Packers Morning Buzz: Green Bay 'never in it' for Antonio Brown

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

We'll start with the conflicting reports regarding the Packers and Steelers receiver Antonio Brown. The NFL Network''s Ian Rapoport reported late Thursday that the Buffalo Bills were closing in on a deal to acquire the disgruntled star, only to follow up hours later with word that the deal was off:

Rapoport's original report was followed a short time later by an ESPN report that the Packers were one of the few other teams actively pursuing Brown:

Rapoport, however, countered that Green Bay was "never in it," and Albert Breer of The MMQB tweeted that there were "very few options left" for Brown and the Steelers:

Buckle in, it's going to be a wild ride:

With the start of free agency less than a week away, Pete Dougherty writes about how Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is preparing for the unexpected:

Pete also answered readers' questions in his weekly Packers chat .... check out the transcript here:

Packers running back Aaron Jones is keeping busy this offseason being interviewed by multiple national outlets. In a Q&A on NFL.com (conducted March 1), Jones said of Green Bay possibly trading for Antonio Brown: "Defenses wouldn't be able to double Davante (Adams). That said, we did have three up-and-coming rookie receivers last year, along with Geronimo Allison, who got hurt this past year, so I feel like we have a lot in them."

Told that Brown's addition would give the Packers another playmaker, Jones replied, "The more playmakers the merrier. That's what they do in the NBA."

You can read the entire interview here:

Marc Sessler of NFL.com assesses the market for free-agent running back Le'Veon Bell and calculates each team's needs at Bell's position.

The Packers fall in the "Stay the Course" category, with this comment:

Mike McCarthy's successor, Matt LaFleur, told combine reporters that a "committee approach" is the favored way forward with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. The message here is that a new coach (understandably) has no designs on calling this race in March. Jones oozed workhorse potential for stretches and memorably scattered the Dolphins for 145 yards and two scores in a November rout. Williams offers a less-flashy skill set, but it was Jones who was dinged in Indy by general manager Brian Gutekunst for iffy conditioning. It's time for someone to win over this fresh-faced coaching staff.

You can check out each team's running back situation here:

The Patriots reportedly were interested in acquiring Packers receiver Randall Cobb at some point in 2018:

Former Green Bay fullback John Kuhn met the media Thursday after the team announced he was retiring as a Packer. Left tackle David Bakhtiari was among Kuhn's former teammates who tweeted well-wishes:

Kuhn may have thrown the second-most famous block in Packers history, JR Radcliffe writes:

ESPN's Rob Demovsky writes about Gutekunst's efforts to build a standout scouting staff:

Demovsky also makes a prediction regarding Clay Matthews' free-agency fate as part of an ESPN story evaluating each team's top free agent:

He has been a productive player for the Packers -- and GM Brian Gutekunst said last week at the combine that he thinks Matthews still can be that -- but he's no longer a dominant pass-rusher off the edge. So what's his value? That's the hard part, which is why the Packers probably will let him test the market before they make an offer. Same thing for receiver Randall Cobb, who's coming off an injury-filled season as he heads into free agency.

Prediction: Chances are someone will make Matthews an offer richer than anything the Packers will pay, and he'll be gone.

And finally ... Peter Bukowski of Acme Packing Co. writes about what the glut of available safeties means for the Packers: