Chase Claypool just one of the veterans that the Packers will consider
Chase Claypool made a surprise appearance during Packers rookie minicamp. Whether he signs with the team or not, he won't be the last veteran the team will consider adding.
Good morning!
Over the past few days, the Green Bay Packers received their first look at the team’s 2026 draft class and undrafted rookies. But while that would normally dominate the headlines, an unexpected development stole the spotlight during rookie minicamp.
Today’s edition of The Leap unpacks the news from the minicamp roster and looks at other offseason situations that could soon matter to Green Bay.
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What do you make of Chase Claypool’s tryout opportunity at Packers rookie minicamp?
Jason B. Hirschhorn: Friday proved to be an important day in the Claypool Cinematic Universe. Not only did The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy drop, but Chase Claypool made a surprise appearance as a veteran tryout at Packers rookie minicamp.
A 2020 second-round pick who burst onto the scene with 873 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns as a rookie, Claypool’s star quickly fell off in the years that followed. Costly on-field decisions and declining production convinced the Pittsburgh Steelers to make him available before the 2022 trade deadline. Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst offered a second-rounder, but after the Bears outbid him, he moved on to other business.
It didn’t take long before that decision looked sage. Directly following the trade deadline, rookie Christian Watson broke out, recording 362 yards and nine touchdowns from scrimmage over the next four games. Claypool managed just 191 scrimmage yards and a single touchdown over his entire Chicago tenure. Meanwhile, the Packers used the pick once tabbed for the trade on Jayden Reed, the team’s leading receiver during each of his first two seasons.
Claypool’s professional career didn’t last much longer. The Bears sent him to the Miami Dolphins as part of a late-round pick swap. He caught just four passes over nine games with his new team. In 2024, he signed a one-year contract with the Buffalo Bills but landed on injured reserve in August. They released him with an injury settlement soon after, marking the end of his last stint on an NFL roster.
Now, nearly two years removed from the injury, Claypool represents an intriguing proposition. The Packers risk nothing by giving him a tryout opportunity and would only need to pay the veteran minimum should they opt to sign him to the 90-man roster. If he has recovered from the ligament tear in his toe that ended his time in Buffalo, perhaps he can make a push for a job during camp.
Any discussion of Claypool’s prospects should involve setting reasonable expectations. The gap between the receiver who looked like a potential superstar in 2020 and the player currently in Green Bay looks as massive as the Grand Canyon. Claypool’s size and athleticism can and almost certainly will flash in practices, but his inability to so much as consistently catch the ball -- he dropped 12.5% of his targets since leaving Pittsburgh -- necessarily limits his upside.
At the same time, the Packers have reasons to consider Claypool. Currently, they have only one wideout who stands over 6-foot and has more than 10 career targets in the NFL: Watson. And for as well as he played in 2025, his injury history suggests that the team should have an insurance plan. Matthew Golden can replicate Watson’s speed but lacks his size. Savion Williams can replicate Watson’s size but has yet to demonstrate he can play receiver in the NFL. Claypool, for all his warts, could at least plausibly provide a vertical element to the passing game should Watson go down.
Even if the Packers ultimately sign Claypool, a lot has to happen before he can make a real case for the 53-man roster. The team wants to see whether Williams has taken a step in Year 2, and role players like Skyy Moore and Bo Melton also have the inside track at the moment. Claypool will see few reps with Jordan Love during practice and likely none during the preseason, meaning most of his passes will come from the likes of Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord.
All of which underscores the reality of Claypool’s outlook. While he understandably garnered attention during rookie minicamp, he has a long, long, long way to go before he could possibly impact the season.
Does a QB trade remain on the table for Green Bay?
JBH: Speaking of backup quarterbacks, the Packers did not take one during the 2026 NFL Draft. Perhaps the decision to trade both of their seventh-round picks to move back into the sixth round took that option off the table, but no matter the cause, the team’s only recent addition under center came in the form of undrafted free agent Kyron Drones.
That doesn’t mean the Packers couldn’t make a more significant addition this offseason at quarterback, however.
At time of publication, several notable signal-callers remain available. The Indianapolis Colts have yet to move Anthony Richardson, though general manager Chris Ballard confirmed that the former No. 4 overall pick had requested a trade.
“Anthony’s not here. He’s also requested a trade,” Ballard said during his pre-draft press conference. “He’s down in Jacksonville training. I actually have talked to his trainer, and I talk to him often and his agent, but he’s in good spirits.
“I don’t know any question you’re going to ask other than, ‘Will he be here?’ Well, he could be. We’ll see. But as of right now, he’s down there in Jacksonville. We’ll kind of work through that as we go.”
Due to Richardson’s considerable athletic tools and the likelihood of a trade, many have already compared him to Malik Willis, another gifted reclamation project from an AFC South team who came to Green Bay to resurrect his career. Perhaps Richardson will indeed follow in Willis’ footsteps, but some significant differences exist between the two. Most importantly, Richardson would count more against the Packers’ salary cap in 2026 than Willis did over the past two seasons combined.
Gutekunst has other options worth considering, including one with a familiar trade partner. The Tennessee Titans have effectively waved the white flag on Will Levis’ time in Nashville, signing veterans Mitch Trubisky and Hendon hooker this offseason to back up Cam Ward. Barring an unforeseeable development, Levis will turn the page on the Titans by Week 1.
Levis has authored some of the most mindboggling mistakes of the 2023 and ‘24 seasons, and he missed all of last year while recovering from shoulder surgery. Still, he once outplayed Willis in training camp and can make plays with his legs. Levis might cost as little as a future conditional late-round selection. For a 26-year-old taken just 29 spots after Richardson in the 2023 draft, he offers some intrigue.
At least publicly, the Packers have stood behind their current backups. In March, Gutekunst said the team remained “very high on both those guys.” However, he also said, “If we have the opportunity to add to that room, we’ll certainly look at it,” hardly a strong vote of confidence.
Whether Richardson or Levis provides enough of an upgrade over Green Bay’s backups in Gutekunst’s estimation remains unclear. However, he will not have done his job if alternatives to Ridder and McCord don’t garner serious consideration.