Skip to main content
Packer Central

Pros, Cons of Six Trade Deadline Options Who Would Fit Packers’ Limited Budget

The NFL trade deadline is approaching. The Packers have some financial realities they must consider before making a move.
Bill Huber|
The Green Bay Packers would be a good fit for Titans running back Tony Pollard.
The Green Bay Packers would be a good fit for Titans running back Tony Pollard. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The clock is ticking. The NFL trade deadline is approaching, and there are opportunities for the Green Bay Packers to add to a roster that was good enough to crush the Patriots but also has some notable holes.

Here are six possibilities worth considering.

RB Tony Pollard

If Jonathan Taylor is too rich in terms of the finances and the trade capital to acquire him, Tony Pollard would be an excellent Plan B.

The reason to do it: Pollard is a legit starter and would give the Packers quite the one-two punch in the backfield. He is coming off four consecutive seasons of 1,000 rushing yards and is on track to do it again. He’s also on a streak of five consecutive seasons with 33-plus receptions. The Titans are a bad team but he’s still averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

Pollard, 29, would add $3.61 million to the cap. He’s not under contract for 2027, so he could be a half-year rental with the cost of a trade at least partially offset by a future compensatory pick.

The problem: It’s not really a problem, per se, but the Packers have a full-house backfield. If all goes well with Josh Jacobs’ surgery, he might only miss a couple games, which means he wouldn’t have to go on injured reserve.

Chris Brooks should be back from injured reserve this week. Kaleb Johnson showed his talent with a strong performance against the Patriots. MarShawn Lloyd’s knee injury held him out of Sunday’s game but isn’t serious enough for injured reserve.

Pierre Strong could be released and re-signed to the practice squad, but a backfield of Jacobs, Pollard, Brooks, Johnson and Lloyd would be bursting at the seams.

WR Brian Thomas

The reason to do it: A first-round pick in 2024, Brian Thomas had a blockbuster rookie season with 87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s big and fast, so would be a great fit for Green Bay’s offense.

With one more year on his rookie contract, Thomas could be a low-cost, high-reward addition for an offense that might be up Bleep Creek if Christian Watson or Matthew Golden were to miss significant time.

The problem: Thomas is big and fast and talented but has only 10 catches for 117 yards in eight games this season.

WR Tre Tucker

The reason to do it: Jayden Reed’s season-ending injury was a significant blow to the offense. Reed was a dynamic threat in the slot and irreplaceable from that perspective. A third-round pick in 2023, Tre Tucker caught 57 passes for 696 yards and five touchdowns last season and is on pace to crush those numbers with 33 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns this season.

He’d add only $1.84 million to Green Bay’s cap. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the season, so the Packers could recoup some of the cost with a future compensatory pick.

The problem: The Raiders need to figure out Tucker’s future, first. He’s also short – the Packers don’t like short receivers but maybe they could overlook it for what he could bring in the slot for a half-season.

C/G Jackson Powers-Johnson

The reason to do it: This would be a forward-thinking trade. A second-round pick by the Raiders in 2024, Jackson Powers-Johnson started 14 games as a rookie but only four games this season. He’d count $796,000 against this year’s cap and $1.99 million in 2027, so would be worth a flier.

The problem: Powers-Johnson probably wouldn’t do anything to help the offensive line this year.

The Packers are in an odd position of having a bad offensive line but a glut of decent linemen. They have Aaron Banks, Laken Tomlinson and Kevin Zeitler to play the guard positions, and Sean Rhyan should be back soon at center. Banks and Rhyan are among the highest-paid players at their positions.

At tackle, they used their first-round pick on left tackle Jordan Morgan and a second-round pick on Anthony Belton, who replaced high-paid standout Zach Bako-Bewele following his season-ending injury.

What about offensive tackle? The Packers could use depth, obviously, given the lack of it behind Morgan and Belton, but so could every team and there might not be a good one available.

Overall, the Packers have made a lot of investment on the offensive line. The Packers don’t need to add another decent lineman. They need their linemen to play better.

TE Ja’Tavion Sanders

The reason to do it: A passing-game threat is a passing-game threat, no matter the position.

Ja’Tavion Sanders was a fourth-round pick in 2024. He caught 62-of-77 targets for 532 yards and two touchdowns during his first two seasons but has played in only one game this year. He’s played a lot as a big slot, so would be a different way to replace Jayden Reed. Jonnu Smith hasn’t done much to help the offense, so maybe it would be worth taking a shot on a younger player.

The problem: Sanders can’t get on the field for the below-average Saints and he averaged only 6.6 yards per catch last year.

DT Dalvin Tomlinson

The reason to do it: Dalvin Tomlinson is 32 and in his 10th season. He has started 148 games in his career. He’s been a durable, run-stopping defensive tackle throughout his career, including this year with the Chargers, for whom he’s started all six appearances.

The Packers have been plagued by injuries at defensive tackle, though Jonathan Ford should be back from injured reserve soon. Tomlinson would provide solid depth at a reasonable price, with just $1.89 million added to the cap.

The problem: Tomlinson wouldn’t help the pass rush in the same way that the Patriots’ Christian Barmore is capable of doing. He’s up to 4.5 sacks after getting one against the Packers on Sunday.

Barmore, however, would add $6.6 million to the Packers’ tight salary cap. He’s got cap charges of $20 million in 2027 and $21 million in 2028, though those could be handled via kicking-the-can-down-the-road restructures.

The Financial Challenge

The Packers just don’t have the financial wherewithal to get much done at the trade deadline. Here’s the salary-cap outlook from Ken Ingalls.

Ingalls went into greater depth:

The Packers have more than enough current salary cap reserves to navigate the rest of the 2026 season to cover small maintenance signings and practice squad elevations covering for injuries.

On paper, the Packers have $6.03 million in cap space. This figure is important as it represents how much space they have right now in order for the league to allow a trade or signing to go through. For example, if the Packers were to attempt to trade for a player with $10 million remaining in base salary, the trade would be denied since they don’t have that much cap space.

In order to trade for running back Jonathan Taylor, for instance, the acquiring team would need about $4.6 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. The Packers have this covered.

While the Packers do have $6.03 million of cap space, I estimate they have closer to $4.31 million in “effective cap space” considering their likely future costs, such as filling out the practice squad, practice-squad elevations and per-game roster bonuses.

There are still levers the Packers can pull to free up more cap space for this season.

While the Packers would likely try to avoid backloading Jordan Love’s contract even more than it already has, they could convert his remaining base salary into a signing bonus to free up $3.44 million this season, adding cost to future years instead.

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published
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.