Players GB Could Trade Away

[Dantés]

There are a few stretches of the NFL calendar during which player trades are more likely. The lead up to the draft and during the draft itself is one of those stretches. The most likely outcome is that the Packers don't trade anyone, but if they were to, who would it be? I have four candidates and I'm listing them from most likely to least likely.

T. Slaton, DT, FLA: Slaton is entering a contract year. He's 26 years old and a capable NFL player, either as a starter or heavy rotation guy. I've read indications that the Packers will probably extend Clark a little bit, who is also entering a contract year. That means the 1T job isn't there for Slaton to inherit. I've also seen some analysis to suggest that Slaton isn't really a fit for how they expect Hafley to deploy the defensive front. The expectation is that he wants 1 gapping DT's. Trading Slaton could merit something in the 5th or 6th round and would make room to add a rookie.

R. Doubs, WR, NEV: This is a really strong WR class, but the Packers don't really have room on the roster to add someone without then having to cut someone who probably deserves to make it. They also have a lot of players who will be hitting 2nd contracts within 2 years of each other. If they could re-set the clock at one of those spots, it would make sense. When the entire receiving corps is healthy, you could argue/project that Doubs is the WR4. Given his age, contract status, and trajectory, I wouldn't be surprised if the Packers could get something late day 2 or early day 3.

E. Stokes, CB, UGA: Stokes' injury history might not make him attractive to another team, but if GB is just done waiting for him to be available (or if Hafley has seen the tape and isn't interested), then I could envision them letting him go for a song. If the ask is really low, another team might decide he's worth the flier. He's another one where it could make some sense to me from a numbers perspective-- they currently have five guys who would project to make the 53 man roster. They could easily carry 6 corners, but I could also see them opening another spot.

C. Watson, WR, NDSU: I don't think this is particularly likely, as I really believe the Packers love Watson and he really does make a huge impact when he's on the field. However, he clearly had some outside interest last off-season (recall the Colts wanted him in a potential Jonathan Taylor trade) and if that remains, then maybe someone makes an offer that GB jumps at. They may look at the vertical threats in this draft class and decide they can cheaply replace Watson and hopefully with someone more reliable.

 

[tynimiller]

These four are the first ones that come to mind but I’d add Wicks too just because of how much he showcased his skills and route tree that anyone with an NFL eye can see.

I’ll throw a day 2 type. If we draft a for sure center…Josh Myers could easily find himself traded on Day 2 of the draft.

 

[Thirteen Below]

I've said this several times, and often get scoffed at, but the smart thing is going to be to trade some of these wideouts starting in 24. Over tha last month, I've come to feel that it might even be smart to make a move in the off-season. Glad someone smarter than I am sees it that way too; I don't feel so dumb.

These receivers represent a very valuable asset group, and the best way we can maximize that value is by trading a couple of them in exchange for different assets for which we have a more immediate need. Diversify our portfolio, in a way. We probably need another linebacker or safety more than we need a 6th WR, for example.

If we keep them all, they'll never fully realize their actual value here in Green Bay because only a few of them will get enough playing time to fully develop. There just won't be enough footballs to go around. We'll lose several in free agency in a couple of years, and all we'll get is some mid- late-round comp picks and the happy memories of seeing them catch 30-40 balls a year for a couple of seasons.

 

[tynimiller]

The opposite side of that coin is a real one and it could cut you deep…say you trade Doubs and Watson never figures that Hamstring thing out and either Wicks or Reed never grows better than they looked rookie year (stuff happens a lot in the league)

Trade Watson…same can be said but maybe Doubs is never better than a James Jones type (perfect WR2 but not a 1).

I think truthfully we are a year away from trading one…but the right offer comes in - Gute wouldn’t be dumb for saying yes.

 

[Thirteen Below]

The opposite side of that coin is a real one and it could cut you deep…say you trade Doubs and Watson never figures that Hamstring thing out and either Wicks or Reed never grows better than they looked rookie year (stuff happens a lot in the league)

Trade Watson…same can be said but maybe Doubs is never better than a James Jones type (perfect WR2 but not a 1).

I think truthfully we are a year away from trading one…but the right offer comes in - Gute wouldn’t be dumb for saying yes.

Definitely is that risk, no doubt. For all we know, Heath or Melton could be future all-pros, and Doubs and Reed never turn out to be anything but solid starters (although it seems unlikely, given that they seem to have very sound fundamentals). It really would be much safer to see more of them before trading any away, but like you say, the right offer... ? I sure wouldn't take a Day Three pick for any of them, at ths stage. Seems risky.

