Depth at wide receiver was a problem for the Green Bay Packers even before free agent add-on Devin Funchess ruled out the 2020 season due to concerns about coronavirus.
General manager Brian Gutekunst is busy reopening the boards and has added his second wide receiver in three days by signing free agent Malik Turner on Wednesday.
To make room for Turner, the team has released undefeated rookie safety Frankie Griffin.
Turner, 24, was an undrafted free agent from the University of Illinois in 2018 who signed with the Seattle Seahawks. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound receiver appeared in 21 career games for the Seahawks, picking up 17 passes for 265 yards and one goal.
He played 27 snaps against the Packers in the Seahawks’ 28-23 Division loss to Lambeau Field last season and had a precious drip. He played nine offensive snaps against the Packers in 2018.
On Monday, the Packers claimed former Detroit Lions receiver Travis Fulgham, who is 6 feet-2 and 215 pounds and last year was a sixth-round pick of the Lions from Old Dominion. He played in three games and did not pick up a pass.
Bakhtiari accepts the leadership role
Left-back David Bakhtiari came into the league as a pick in the fourth round in 2013 and has started from day one, scoring 106 games that protect the blind side of Aaron Rodgers. Entering his eighth season, he has been an All-Pro four times and named after the Pro Bowl twice. However, at that time he never considered himself the ‘go-to’ member of the offensive line. First up were the guards TJ Lang and Josh Sitton. Then it was just tackling Bryan Bulaga. But with Bulaga leaving these offseasons through free agency, it leaves Bakhtiari and protects Lane Taylor as the older statesmen in terms of tenure with the Packers.
It is a leadership role that the 28-year-old says he is ready to embrace.
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“When I got here, I was a fourth-grader and I knew my place was ‘speak when I speak and speak with my actions, not with my words,’ ‘Bakhtiari said.’ I wanted to prove that to my teammates. I never wanted to lead from the back end with my mouth, I wanted to lead with my actions in front.You know the type of characters I wanted in the room in 2013. There was no chance I would have them would ever characterize, and I knew – I had in mind – that I would usually follow until it was time.That my biggest thing is never to step on anyone’s toes, no matter where I go. personality you see more and more comes out – even with Bryan here, I wish it was immediately known to him that, ‘You’re the leader of the offensive line room, despite the reservations that have come from me and whatever you say, I have your back. ‘
‘That with me, now that I have grown and shown, now more spoken. I think that comes back when I was a rookie, Clay Matthews said to me, ‘The better you play, the more you can talk.’ I took that literally and I took it to heart. ”
