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The Dontavian Wix trade has to impact the way the Packers approach the 2026 NFL Draft. You are locked on Packers, your daily Green Bay Packers podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. You are locked on Packers, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. I'm Peter Bacowsky and I cover the Packers for the leap. A newsletter I would love for you to subscribe to. Thanks to everyone who makes locked on Packers, they're first lesson every day. We hope you like starting your day with us as much as we like starting our day with you here on the locked on podcast network, the number one sports podcast network. The Packers traded Dontavian Wix. We talked about this on our Sunday OT, which was actually on Saturday last week with our pal Brandon Snyde. And so if you want the breakdown of all the stuff related to the Wix trade, go check out that episode. But there is a further trickle down when it comes to what comes next for the Packers. And that is the way you look at this draft. And so, okay, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, they're under contract in 2027. The Packers cannot act as if a Christian Watson deal is fade a complete until that deal is actually fade a complete until it is pert near done. It's not. And the odds are it will not be done by the draft. And so you cannot treat it as done, even if you would like to get it done. The Packers wanted to resign Aaron Jones when Aaron Jones became a Minnesota Viking. These things don't always work out the way that you plan them. And so the Packers cannot assume Christian Watson is a long-term part of their future. The same is true of Jaden Reed. Even if you think, hey, we'd really like to resign Jaden Reed. And you think the agent says it's X amount of money and you think X amount of money is reasonable until he signs on the dotted line. That deal is not finished. We don't from the outside know how they feel about Jaden Reed. We don't from the outside know how they feel about Christian Watson and how close those negotiations are and how close they are to actually signing those contracts. Now the Packers do. And so if it is the case that they anticipate one or both of those deals getting done, I do think that number matters. Like if just Christian Watson is going to get a contract, that's a different, that's a horse of a different color. If Reed and Watson are getting contracts, well, then you're in pretty good shape and you can wait until around five or on six, around seven, even a UDFA to bring in a receiver. Because you then at that point, you just need a body, but they do need bodies. Now if you think Watson and Reed are getting contract extensions or you want them to get contract extensions, then maybe you could be like, well, it wouldn't be the end of the world to give Bo Melton an extension and then you've got your receiver room locked up. Like if you think Matthew Golden, Christian Watson, Jaden Reed, all those guys, but here's the problem with all of that. We don't know what Matthew Golden looks like at volume. We don't know what he looks like as a starting receiver in the NFL, partially because Matt on the floor refused to play him when it looked like he was one of the best receivers on the team, but that's neither here nor there right now. That's a conversation for a slightly different day. Maybe we'll talk about it tomorrow. But so Savion Williams, we know even less about, we have even less reason to believe he is a meaningful NFL player. Now he is under contract next year and so that matters and that is relevant. But like if we don't know if he's any good at football, is it relevant? Does it matter? It's a little like Marshawn Lloyd. Like at a certain point, you can't count on it. Now it's one year for Savion Williams and in that one year, every time he was on the field, they tried to get him the ball. They really like his ability with the ball in his hands. They really like Savion Williams. So that matters. How much can they actually count on him? That matters too. And so while it is the case that Matthew Golden and Savion Williams are under contract next year, we don't know how good they are. And so that makes the evaluation when it comes to the need, the degree to which receiver is a need, it makes it tricky because even the Packers who got to watch them practice and got to, you know, but the behind the scenes look on the people, it is hard to have any faith even as an organization. Yeah, we know what they are at this point. Wow. They didn't play that much. They both dealt with injuries and that's relevant in this discussion too. Can you rely on them? Can they play 16, 17 weeks when you need them to? We don't know. We don't know. That's a lot of questions. And so when you, even if you have contracts, you want to work out with Watson and Reed and you think those contracts are work out able, you think you can make it work. You don't know what you have with Matthew Golden. Yes, you use a first round pick on him, but you don't know what that is yet. Yes, you used a third round pick on Savion