But some of these guys may never get enough snaps here to really develop into their full potential. Right now, we have 7 of them, and there's ony one football on the field at a time. And it can only go to one man per play. It's possible that with a couple of these guys, we may never really know how good they are until they get more playing time with whatever team they wind up with next.

But, one more season would certainly help.

 

[Poppa San]

maybe Doubs is never better than a James Jones type (perfect WR2 but not a 1).

I agree with this but you need a solid #2 to get the first downs. I view Wicks and Doubs for the same role and I'd need to see repeat season out of Reed/Melton/Wicks before I felt comfortable moving Doubs or Watson. Maybe closer to the trade deadline for a hole filler elsewhere.

but the right offer comes in - Gute wouldn’t be dumb for saying yes.

This can be said for everyone on the roster that doesn't create an unmanageable cap hit or isn't named Jordan Love.

 

[gopkrs]

I believe we have a lot of good receivers. I don't think a worry is about their development from us having too many. LaFleur really does (and Jordan) seem to give everyone opportunities. I just can't see messing with our situation there. We have a real good team. Just need to fill in some of the weak spots. imho And we made a very good start with the DB from the Giants. Very important.

 

[McKnowledge]

Ideally, GB isn't trading anyone.

If there is a offense difference maker in this draft and GB can attain said player within reason, then that is a good problem to have.

I love movies, so playing (Devil's Advocate) an underrated one is the Good Son.

Doubs and Watson are hanging off the cliff, and I can only save one...

I'm picking Doubs over Watson.

Doubs has been more consistent, less injury prone, and more knowledgeable when it comes to running routes.

Doubs is plug and play, Watson is wait and see...wait for him to get healthy and wait to see if he'll return to form.

I've turned the corner and I have trust in Gute.

Let's not put this roster in the microwave...I prefer the oven; however, its ok to turn the temperature up a notch.

 

[El Guapo]

I think that the reality is that at least one of our stud WRs from last year will hit the sophomore slump and may pan out as a bust. I really hope that I am wrong. We may end up naturally re-staggering the contract window for the WR corps without trading one away.

 

[OldSchool101]

These four are the first ones that come to mind but I’d add Wicks too just because of how much he showcased his skills and route tree that anyone with an NFL eye can see.

I’ll throw a day 2 type. If we draft a for sure center…Josh Myers could easily find himself traded on Day 2 of the draft.

I think that’s a good one IF the right prospect falls into our lap. What’s interesting is most of my Mocks I end up drafting all 3… OG, OC, OT.

On the reverse side of that argument .. .. Myers is still part of what’s arguably a Top10 OL. For me it’s better to wait and get grab competition in Day 3 and ride out Myers. Familiarity between OC-QB is important. Do we ask ourselves the age old question, do we screw with electricity when it’s still maybe not ideal, but it’s working??

For me personally I’m riding out Myers and Grooming his replacement with someone along the line of your Nourzad or similar etc. IF we go get a Stud OG + a Day2 OT I think we can be at or better than 2023.
Limmer keeps popping up on my draft board at our #126/127 selection and I keep picking him. That tells me something there about my gut feeling. It’s going to all depend on how that Board falls, but we’ve got our Plan A

 

[tynimiller]

I think that’s a good one IF the right prospect falls into our lap. What’s interesting is most of my Mocks I end up drafting all 3… OG, OC, OT.

On the reverse side of that argument .. .. Myers is still part of what’s arguably a Top10 OL. For me it’s better to wait and get grab competition in Day 3 and ride out Myers. Familiarity between OC-QB is important. Do we ask ourselves the age old question, do we screw with electricity when it’s still maybe not ideal, but it’s working??

For me personally I’m riding out Myers and Grooming his replacement with someone along the line of your Nourzad or similar etc. IF we go get a Stud OG + a Day2 OT I think we can be at or better than 2023.
Limmer keeps popping up on my draft board at our #126/127 selection and I keep picking him. That tells me something there about my gut feeling. It’s going to all depend on how that Board falls, but we’ve got our Plan A

If Limmer is there that late - Gute better pick him, even if he already picked an iOL guy...

 

[sschind]

I think that’s a good one IF the right prospect falls into our lap. What’s interesting is most of my Mocks I end up drafting all 3… OG, OC, OT.

On the reverse side of that argument .. .. Myers is still part of what’s arguably a Top10 OL. For me it’s better to wait and get grab competition in Day 3 and ride out Myers. Familiarity between OC-QB is important. Do we ask ourselves the age old question, do we screw with electricity when it’s still maybe not ideal, but it’s working??

