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Aaron Rodgers is in need of a steady veteran wide receiver and Cole Beasley is in search of a team — a situation that could provide the former Buffalo Bills receiver a pathway back into the NFL.
The Green Bay Packers came into this season as a popular Super Bowl pick, but struggled in Week 1 as Rodgers failed to find chemistry with the team’s mostly young crop of wide receivers. With the veteran Beasley still openly campaigning to find a team, the pair could be a fit.
Rodgers Could Need Help
There is not yet panic in Green Bay after the Packers fell to the Minnesota Vikings in the season opener, but one NFL executive told Heavy.com’s Matt Lombardo that something needs to change quickly. Rodgers lost his best weapon in receiver Davante Adams, and hasn’t yet clicked with the new group of receivers.
“I understand you have a damn good quarterback,” the executive said. “But, you gave away his weapon. His most dangerous and most consistent weapon. All of these people think the Packers will be better, and I’m sitting here just asking myself, ‘How’? Now he’s going to spread the ball around to four different wide receivers rather than one, well, that one caught 24 touchdowns last year.”
Rodgers went 22-for-34 for 195 yards and an interception in the team’s 23-7 loss to the Vikings. The top receiving performance came out of the backfield, with running back A.J. Dillon catching five passes for 6 yards.
Rodgers said after the game that he needs to have some patience with the young group of receivers.
“There’s a standard I’m going to hold these guys to because I believe in them, but also there’s a patience that comes with the inexperience,” Rodgers said, via Jason Wilde of Madison.com. “I think I’ve learned how to balance that. But the direct conversations are the best way. These are good kids. They really are. They want to please, they want to do the right thing, they care about it. I’m going to figure out a way to continue to get on the same frequency with them, and at the core of it is just communication. . . . At the end of the day, that’s how that trust is built, through that direct communication.”
Veteran Beasley Could Help
If the Packers continue to struggle and the connection between Rodgers and the new receivers is slow to build, Beasley could become an option. He remains a free agent since being released by the Bills in March, and remained a steady option for Josh Allen through the last two seasons. Beasley made 82 catches for 693 yards and one touchdown last season, and another 82 yards and 967 yards with four touchdowns the previous season.
Beasley has also made it clear that he wants to keep playing, saying he’s looking for the right opportunity to return.
“I’m not retiring,” he tweeted in response to a fan who asked if he planned to come back this season.
Beasley went on to say that he believes he still has a lot to contribute this season.
“I still feel like I have a lot left in the tank man,” he tweeted.
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