Williams, but you don't know what that is yet. How can you have faith? Jordan Morgan was a first round pick. They use a second round pick on Anthony Belton a year later. Now understanding that maybe you needed an interior offensive lineman. I thought Anthony Belton could play both, but remember when Anthony Belton was brought in, they were like, you know, we're going to let him play tackle and then we'll let him figure out the rest. They wanted him to play tackle at least at first. So that tells you that they had questions. I think at least a little about Jordan Morgan. I don't know how you can conclude a player that played left tackle in college was drafted and then they said, no, we're going to let you're going to keep them in tackle. I don't know how you can conclude that that would tell you that they had faith in Jordan Morgan. That is a first round player who played and played fine, like was okay. And then you draft a guy who theoretically plays the same position and you weren't like, no, he's going to be a guard. Like it would be different if they were like Anthony Belton, the guard. Oh, Anthony Belton, we drafted him. He's going to play. We will see where he plays, but he's probably going to be a guard. Like we'll see you play tackle in college, but like we think he can play all over the place. No, the Packers were like Anthony Belton. We're going to keep him at tackle. We're going to see what we've got to tackle first. We're going to start there. How can you not think? Well, that's at least a little related to Jordan Morgan. Maybe, and maybe they thought Jordan Morgan was a guard and they got Anthony Belton in the building and they went, maybe Anthony Belton is actually a guard and maybe Jordan Morgan is actually a tackle, but they had Jordan Morgan in the building and he was playing tackle. He was playing guard. He was playing all over the place. They thought he could play anywhere and it turns out he can't. It turns out he's not a guard, but they didn't know that when they drafted Anthony Belton. So the idea that they were like, Oh, well, we used these multiple picks on receivers. Why would they do it again? Well, because we don't know, especially with Savion Williams, we have no idea what Savion Williams is. And as much as we like Matthew Golden and as much as, you know, he was the best rookie in training camp for the Packers in like, I don't know how long training camp is not real life. It's not. And there were plenty of flashes to show and you go, Okay, great, cool. That's awesome. We love that. That is not proof yet. And we're not going to get proof until the regular season. We're not going to know for sure until the regular season rolls around. And that is exactly why I'm telling you receiver has to remain a priority for this football team even above something like defensive tackle. And in fact, let's go through it. Let's go through. Yeah, I always, I always say, look, it's not best player available. It is the position or the player who can most impact your roster on their rookie contract. So what is the answer to that now that we are a little bit closer and we are a little bit closer to understanding what this roster is going to look like as we approach the NFL draft. Let's talk about it next unlocked on Packers. This is a lot of work. That's not the most convenient sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. 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How do we put them in a hierarchy? How do we list them? How do we rank them as we try and move forward toward the NFL draft and and understanding that the Packers are not just going to say, okay, here's this player and we're going to draft that guy and then the second and we're going to draft that guy and third like have how many times in your life, in your life has that been the case where they've gone. Okay. Number one need that's the first round pick. Number two need that's the second that is not how any team ultimately ends up drafting because this is a leaving living breathing document. It is a dynamic board. So you made, you may really need a corner. Maybe you're the Packers and you get there and like, there's not a corner within a mile of your best available. And so you guess what you don't do. You don't take a corner. You can't reach a full round or more. If you love a guy, you take him. And ultimately at most spots for teams, you're going to have someone who is, if they're not at the clear top, they are at the clear top with someone else and then you allow positional value, you allow need to be the tiebreaker for you. So if I were going to lay that out for the Packers, cornerback is still very clearly to me at the top of the list because Benjamin St. Juist remains the only player under contract in 2027 for the Packers. We don't know the future of Carrington Ballantyne. We don't know the future of Kieshawn Nixon. And because we don't know their futures, we cannot operate at the draft like they have futures. The Packers know how they feel about those guys. They cannot operate as if any deal that they might want to complete in the future is done