It’s officially the time of year where we overreact to every sound bite coming out of OTAs, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Is Jager Burton Green Bay’s next gem of an offensive lineman? Does Lukas Van Ness really make the best chicken wings on the team? I want to talk about all of it. 

“Pats fan here. I’ve never watched Doubs all that much and am pretty unfamiliar with his game. Two-part question for you: What can I expect from him as a receiver and do you think he’s worth that 4-year, $68M contract?” - Beanboba

A Patriots fan! Hello! Anyone who’s followed my work knows I was a pretty big Doubs fan during the entirety of his tenure in Green Bay, so I may have always been higher on him than most. He was someone I had labeled as a day three pick for the Packers, so it’s always fun to hit on those and have those players end up in Green and Gold. 

But I was thrilled to see he landed in Foxborough. I didn’t think there was any way the Packers could keep him (especially now after extending Jayden Reed and Christian Watson). The Patriots felt like an ideal fit for him if he couldn’t stick around in Green Bay. What an overhaul of that receiving core. Swapping Stefon Diggs for A.J. Brown and Doubs. 

I think Doubs is going to be an ideal WR2 for the Patriots. He was never destined for a 1,000-yard, 10 TD season, especially now that Brown is unequivocally WR1, but he’ll reliably get you a handful of scores, put up between 600-800 yards, and be a security blanket for Maye on third downs. 

As for his contract, I think it’s probably fair given today’s market. His contract comes in $2 million below Wan’Dale Robinson who just had his first 1,000-yard season in 2025. $17 million per year with $35 million guaranteed almost feels modest by today’s receiver standards. Now, paying that and paying Brown’s $32 million per year salary does make for an expensive receiving duo, but the rest of that room being on cheap deals helps lighten the load, as does having a QB still on his rookie contract. 

Thanks for writing in to chat! It’s always fun to hear from fans of other teams that find the mailbag. 

“Hey Maggie! Great to have some “real” Packer news flowing around with OTAs and mini-camp, even though it’s mostly locker room cliches and gym short highlights! Without overreacting to either of those, was there anything you saw or heard that made you go “hmmm…”? Thanks!” - Jim

Definitely not “hmmm” in a concerning way, but it was comforting to hear Tucker Kraft say he plans to be 100% back by Week 1 and doesn’t expect to be on a snap count. Maybe it’s the recency bias of David Bakhtiari and Jaire Alexander struggling to return from their injuries, but anytime a player is coming back from a severe injury, you kind of wonder if they’ll be able to get back to their full potential. 

The counter argument to that is Christian Watson, who is arguably playing his best football now, post-return from injury. So for Kraft to be confident in his recovery and his ability to play without limitations to start the season, that’s good to hear. Now to your point, that’s just his perspective. He’ll still have to be medically evaluated and cleared. But it’s enough to let you breathe a little sigh of relief.

I’ve also enjoyed hearing more from Javon Bullard. He and Evan Williams continue to take leaps into leadership roles on defense, and Bullard seems to be having an explosive start to OTAs. He’ll be a big factor in Jonathan Gannon’s defense locking down that nickel spot. I think he’ll be all over the field, and I’m excited for that. 

Speaking of leadership, it certainly seems like everything is in front of Lukas Van Ness this year. The Packers picked up his fifth-year option for a reason, and it seems like he’s had a game-wrecking impact on OTAs already. He has every opportunity in front of him to be a key piece of the Gannon defense, and he’s saying/doing all the right things so far. 

That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag! We’re in for more OTAs next week as we inch closer and closer to the regular season. This week has me really missing football, but we’ll be there soon! As always, send in any questions/comments/talking points to [email protected]. You can also catch me with Andrew Mertig doing a brief stint back on the Pack-A-Day Podcast as we preview all of Green Bay’s 2026 opponents. Those drop on Tuesdays. See you next week!