With Lazard (And Cobb?) to Jets, Packers Could Get Receiver in Rodgers Trade

Allen Lazard has signed with the New York Jets. Could the Packers get a receiver in return in the presumed trade of Aaron Rodgers?

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Mar 14, 2023 4:46 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Presumably, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is going to the New York Jets. Allen Lazard beat him to the Big Apple. Randall Cobb might not be far behind.

Sitting in his office at Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst might be saying, “Moore, please.”

Moore, as in Elijah Moore.

If the Packers and Jets pull off the long-anticipated trade of Rodgers, he’d like to bring along some of his friends. That includes, according to reports, two of Rodgers’ favorite receivers: the physical Lazard and the sage veteran Cobb,. He reportedly has Odell Beckham Jr. on his wish list, as well.

Even if the Jets only bring in two of those players, they’d have a crowded receiver room.

Garrett Wilson, a 2022 first-round pick, is the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after catching 83 passes for 1,103 yards while playing with one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL.

Elijah Moore, a second-round pick in 2021, was fourth on the team with 37 receptions, which he turned into 445 yards and one touchdown. He got into a spat with then-offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur – the brother of Packers coach Matt LaFleur – and asked for a trade. Starting with the Week 6 game in Green Bay, Moore caught zero passes and was targeted only once during a four-game stretch. That came on the heels of a rookie season of 43 receptions for 538 yards and five scores.

Veteran Corey Davis, who with the Tennessee Titans had seasons of 891 yards in 2018 and 984 yards in 2020, was fifth on the team with 32 receptions, which he turned into 536 yards, a 16.8 average and two touchdowns in 13 games. He’s 28, is entering his final season under contract and is owed a base salary of $10.5 million in 2023.

Denzel Mims, a second-round pick in 2020, caught 11 passes for 186 yards last year. He’s been a bust with just 42 receptions for his career. He’s entering his final season under contract and has a minimal base salary of $1.35 million.

Recently, an NFL executive said if he were Gutekunst he’d ask for a first-round draft pick along with a fourth-round pick or a “player on a rookie deal who’s good.”

That would be Moore.

Going into his third season, Moore has base salaries of $1.47 million in 2023 and $1.88 million in 2024. Paired with Green Bay’s 2022 draft picks, highlighted by Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, the Packers could have one of the youngest, most-talented and least-expensive receiver corps in the NFL to build around quarterback Jordan Love. When the season kicks off in September, Watson will be 24 and Doubs and Moore will be 23.

At 5-foot-9 1/2 and 178 pounds, Moore would fall outside Green Bay’s usual parameters. At that size, he projects to a slot receiver. That really wasn’t where he was used, though. According to Pro Football Focus, about one-third of his routes came from the slot last year, which he turned into 13 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. Cobb’s 1.70 yards per slot route far exceeded Moore’s 0.54.

It was a different story in college, though. At Ole Miss in 2020, he ranked third in the nation with 3.55 yards per route from the slot, according to PFF. From the slot, he caught 61-of-71 passes (85.9 percent) for 888 yards and six touchdowns while ranking eighth in the nation with 13 forced missed tackles.

Moore in the slot while flanked by Watson and Doubs could be big-time. Moreover, it would eliminate the need for the Packers to invest a premium draft pick into the position.

Davis might make sense, too, so long as he and the Packers can hammer out a contract extension to lessen the blow of that base salary and make this more than a one-year rental.

Davis and Watson would provide two stretch-the-field options. Last year, Davis ranked fifth in the NFL with an average target distance of 14.5 yards; Watson was sixth at 14.4 yards.

Gutekunst spoke at the Scouting Combine of wanting a veteran receiver to provide a steadying influence for his young receivers. If Lazard and Cobb both follow Rodgers to New York, that veteran receiver would have to come from the outside.