just like with these receivers. And I would be surprised if they wanted to get any kind of deal done with Valentine or Nixon before, I don't know, the middle of next year, before they see more, they need to see more evidence that these guys can actually play, that they can actually do the thing before they commit to any sort of even medium term deal with these corners. So you've got Benjamin St. Juist and a major question mark around the future of the Packers. I continue to believe 52 really has to be a corner if there's anyone even close to the top of their board, but there may not be. There may not be. And so then I go, okay, I want to say receiver, but Christian Watson is legit. He's really good. And if you're going to give him an extension, and I think the Packers are going to give him an extension and want to give him an extension anyway, that matters. Now again, it's not done until it's done, but they loved Matthew Golden in the draft. And so even though we don't know, no, no, we don't know for sure. Capital K no, we don't know the capital K no. If he's anything, it's reasonable to give him more time. And the same is true of Savio Williams. You can't allow that to say, well, we can, we can't do it because we have these other guys. No, we don't know. We don't know what those other guys are. We don't know. So you can't sit there and say, well, we have, we have, no, we don't. And of course I'm speaking for the Packers, right? I'm not part of we, but if they're having these conversations, that's what they're talking about. They don't know what Matthew Golden and Savio Williams are, but they have invested in those players and that investment to me matters. When I'm, when I'm thinking about the prudent way to move forward here from a process standpoint, the, the investment that has previously existed matters. You don't want to get into, you know, some of the, the, the fallacies around some cost and all that stuff. Like just because you use the first and the third on those guys does not mean that you can't still improve. Of course. But I think you can feel good about at least one of the Watson regroup resigning. And you have these players that you really like. That's not true at defensive tackle. Like you might have one guy. At defensive tackle, you want to sign the odds of them wanting to resign. Wyatt and Karl Brooks are very small and you have Hargrave, but like you have Hargrave for maybe one more year. So what is that really giving you? To me, if I'm going to order this, it's still corner. It's still defensive tackle. And then I get to receive her. And then we can have discussions about some other positions. Now, in terms of premium positions, I certainly think you can make the case that because we don't know the future of Lucas Vendas, because we don't know what Baron Surrell or Colin Oliver can be. That, that past Russia should be next. Like when you go down the list of premium positions and to me, if I were GM, that's, that's where I would start. Okay. Premium positions. Okay. Quarterback. You have a quarterback. Yes. Okay. Past rush. You have one guy. What about everyone else? We don't know if Lucas Vendas can be a starting caliber edge player. We think he could be. We don't know. We think Baron Surrell can be a nice secondary past rusher and an edge defender run game too. We don't know. Colin Oliver. We don't know. What is he? We don't know. Devontae Wyatt. Is he a long-term piece of the future? We don't know. Devont Hargrave. How much longer is he going to be in Green Bay? We don't know. Karl Brooks. What's his future in Green Bay? We don't know. That's a lot of we don't know guys. That's a lot of we don't know. Now, if you think drafting a defensive tackle, not that it renders whatever's going on on the edge moot, but like if you think that that is enough to then say, okay, uh, Vanessa Surrell, Oliver, we don't need to worry about them because you're adding to the defensive tackle room. I'm willing to hear that argument. I don't know that it's compelling to me, but I'm at least willing to hear it. Um, I would, I would want to add, but I think that the situation at the offensive line is a little more dire in terms of the backups because what we're talking about with Green Bay's past rush is the backups. Like you've invested in Lucas Vennas. Now you don't know what his future is, but you also invested last year in Baron Surrell. And so that's something Colin Oliver. Like your, once you get to, you know, middle late day three, I don't know that that's investment per se. Those are dart throws. You certainly invested in Micah Parsons. And so you can say like, look, you spent two first round picks on Micah Parsons because he can carry your past rush single-handedly. That's the idea. And so the secondary guys are a little less value, valuable because you're already spending this money. So, okay, maybe you push that down the list, but you need offensive linemen. You need backups. You need guys that if Jordan Morgan doesn't work out or Anthony Belton doesn't work out, you've got to have those guys with some positional versatility. And so