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The Green Bay Packers are among teams acquiring about Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller according to The Athletic’s Aaron Reiss. Reiss says no deal is imminent, but it’s noteworthy that the Packers are exploring their options.
Fuller, a 2016 first-round pick out of Notre Dame, is in his fifth season with the Texans. Through his NFL career to date, he’s been consistent, but not overwhelmingly so. He had a career-high 49 catches and 670 yards in 2019 but is on pace to surpass both of those totals this year. He caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown in last Sunday’s loss to the Packers.
Fuller’s performance this year puts the Packers in the unenviable position of having to buy high at a position of need, should they be interested in a trade. Fuller is also in a contract year, and with a pandemic-related salary cap crunch apparently on the way next spring, could quickly price himself out of the Packers’ market.
The Packers are also more than likely just doing some due diligence; they’ve been linked to wide receivers at the trade deadline before, but never pulled the trigger on the deal. It’s worth noting that they’re interested, at least, but as Reiss points out, this report shouldn’t be taken as a sign that anything is imminent.
Nevertheless, the Packers do have an apparent need at receiver. With Allen Lazard on injured reserve, the Packers haven’t gotten consistent performance out of any receiver other than Davante Adams. To wit: Against Houston, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was targeted with four passes but didn’t catch one, including one brutal drop on a third down in the second half.
Fuller would offer an immediate upgrade over every non-Adams wide receiver, giving the Packers a consistently productive receiver with 4.3-speed in the 40-yard dash. He also has a unique connection to Packers head coach Matt LaFleur: Fuller’s second year at Notre Dame coincided with LaFleur’s lone season on staff there. LaFleur offered some noteworthy praise about Fuller in the lead up to the Packers/Texans game last Sunday, describing himself as “a big Will Fuller fan.”