The Green Bay Packers activated Christian Watson from the physically disabled list on Saturday, and the receiver could make his season debut Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They released tight end Ben Sims to make room for Watson on the 53-man roster. DE Arron Mosby was also elevated to the practice squad.
If Watson takes the field, he will do so 294 days after tearing the ACL in his right knee in last year’s regular-season finale. This would make Watson one of the quickest Packers players to return from this injury in recent history.
Their last two players to suffer this injury, defensive end Rashan Gary and offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, only played 308 and 302 days after their injuries, respectively.
Throughout Watson’s recovery, the Packers said he was ahead of their usual ACL return timetable. He returned to training on October 6. The Packers used their entire three-week practice window before adding Watson to the roster.
“I would say I could have played last week too, to be honest,” Watson said. “But, obviously, I have to make sure I hear everyone’s opinions on everything and be as smart as possible about it.”
In 38 career games over his first three seasons, Watson had 98 catches for 1,653 yards with 14 touchdowns. His yards per catch average (16.9) ranked third in the league entering this season among all players with at least 75 catches since the start of the 2022 season, when Watson joined the Packers as a second-round pick.
Besides being a serious threat, he might be the Packers’ most versatile receiver.
“What he brings [in] size [and] element of speed, it gives us so much flexibility as an offense, because you can plug it in and play it in any position, and you can do it in a game, you know, in a series,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And he just doesn’t blink. And there are very few guys I know who can come in and play X [position]the Y or the X, the F or the Z.”
Rather than wait until the end of the season and test free agency, Watson signed a one-year contract extension last month worth $11 million. It contained a $6.067 million signing bonus and keeps him under contract with the Packers through the 2026 season.
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