For me personally I’m riding out Myers and Grooming his replacement with someone along the line of your Nourzad or similar etc. IF we go get a Stud OG + a Day2 OT I think we can be at or better than 2023.
Limmer keeps popping up on my draft board at our #126/127 selection and I keep picking him. That tells me something there about my gut feeling. It’s going to all depend on how that Board falls, but we’ve got our Plan A

Another reason for going this route is that, if I am not mistaken, pretty much everyone was fine with his performance taking over for Linsley prior to the injury in his rookie year and again in 2022. While the downturn in performance is not good its possible it was a fluke. Im not saying don't draft competition for the position but I don't really consider it a day one or even a day 2 problem. If they are going after an IOL early on I'd rather see them go for a guard or someone with the versatility to maybe play all positions rather than a pure center.

 

[OldSchool101]

Another reason for going this route is that, if I am not mistaken, pretty much everyone was fine with his performance taking over for Linsley prior to the injury in his rookie year and again in 2022. While the downturn in performance is not good its possible it was a fluke. Im not saying don't draft competition for the position but I don't really consider it a day one or even a day 2 problem. If they are going after an IOL early on I'd rather see them go for a guard or someone with the versatility to maybe play all positions rather than a pure center.

That’s one suggestion I had at one point earlier. We do a pretty good job of selecting OL that are position versatile. One idea would be going after a player with Guard/Center experience + a second player with Tackle/Guard experience (or one our FO feels can be successful reducing inside or expanding outside) Cooper Beebe etc.

Much of this depends on how comfortable they feel about the existing bench. That same concept can be applied to other positions, such as TE.


Back to trades. That WR position for me would be the most viable to work a trade. We are in an exceptionally thick and versatile WR group this draft. I look at it sorta like this..
If a player at WR that we have boarded at #17 drops to our #25?
If a player we deem ranked #27th drops to #41? Do we pass on these guys?
I say no. Do what betters this team we can worry about who earns that WR6 spot, that’s the least of our worries. Go get a baller

 

[sschind]

That’s one suggestion I had at one point earlier. We do a pretty good job of selecting OL that are position versatile. One idea would be going after a player with Guard/Center experience + a second player with Tackle/Guard experience (or one our FO feels can be successful reducing inside or expanding outside) Cooper Beebe etc.

Much of this depends on how comfortable they feel about the existing bench. That same concept can be applied to other positions, such as TE.


Back to trades. That WR position for me would be the most viable to work a trade. We are in an exceptionally thick and versatile WR group this draft. I look at it sorta like this..
If a player at WR that we have boarded at #17 drops to our #25?
If a player we deem ranked #27th drops to #41? Do we pass on these guys?
I say no. Do what betters this team we can worry about who earns that WR6 spot, that’s the least of our worries. Go get a baller

Exactly. If a GM has a player ranked at at a certain level and he happens to be there much later he almost has to take him. Otherwise what's the point of ranking them anyway.

I only bring this one up because I've seen one mock that had him falling out of the 1st round (which I think is ridiculous) but if Odunze is there at 25 I would have no problem with Gute taking him. If that happens you try to trade the existing one that makes the most sense.

 

[Schultz]

That’s one suggestion I had at one point earlier. We do a pretty good job of selecting OL that are position versatile. One idea would be going after a player with Guard/Center experience + a second player with Tackle/Guard experience (or one our FO feels can be successful reducing inside or expanding outside) Cooper Beebe etc.

Much of this depends on how comfortable they feel about the existing bench. That same concept can be applied to other positions, such as TE.


Back to trades. That WR position for me would be the most viable to work a trade. We are in an exceptionally thick and versatile WR group this draft. I look at it sorta like this..
If a player at WR that we have boarded at #17 drops to our #25?
If a player we deem ranked #27th drops to #41? Do we pass on these guys?
I say no. Do what betters this team we can worry about who earns that WR6 spot, that’s the least of our worries. Go get a baller

Just how deep this WR draft class is IMO may be making it a little bit tough to trade a WR right now. Say a WR needy team does a Gute 2020 and whiffs on getting a WR in a deep draft class, then it might be easier to get fair value for one of the current GB wide receivers. IMO.

 

[Firethorn1001]

If a player at WR that we have boarded at #17 drops to our #25?
If a player we deem ranked #27th drops to #41? Do we pass on these guys?
I say no. Do what betters this team we can worry about who earns that WR6 spot, that’s the least of our worries. Go get a baller

Will be funny if they take a WR this year and then have people complain about taking a WR when we don't 'need' one. We have a habit as Packer fans thinking were are always 12 deep at the WR spot with unsigned free agents/practice squad players when alot of times they are just bodies. (OMG!! Tori Gurley gonna get scooped up if we cut him!). Watson still hasn't proven he can stay on the field and will be in year 3. Guy like Brian Thomas Jr is there, I'll be happy if the Packers take him. Like you said, get guys that can play and figure it out later. Draft is pretty deep in positions they need.