if I'm going to put them in a hierarchy ranking, while I think that past rush is more important generally, I think the Packers have invested in that past rush in a more profound way. Whereas when you're looking at offensive line, there are enough questions with starters and backups that I think to me, that would that would vault ahead of it. So I'm looking at, okay, corners. I'm looking at defensive tackle. But if you told me, okay, if you have the offensive line is going to make it work because of what the edge rushers can do, I'm not convinced by that. So I would say defensive tackle. And then I would go offensive line. Then I would say on the edge, but you got to get a receiver in there too, like because of what's going on in there. So this is tricky. Quarterback defensive tackle receiver is probably how I would order it. And then you get into offensive line and then you get into edge. So if you're going to put together a perfect mock draft, one, two, three, you don't have a first round picks. You got to go two, three, four, and then you take some dart throws. I think that's how I would look at it. Let's try and put together a mock draft that looks like that, given the way that it could play out. Let's look at it. Mock draft Monday. Let's give it a shot next. The NBA Play Officer here where every possession matters, every matchup is magnified and every game can swing a series. 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It can feel like there's a wall between you and the rest of the world, like you can't be fully present. Hello, AXA Health. How can I help? At AXA Health Insurance, we build our teams with people who care. So when you need us, we're here to support you. For cover that cares, search AXA Health Insurance. Pre-existing conditions are not covered. All right, so let's get started here with a mock draft Monday, understanding what we think the situation is with the priority positions, with where the Packers are trying to go. What we'd like to do is try and get some value at the cornerback position here for the Packers at Pick 52. Now, as we look at the board, Kayla Banks is here in Florida. I think that's too big a risk. Kristen Miller is here. That is definitely not too big a risk. When you look at the corners, Dominique Orange is here. Danny Dennis Sutton is here. Malachi Fields is here, but there is not a corner anywhere in the universe. Now, Davidson Igminosin is here. I would take the Consensus Board has him at 78. I would take him in the top 50, probably top 60. I would draft him here. I don't know if the Packers would. So that makes this complicated. As I look at this board with the corners though, I just, I don't see anyone that the Packers, I like Malik, I like Malik Muhammad here. I like Julian Neal here. I understand the consensus is much lower. He's still 90th on the Consensus Board, which is interesting because you look at the big mox. He's not in that position at all. If I think I can get some value later and I've got two defensive tackles here that I feel really good about. Miller and Banks and Miller's a lower risk. Banks has got the athletic profile, but the foot injury. Miller has got no athletic profile and an injury history, but it's not currently hurt. Has a visit with the Packers. Did they ask him to bring his cleats? Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't. I don't know that there is a corner here. If I'm trying to like bring in, okay, I want to trust the consensus. I don't want to think I'm smarter than consensus, even though I like Igminosin and Neal better than consensus. Let me draft Kristen Miller, who I think is the second secondary Packers need and see what I can get in the third round. By the way, we're going to do five rounds in this mock draft, not just four as we have been. So we get to 84. Dominique Orange is here for me. If I want him, so is Davis and Igminosin, by the way, and so is Ted Hurst, who I adore. Also, so is Julian Neal, the cornerback from Arkansas. So is Bryce Lance, the receiver from North Dakota State. So is Malik Muhammad, the cornerback from Texas. I have a million. So is Caleb Proctor, the defensive tackle from Southeastern Louisiana. So is Dalyne Everett, the cornerback from Georgia. I don't think I can go further and not get a corner as much as I want to draft Ted Hurst. Who for me on this board with Dominique Orange, Keith Abney, Mike Washington, Jr., Grayson Halton, Romelo Haight, who the Packers head in for a visit, Connor Liu. I don't think I can move forward and not draft a corner. And for me at this point in the draft, I can't, I can't account for Davis and Igminosin still being on the field. I think as a, a match quarters team that is going to play match principles that's going to cash out as some, as some man coverage stuff. I really like Igminosin. I understand the athletic profile is not ideal in the third round versus the second round. I think that matters. Now you didn't get a player in the second round with an athletic profile. I can't worry about that if I'm the Packers. I would take Davis and Igminosin here, but I would also take Julian