Green Bay Packers: The 'What If' Draft Story That Nearly Delivered Brandon Aiyuk or Justin Jefferson

However, during a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman of The Athletic revisited a story underscoring Green Bay’s desire to take a first-round wide receiver in the same draft that got the team quarterback Jordan Love. 

“Yeah, absolutely, and look, this might seem like a cop-out answer, but the Packers not drafting a first-round receiver at least under Brian Gutekunst has not been for necessarily a lack of trying,” Schneidman said when asked by McAfee about whether he had wished that Green Bay would have taken a first-round wide receiver before.

“I don’t know If I’ve said this on here before, but I’ve certainly written it in 2020; before they drafted Jordan Love, Brian Gutekunst, and he’s told me this on the record, they tried to trade up for a wide receiver. He didn’t name who, but Brandon Aiyuk and Justin Jefferson were both picked a couple picks before Jordan Love. I would imagine it was one of those two, so the Packers actually tried trading up for a wide receiver in that 2020 draft.” 

The Packers picked 25th in the first round of that draft, and they used that to take Love. Jefferson was taken 22nd overall by the Minnesota Vikings, while Aiyuk went to the San Francisco 49ers, just a notch before Love.