 

[SudsMcBucky]

Will be funny if they take a WR this year and then have people complain about taking a WR when we don't 'need' one. We have a habit as Packer fans thinking were are always 12 deep at the WR spot with unsigned free agents/practice squad players when alot of times they are just bodies. (OMG!! Tori Gurley gonna get scooped up if we cut him!). Watson still hasn't proven he can stay on the field and will be in year 3. Guy like Brian Thomas Jr is there, I'll be happy if the Packers take him. Like you said, get guys that can play and figure it out later. Draft is pretty deep in positions they need.

Gute is probably more willing to spend actual draft capital on a rookie WR with Love than he was with AR because at lease Love won't NOT throw to him because he doesn't know all of 12's 5 million hand signals and he won't get iced out because he drops 1 pass.

 

[OldSchool101]

Just how deep this WR draft class is IMO may be making it a little bit tough to trade a WR right now. Say a WR needy team does a Gute 2020 and whiffs on getting a WR in a deep draft class, then it might be easier to get fair value for one of the current GB wide receivers. IMO.

That’s a good point. The same depth of position that got you there could come back to be an obstacle. Supply and demand works both ways
I still like Brian’s philosophy. He said he like that 3rd Rounder because it’s an area he can sometimes find a player he has internally boarded in that Top 50 prospect neighborhood.
He might pass on a WR at #58 that’s on his board at #54 (simply due to being stocked+ he sees a Defender he has ranked top #45 etc)
but if that same player is still available at #88? it’s a no brainer.
The other failsafe would be to work a trade before deadline. Although we’d wait until 2025 to get the draft benefits.

 

[tynimiller]

I do see a lot of talent in the wide receiver pool but it's not some magical type draft...there are a LOT of one trick type freaks (Keon) or massively undersized guys I'm not gambling on (Franklin) if I'm a GM.

 

[Schultz]

Will be funny if they take a WR this year and then have people complain about taking a WR when we don't 'need' one. We have a habit as Packer fans thinking were are always 12 deep at the WR spot with unsigned free agents/practice squad players when alot of times they are just bodies. (OMG!! Tori Gurley gonna get scooped up if we cut him!). Watson still hasn't proven he can stay on the field and will be in year 3. Guy like Brian Thomas Jr is there, I'll be happy if the Packers take him. Like you said, get guys that can play and figure it out later. Draft is pretty deep in positions they need.

IMO the draft is not deep at their #1 area of need. LB. IMO the draft is not deep at their #2 area of need. Safety.

 

[Firethorn1001]

IMO the draft is not deep at their #1 area of need. LB. IMO the draft i

Sorry, was more talking about positions of consideration at 25 which is primarily offensive line from what I've seen in mocks (and Cooper DeJean) so I should have just said offensive line. Seems like LB/S is more of a early day 2 kind of thing based on who is out there.

 

[Thirteen Below]

IMO the draft is not deep at their #1 area of need. LB. IMO the draft is not deep at their #2 area of need. Safety.

Yeah, that's the irony of this draft year. We're already deep in positions where the draft is deep, and weak in areas where the talent pool is weak. Which puts us in a position where to the extent that "positional need" factors into the calculation of who to pick at any given selection (and let's be honest, we all know that short-term need is always at least a factor in the draft, especially on Day One and Day Two), we are more inclined to overpay for someone we ordinasrily might have taken a round later.

We have to choose between overdrafiting, the "BPA" at a positiion that meets an immediate need, or drafting perhaps a better player at a position where we could have given a prospect a season or two to develop (like Rodgers, or Love). It's inevitable that we're going to do that from time to time (whether they reaize it at the the time or not), but teams who find themselves doing it on a regular basis make themselves a weaker team.

 

[El Guapo]

As a GM, this is where you get to decide if you:
1) Go with the BPA pick, or
2) Trade back, if you can find a willing partner, and make two selections at a position of need

 

[Dantés]

You wonder if the Bills will be calling Green Bay about their receivers.

 

[El Guapo]

I didn't know why you would say that, until I saw that the Bills traded Stephon Diggs to Houston. I'm happy for CJ Stroud. One could say that he earned it.

I'm still not a fan of trading away one of our WRs, unless the staff as assessed a specific WR as someone that will not continue playing at a high level.