Neil here. If I could get out of this draft for Kristen Miller and Julian Neil, giving where Julian Neil is by consensus. Right now he is 90. He's a better fit for the Packers. Guys, don't get mad. Don't get mad. I'm going to take Julian Neil. Jen, don't get mad. Okay. Now I'd really like to get a receiver and oh baby. Oh baby. Bryce Lance is still on the board for me. So is Malik Muhammad. So is Devin Moore. So is Kayla Proctor. So is Dale and Everett. So is Sam Rauch. This draft right now as we're doing it is, it is, it is setting up ideally. For me, I'm going to run the card in for Bryce Lance at this point in the draft. And now I am just hoping that one of these defensive tackles is there for me when I am sitting there in the fifth round and, and, and God willing, maybe they are. They aren't, but I'm sitting here looking at Willie the corner, who I would love to take. Dejan, Dejan Stribbling from Ole Miss, who I'm not sure is going to last this long to carry. I'm going to play Mario Davis, Trey Zun, offensive lineman, but Brian Parker, offensive lineman. There's also Nick Singleton, who we just did a Goody's guys on. I would love that. But I just think Brian Parker, interior offensive lineman, he played Tackle Duke, can play center, can play guard. If this is the draft guys, oh my goodness. It's a bunch of Goody's guys. And I just, I just love what's going on here. I'm, I'm, I'm thrilled at what is happening here. Look at these picks. I cannot believe it. I cannot believe it. And now I'm looking in the fifth round. I've got Dejan Stribbling, though I've already taken a receiver. I've got Trey Zun. I love to carry a Davis is also here to Monte K part though. Nick Singleton. Ooh, Nick Singleton. Ooh, do I need another corner? Do I need another corner? I don't think they were going to love to carry a Davis. Do I need another corner? Another receiver. I don't think they need another receiver. Let's put that out. Do they need another interior offensive lineman? That's Trey Zun, probably a center or a running back like Nick Singleton. I like, I'm almost, I feel like I'm preempting myself. This is as about a perfect a draft as you could ask for for the Packers. Kristen Miller at 52. You get your defensive tackle. The future he can rush the pass or he can stop the run. You get Julian Neil at 84. I love it. I love it. I love it. Bryce Lance falls to 120. You get an absolute freak show receiver. Then you get an interior offensive lineman Brian Parker and then you add a running back in the fifth round. This is a you guys. I'm going to do a show at some point about the best case scenarios. I would not even include Bryce Lance at 120 or Brian Parker at 153 in the best case scenarios because that seemed unreasonable to me, but this is how it fell. This is how it could fall. This is one of those weird drafts. This is, I can't do a better mock draft than this. I really can't and I don't even love Bryce Lance. You guys know this, but he's a top 100 player all day, all freaking day. Brian Parker is a top 120 player all day. Might even be a top 100 player, frankly, all day. And Nick Singleton is, I think he's a fourth round player. I got him in the fifth round. I love this draft. This draft rips. If this were the Packers draft, this is an A plus a a a plus a plus. That's what I got on the consensus board. I fixed it. I fixed the Packers. You're welcome. You're welcome. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you get podcasts. We're alive on YouTube. Three times a week, two squad shows plus the Friday show. We will not be live at the same time this Friday. I think we're going to go live early. We're going to go live at 10 Lambo time Friday. A little bit mid afternoon. Get your coffee ready. Get your quesant. If that's what you're into. Maybe maybe a donut. Stop a quick trip. Donut. Yeah. Cousin sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches. Get yourself something. No free ads, but get yourself something and we'll go. How about that? Cash me outside. How about that? All right. So, um, and also you can follow me wherever you get podcasts. I'm following me. Well, wherever you get podcasts is true, but also wherever you get social media is I'll be there for you. Wherever you get social media, Twitter, Instagram, blue sky, Facebook. We're there too. We're, we're polishing episodes on Facebook. Go check it out. If you're a Facebook person, I know a lot of you are. Go check it out. Um, and of course, uh, if you're listening to this at this point in the show, we're 30 plus minutes in, you're in every day or let's be honest. So go join the everyday club. What are you doing? Why are you waiting? Locked on packers.supercast.com or click the link in the show notes for more. For those of you on, um, audio, thanks for, thanks for hanging out with us. Subscribe. If you're on video, we're going to send you to the first ever 24 seven national NFL channel. You can make your second list in locked on NFL draft. If you want back episodes of locked on packers and as always stay locked on packers. 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