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

The Green Bay Packers wide receiver room is considered one of the teams strengths..

Even without a standalone superstar asset downfield on offense, the teams wideout group has plenty of promise going into the 2025 NFL regular season.

But it surely would have looked so much better if they had a genuine star in the wide receiver position.

The Packers had great wide receivers in previous years without resorting to picking one in the first round of the NFL draft, but thats also a reason for a big what if in Green Bay.

Until 2025, the Packers had not selected a wideout in the first round in over two decades.

That drought ended when they selected Matthew Golden in the 2025 draft.

Green Bay Packers reporter recounts 2020 NFL draft story However, during a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman of The Athletic revisited a story underscoring Green Bays desire to take a first-round wide receiver in the same draft that got the team quarterback Jordan Love .

"In 2020 before the Packers drafted Jordan Love they tried to trade up for a Wide Receiver..

Brandon Aiyuk and Justin Jefferson were both picked a couple picks before Jordan Love" @mattschneidman #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/jTpYk9jU8D Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 27, 2025 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 dont know If Ive said this on here before, but Ive certainly written it in 2020; before they drafted Jordan Love, Brian Gutekunst, and hes told me this on the record, they tried to trade up for a wide receiver.

He didnt 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.

Green Bay Packers: The What If Draft Story That Nearly Delivered Brandon Aiyuk or Justin Jefferson 2 Sep 26, 2021; Santa Clara, California, USA; Aiyuk (11) fails to catch a pass while being defended by Green Bay cornerback Eric Stokes (21) during the second quarter at Levis Stadium.

Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports.

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