Packers Morning Buzz: Austin Hooper, Nick Kwiatkoski make sense as free-agency targets

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 Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal presenting his road map for a successful Packers offseason. It starts with Green Bay landing two key free-agents they reportedly are pursuing.

Oates writes:

The Packers have already been linked in media reports to Atlanta tight end Austin Hooper and Cleveland inside linebacker Joe Schobert, giving us a pretty good idea of what they’re seeking in free agency. Perhaps that’s because the draft is thin in those areas and more robust at wide receiver, offensive tackle and defensive tackle. If the Packers can set themselves up at tight end and inside linebacker in free agency, the draft could play right into their hands. ...

The Packers should make Hooper a priority even though the competition will be fierce and his deal likely will top $10 million per year. There is no Plan B because the Los Angeles Chargers are expected to keep Hunter Henry and the rest of the free agent class is uninspiring. Signing Hooper or, say, New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson might not leave enough cap room to sign Schobert or the Rams’ Cory Littleton at inside linebacker, but Chicago’s Nick Kwiatkoski might be a cost-effective option.

You can read Oates' entire column, which also gets into his Packers draft projections, here:

The MMQB's Albert Breer is on board with Oates' way of thinking:

Aggressive as Packers GM Brian Gutekunst has been early in his time in charge, it’ll be interesting to see what he does at inside linebacker and tight end in the veteran market. Green Bay has a free agent (Blake Martinez) and cut candidate (Jimmy Graham) at those spots, and will have options to swap them out, with guys like Nick Kwaitkoski and Hooper on the market.

You can find Breer's column here:

The Packers plan to be in on the bidding for Browns free-agent inside linebacker Joe Schobert, Tom Silverstein reports:

Bill Huber of SI.com compares and contrasts the stats between Schobert and Blake Martinez:

Huber also confirms the Packers are interested in free-agent Rams linebacker Cory Littleton:

Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor would be 'perfect' running back for Packers' offense:

Taylor absolutely dazzled at the combine:

Baker Mayfield and the Browns are lined up to join the Packers for joint practices during training camp, Jim Owczarski reports:

Silverstein and Owczarski share inside info gathered at the combine in their Green 19 Packers Podcast:

Saturday was a rough day at the combine for a couple of possible Packers targets at inside linebacker:

A game-changing combine showing for the Green Bay native and former Ashwaubenon star:

Andy Dalton's numbers were worse than Mitch Trubisky's last season:

Looks like no international game for the Packers once again in 2020:

Maybe this will finally put the Matthew Stafford rumors to rest:

And not only that, but ....

Contact Stu Courtney at (920) 431-8377 or scourtney@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stucourt