Grading Packers’ Trades Involving Kaleb Johnson, Kyle McCord, Mark Redman

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Monty Hall was the host of Let’s Make a Deal. Green Bay Packers general manager picked up the baton by making three deals at Sunday’s trade deadline.

Here’s a closer look at the trades involving quarterback Kyle McCord, running back Kaleb Johnson and tight end Mark Redman and our grades of each transaction.

Grading Trade for RB Kaleb Johnson

The deal: 2028 sixth-round pick to Steelers for Johnson.

Acquiring Johnson is a smart, swing-for-the-fences move done for equal parts necessity and potential.

The potential is obvious.

Johnson was an All-American at Iowa in 2024 after a blockbuster final season of 1,535 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns and 22 catches for 190 yards. From running backs in the 2025 draft class, he ranked 10th with 66 missed tackles forced, fifth with 4.42 yards after contact per carry and sixth with 41 carries of 10-plus yards, according to Pro Football Focus.

At 6-foot-1 and 224 pounds, he has the size the Packers typically prefer in the backfield.

By consistently producing against stacked boxes focused on him rather than a nonexistent passing attack, he’s got the tough-guy style the Packers like.

Out of 240 carries during his final season, he fumbled zero times.

He was the No. 3 back in the draft class, according to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler.

Iowa Hawkeyes running back Kaleb Johnson (2) runs the ball against the Wisconsin Badgers in 2024. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

“Johnson isn’t a dynamic make-you-miss athlete, but he is a patient and powerful one-cut runner with the instinctive vision to crease the defense using run angles and foot quickness,” Brugler summarized. “His play style is reminiscent of DeMarco Murray with a three-down skill set to thrive in a zone-based NFL scheme.”

That checks all the boxes.

It didn’t with the Steelers, though. His rookie season was nothing short of a disaster. A botched kickoff return that resulted in a Seattle touchdown put him in the doghouse, and he never got out.

He carried the ball 28 times for 69 yards – a feeble 2.5-yard average. His longest run was 9 yards; though he also was forced to gain 65 yards after contact. Of his two targets in the passing game, he caught one pass and dropped another.

So, in a rarity, the Steelers gave up on a third-round pick after one season.

The talent is there, though. And, with Josh Jacobs sidelined indefinitely by Commissioner Roger Goodell, the opportunity is there, too.

Really, every team should have a reclamation project on their roster. It’s all reward and no risk. The Steelers shelled out the signing bonus; the Packers are on the hook for the non-guaranteed base salaries of about $1.13 million this year, $1.42 million in 2027 and $1.71 million in 2028.

Presumably, he got a solid recommendation from Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Tim Lester, a former Packers assistant coach. Lester installed Green Bay’s scheme in Iowa City, so Johnson should feel at ease quickly.

“That’s the one skill-set of all the ones that I think is the most unique is how he breaks tackles in space,” Lester told Steelers Depot after last year’s draft. “It’s not normal. It’s not a juke, it’s not like I’m cutting back against the grain. He makes a little inside move and then an outside move, and you got to tackle him after that, because he’s going to be ready for you to come and hit you. Those guys that break tackles really well inside the A-gaps, he has a unique knack when he gets outside the pocket of breaking tackles.”

Green Bay’s running back room is one giant question mark. When will Jacobs return to action? (Will he at all?) After two seasons lost to injuries, is MarShawn Lloyd good, bad or somewhere in between? Can Chris Brooks be anything more than a pass-protecting role player?

If Johnson can show the talent that made him a star in Iowa’s pro-style run scheme, the Packers will have a big-time weapon and potential season-changing runner for the low, low cost of a sixth-round pick.

Grade: B-plus.

Grading Trade for TE Mark Redman

Los Angeles Rams tight end Mark Redman runs with the ball after a catch during the second half against the Cleveland Browns. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The deal: 2028 seventh-round pick to Rams for Redman.

The Packers hope Redman will fill the blocking void left unfilled since losing John FitzPatrick to a torn Achilles.

Redman went undrafted in 2025 and hasn’t played in a regular-season game. At 6-foot-6 and 263 pounds with 33-inch arms, he certainly has the physical tools to handle the heavy-duty part of the job. So, based on what he’ll be asked to do, his 4.95 time in the 40 might be irrelevant.

Redman was part of a loaded Rams tight end room. Even after trading Redman, they kept five on their 53-man roster. That includes a pair of recent second-round picks, Terrance Ferguson last year and Max Klare this year.

A seventh-round pick is a small price to pay for a player capable of moving defensive linemen against their will. The question is whether he’ll be able to, because potential is different than production. Presumably, Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s friend and mentor, Sean McVay, didn’t steer him wrong.

Grade: B.

Grading Trade of QB Kyle McCord

The deal: Received 2028 sixth-round pick from Dolphins for McCord.

From one perspective, general manager Brian Gutekunst committed grand larceny. He signed McCord, a sixth-round pick by the Eagles last year, for nothing at the end of the season. No signing bonus, no guaranteed money. Nothing. And they spun him into a sixth-round pick before he played a single regular-season snap.

That’s a brilliant job from an organizational perspective for Gutekunst to identify a quarterback with moldable traits and the coaches to mold those traits into production. Of course, McCord deserves credit, too, for embracing the opportunity and the coaching and letting his natural ability shine.

Now comes the other part.

Competent quarterbacks don’t grow on trees. The Packers drafted Sean Clifford in the fifth round in 2023 and Michael Pratt in the seventh round in 2024 and neither panned out like they were hoping.

Especially against Arizona but, really, throughout training camp and the preseason, McCord showed some real potential as a developmental prospect. Remember, Tyrod Taylor is 37 years old and on a one-year contract, so there’s no guarantee he’ll be back for next season. Had the Packers kept McCord as the No. 3 quarterback this year, he would have been in prime position to be the No. 2 next year.

Instead, it’s back to the drawing board at the most important position in the sport.

From Green Bay’s perspective, there is more value in a No. 7 receiver or No. 10 offensive lineman than a No. 3 quarterback. That’s probably true for any team that’s in win-now mode. So, the Packers got a sixth-round pick for a player they might have released and who shined against a Cardinals defense that didn’t blitz and barely applied any pressure.

For what it’s worth, Gutekunst has done well with his sixes, with kicker Trey Smack this year, defensive tackle Warren Brinson in 2025, defensive tackle Karl Brooks in 2023, linebacker Isaiah McDuffie in 2021 and guard Jon Runyan in 2020.

Grade: C-plus.

The Packers have a 53-man roster. Here are the winners and losers from a wheeling-and-dealing Cutdown Sunday. ⬇️https://t.co/AA4fGrVXmc
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 31, 2026

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google