Christian Watson's father shares his recovery timeline, and it brings major implications for the Packers

According to Wajed, Christian has a normal ACL injury. He will do pre-surgery strengthening and is expected to be back during the 2025 season, around Week 12.

Usually, the Packers tend to have players back from ACL injuries after 10 or 11 months. As Watson's injury was in early January, a return in late November would realistically be in play.

Relevance

It's extremely important for the Packers to have Christian Watson back during the season—his absence was massive in the 22-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs.

But it's also highly relevant for Watson himself. The wide receiver is entering the last year of his rookie deal, and if he misses the entire season on the physically unable to perform list, his contract would toll. That means he would only be a free agent in 2027, making in 2026 the same amount of the previous season.

Watson is coming off his best season in the NFL in terms of receiving yards (620), even though he had a career low in touchdowns (2) and fewer receptions (29) that he did as a rookie (41).

Depth

Alongside Christian Watson, the Packers will have their entire wide receiver room back in 2025. Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Malik Heath are under contract. Bo Melton is an exclusive-rights free agent, so the Packers can get him back with a minimum tender.

Green Bay has also added three receivers to the 90-man roster with future contracts—Julian Hicks and Cornelius Johnson, who finished the season on the practice squad, and Tulu Griffin, who spent parts of the season with the Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns.