Packers team president Mark Murphy announced the team’s first-round pick. He began by saying, “For the first time since 2022,” sending the green-and-gold-clad crowd into a frenzy.
Murphy didn’t even need to finish his sentence as hard-core Packers fans knew what that meant.
Texas’ Matthew Golden, the 23rd overall pick, was the first wide receiver the Packers have selected in the first round since Javon Walker in 2002.
The Packers had a need after Christian Watson tore an ACL in a Week 18 game against the Bears.
“I will say this: In no time in my 20-some years within this organization, whether it was [previous General Managers] Ron [Wolf] or Ted [Thompson], did I hear them talk about that as a philosophy,” Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “I know Ron talked a lot about being mad he didn’t take Randy Moss, you know what I mean?
“No one’s ever really talked about it. I never really looked at it that way. I don’t think we’d ever hesitate to take a receiver in the first round if the right one was there. We certainly talked about it at different times in the last seven years since I’ve been in this spot, trying to make that happen. So, I don’t really look at it as a philosophical thing. I will say we’ve hit on a lot of second-round receivers. There’s been a lot of guys that we’ve taken in that group that have become really, really good players for us. Not only us but throughout the league.”
Gutekunst spent second-round picks on Watson in 2022 and Jayden Reed in 2023, but he has given Jordan Love something Aaron Rodgers never had as the team’s starting quarterback.
When Golden arrived on stage, he shouted, “Green Bay, it’s time.”
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