Getty DeAndre Thompkins #1 of the DC Defenders looks on during the first half of the XFL game against the NY Guardians at Audi Field on February 15, 2020 in Washington, DC.
The Green Bay Packers will have no shortage of wide receivers through the next few weeks OTAs, even if their starters continue to keep their distance.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst announced Wednesday the signing of wide receiver DeAndre Thompkins, a former Penn State talent who spent portions of the last two summers on NFL training-camp rosters and most recently played for the DC Defenders in the XFL.
Thompkins, 25, signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2019, but he missed the initial roster cut and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2020 XFL draft a few months later after struggling to find a new NFL job. While he caught seven passes for 85 yards and a touchdown over his first four games for the Defenders, his time was cut short after only about a month when the league suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thompkins had since returned to the NFL and received fleeting opportunities from the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, but so far he has been unsuccessful in landing an in-season role. Whether that changes with the Packers, though, could depend less on how he performs as a pass-catcher and more about how he looks on special teams.
The Packers now have all 90 spots on their offseason roster filled with 12 of them devoted to wide receivers; although, officially, 2021 draft picks Eric Stokes and Amari Rodgers have still not signed their rookie contract.
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Thompkins, Future Return Weapon?
In the short term, the Packers adding Thompkins to their receiving room makes sense. They are currently going through the voluntary portion of their OTAs without any of their top five veterans as Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown and Devin Funchess were all absent from the first few days. If nothing else, he gives them another body to run through on-air drills with quarterback Jordan Love.
Thompkins, however, might also have some surprise value on special teams. He was a standout punt returner throughout his career with the Nittany Lions, averaging 675 yards on 66 career returns and finished fourth all-time in program history with two returned for touchdowns. He also set a single-game school record for averaging 31.8 yards per punt return against Kent State in 2017.
The Packers will need to replace both of their veteran options from last year after deciding not to bring back Tyler Ervin and Tavon Austin in free agency, and while new special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton is excited about getting to work with rookie weapons such as Rodgers and sixth-round cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles, Thompkins could open his mind to other possibilities if he can maximize his reps in OTAs.
Will Packers WRs All Report on June 8?
The Packers don’t require any of their players to report for work until the start of their three-day mandatory minicamp on June 8, so there’s no reason to panic about players who have not yet joined them at Lambeau Field. Can Green Bay count on all of their absent receivers being with them when the main event of OTAs gets rolling next month, though?
Packers not at practice for voluntary OTAs today:
Aaron Rodgers
Davante Adams
David Bakhtiari
Jaire Alexander
Allen Lazard
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Devin Funchess
Blake Bortles
Equanimeous St. Brown
Ka’dar Hollman
Stanford Samuels
The biggest name to watch for a potential holdout would be Adams, the Packers’ All-Pro wide receiver who is heading into the final year of his contract and will deservedly be looking for a significant pay raise on his next deal. If the negotiations between him and the Packers are not playing out in a satisfying way, he could choose to stay away from the team as other NFL stars have done in the past to put focus on reaching an agreement.