round pick was ready for more — more than the 29 catches for 361 yards he accounted for after general manager Brian Gutekunst selected Golden 23rd overall, breaking the Packers’ two-decade-plus tradition of not drafting a receiver in Round 1.

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It wasn’t until the 31-27 wild-card playoff loss to the Chicago Bears that Golden caught his first NFL touchdown pass as part of a four-catch, 84-yard game.

That performance was equal parts encouraging for the future and vexing that there weren’t more like it during the season.

“With all the opportunities we gave him, I thought he did an excellent job,” Gutekunst said after the season. “I would have loved to have seen him get more opportunities through the year. It didn’t work out that way. But when he did, he performed, and he performed at a high level. I’m really excited to see where he goes in Year 2.

“I think his ceiling is very, very high. We’re very, very excited about what he’s going to do for our football team moving forward.”

Christian Watson will likely remain the Packers’ go-to big-play receiver. His 10-game stretch after returning from the torn right ACL he sustained in 2024 was among the best in the NFL last season. In Weeks 8-18, he led the league with an average of 17.5 yards per catch. Of his 35 catches, nearly half (17) went for at least 16 yards.

Watson signed a one-year, $11 million contract extension before he returned from his knee injury and will almost certainly be in line to receive another contract before he hits free agency next offseason.

Jayden Reed, the Packers’ leading receiver in 2023 and 2024, should return to a more prominent role after he missed nine games because of foot and shoulder injuries. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract and likely will be a candidate for extension, which is why the Packers couldn’t keep Doubs and decided to trade Wicks for a fifth-round pick this year and a sixth-round pick in 2027 before he would hit free agency next offseason.

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With Doubs, Wicks and Savion Williams, the Packers had a crowded receiver room last season when everyone was available. While coach Matt LaFleur insisted at the time that was to the Packers’ advantage because it made them harder to prepare for and harder to defend, it may have made it tougher for quarterback Jordan Love to build chemistry with his top receivers. From 2024 to 2025, the Packers fell from fifth to 15th in total offense from eighth to 16th in points.

Then there were LaFleur’s recent comments about players accepting their roles, saying “I think there were some guys that were upset about roles last year, and I think that took a toll on our football team.” He adding that “from a coaching standpoint, role clarity is key. So we’ve got to obviously do a better job communicating with our players.”

While LaFleur refused to name names, perhaps a more streamlined receiver room could help in that regard. For Golden’s part, he never complained publicly about a lack of opportunities even though he watched rookie receivers on other teams get targeted far more often. It’s possible that Golden might have expressed his frustrations behind closed doors. One source said whether he shared it with coaches or not, Golden did let his frustration be known to several people close to him.

For his part, Golden could have done more with his opportunities, too. There was the 34-yard catch against the Browns in Week 3 that could have been a 96-yard touchdown had Golden not angled out of bounds when it looked like he could have turned upfield. He also missed three games and was limited in a few others because of shoulder and wrist injuries.

However, he ended last season with the kind of game that many thought would have come sooner, especially after Golden turned heads day after day in training camp last summer.

“Yeah, I was waiting on it,” Golden said after the playoff game. “All year, obviously. But, man, losing hurts more. From training camp, all the work we put in, it’s just gone. And at the same time, we’re not going to have some of the guys in here next year, and we’re not going to have the same team.”

Golden’s relatively slow start was not unique among Packers receivers who went on to become top receivers. While Reed owns the Packers record for receptions by a rookie at 64 set in 2023, the likes of Davante Adams (50), James Jones (47), Greg Jennings (45), Jordy Nelson (33) and Randall Cobb (25) all had varying degrees of success in their first seasons.

“He got way more than I had — way more juice, way more moves,” Jones said of Golden during a recent appearance on the annual Packers Tailgate Tour. “I may have had the ability to go get the ball a little bit more, but the dude’s going to be a superstar. We’re talking about when I was a rookie, yeah, I had 47 catches, I was out there with Brett Favre, but my head was spinning. It’s still spinning. I could remember back to when, I would come out of games … with like 15 missed assignments. I’m calling the wife like, don’t unpack yet, because we gonna mess around and get cut. We’re just here for a little bit. But like, my head was spinning. I was making a couple plays.

“But for him, I just think it’s all about finding ways to get him in a groove, and I think with [Doubs and Wicks] out now, you’ll see him have a bigger role, you’ll see him get some chemistry with Jordan Love. But he got everything you want in a wide receiver.”

Cobb, who also was on the Packers Tailgate Tour, believes Golden will take a significant jump in Year 2.

“Yes, he was a first-round pick and, yes, the expectations were probably really high, but I think his ceiling is really high,” Cobb said. “To see him end the season the way that he did in Chicago, I was so proud of that moment and for him to have the opportunity. Obviously, wish the game would have turned out differently, but I think that’s something to build on, and it’s something to realize that he has the capability and he’ll probably have more opportunity now with less guys in the room.”