The Green Bay Packers had significant uncertainty at the wide receiver position heading into the 2022 NFL season. Of course, that was because they traded All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders after he informed the organization he would not play for them while on the franchise tag.
After dealing Adams, the Packers selected three wide receivers in the 2022 and 2023 NFL Drafts, giving them one of the league’s youngest receiving corps. Many fans have wondered what the club would look like if it featured a true number one wide receiver like Adams, rather than four or five solid players who have yet to show themselves as top wideouts.
Even now, many people wonder what would have happened and what the squad would look like if the Packers had picked wide receiver Tee Higgins in 2020 instead of current starting quarterback Jordan Love.
As it turns out, one All-Pro pass catcher hoped to be picked by the Packers, too, but instead was taken by one of their division rivals.
Detroit Lions All-Pro Wide Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown wanted to be drafted by the Green Bay Packers.
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Eric Woodyard, St. Brown stated that the one team he did not want to be picked by was the Detroit Lions. Instead, he hoped the Packers would choose him so he could play with his brother, Equanimeous St. Brown, who was on the club at the time.
He informed Woodyard:
“By Day 3, I was already angry. I even told my brother [Equanimeous], ‘If there’s one team I don’t want to see, it’s the Lions. Just please, I do not want to go to the Lions. [My brother] was on the Packers at the time and I was like, ‘I want to play alongside him.’”
While the younger St. Brown may not have received his draft weekend desire, he did go to a team that has allowed him to prosper. Had he gone to Green Bay in 2021, he presumably would not have been the beneficiary of many targets. Aaron Rodgers, former Packers quarterback, was renowned for disregarding rookie wide receivers in his later years in Green Bay.
Amon St. Brown has thrived with the Detroit Lions.
Instead, St. Brown moved to Detroit, where he was immediately assigned a significant position in the offense. He finished his debut season with 90 receptions, 912 yards, and five touchdowns.
St. Brown made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2022, totaling 106 receptions for 1,161 yards and six touchdowns. He was selected First Team All-Pro this season after recording career highs of 119 receptions, 1,515 yards, and ten touchdowns.
This level of output has undoubtedly elevated St. Brown to the ranks of the NFL’s best wide receivers. His four-year rookie deal expires in 2024, but the Lions made it clear that he would not be departing anytime soon.
In the days leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, Detroit signed St. Brown to a four-year $120 million contract, making him one of the highest-paid wide receivers in league history.
How ironic that the team he didn’t want to draft him ended up paying him $30 million per year.
It’s unlikely he’d have made that much money playing for the Packers.
