Packer Central

Could Packers Trade First-Round Pick for Veteran? Gutekunst Tried, But For Who?

Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said he’s been close to trading a first-round pick for a player. Who might that player have been? And could he pull off a blockbuster this year?
Bill Huber|
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst at the Scouting Combine
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst at the Scouting Combine | Bill Huber/Packers On SI

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Green Bay Packers

INDIANAPOLIS – The Green Bay Packers could use a premier pass rusher to elevate their defense to the next level. There’s a possibility the Cleveland Browns will trade Myles Garrett and the Las Vegas Raiders could shop Maxx Crosby.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has made a couple blockbuster trades during his tenure, but those were in dealing Davante Adams to the Raiders and Aaron Rodgers to the Jets. Since taking over in 2018, he’s never acquired a premier veteran.

The highest-profile players acquired by Gutekunst were quarterback DeShone Kizer in a trade with the Browns that included former first-round pick Damarious Randall in 2018 and receiver Randall Cobb from the Texans in 2021 for a sixth-round pick.

Could Gutekunst make a huge move this offseason by trading a first-round pick for an edge rusher?

“Depends who that edge rusher would be,” Gutekunst said.

Clearly, Gutekunst knows who could be available. Because those players are under contract, he was unable to talk in specifics.

Considering he hasn’t made a huge trade in his tenure, it seems unlikely that Gutekunst would trade a first-round pick this year.

However, he’s tried.

“Yeah, a couple times,” he said. “Didn’t happen, obviously.”

What got in the way?

“Somebody offered more,” he said.

Gutekunst obviously wouldn’t say who he tried to acquire, but three names stand out as logical options based on the Packers’ needs and the circumstances.

Just before the start of the 2018 season, the Oakland Raiders traded Khalil Mack, the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, to the Chicago Bears. The deal was Mack and second- and seventh-round draft picks for two first-round picks plus selections in the third and sixth rounds.

In Year 1 with Chicago, Mack was runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year with 12.5 sacks and six forced fumbles. The Packers were 17th in sacks in 2017, when Clay Matthews and Nick Perry combined for 14.5 sacks, and eighth in sacks in 2018, even though Matthews and Perry combined for only five.

In 2019, Gutekunst signed Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith in free agency and used his first-round pick on Rashan Gary.

In March 2020, with the Packers coming off a surprise trip to the NFC Championship Game, the Aaron Rodgers-led offense needed another weapon to pair opposite Davante Adams after Adams had double the receiving yardage as any other player on the roster.

The Minnesota Vikings sent Stefon Diggs and a seventh-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for first-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-round picks. In Year 1 in Buffalo, Diggs led the NFL with 127 catches while the Packers used their first- and fourth-round picks to select Jordan Love. In 2020, Adams caught 115 passes, 27 more than the rest of Green Bay’s receivers combined, as they once again lost in the NFC title game.

On the same day as the Diggs trade, the Indianapolis Colts acquired defensive tackle DeForest Buckner from the San Francisco 49ers after he collected 19.5 sacks the previous two seasons. The Colts had the 13th pick of the first round while the Packers were picking 30th.

Defensive line was a key need for the Packers, who reached the NFC title game in 2019 despite getting zero sacks from Dean Lowry in 16 games (all starts) and 1.5 sacks from Tyler Lancaster in 16 games (10 starts). In Year 1 with Indy, Buckner was first-team All-Pro with 9.5 sacks.

“There’s been things in the past that, yeah, we would’ve done that, but just didn’t work out,” Gutekunst said.

The Packers own the 23rd pick of this year’s draft. Acquiring a premier player might require more than No. 23.

That’s only part of the challenge, as Gutekunst discussed at the end of the season.

“You’d better be right, you know, because when you trade a high pick for a veteran player, you’re trading a young, really good contract for a player who’s proven but is probably expensive. You’re giving up a pick and salary-cap space. So, I think you’ve got to weigh that,” Gutekunst said.

“And if it’s the right player, if you feel like he can be a dynamic player who can change your football team, I think you’ve got to consider that because there’s not many of those guys out there. But I think you have to also understand what you’re giving up. So, that’s kind of my philosophy. But if that player can impact our football team in a significant way, you have to consider that.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.