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Packers Could Trade Out of First Round; Here’s the Upside

The Green Bay Packers reportedly have explored trading back and out of the first round. While that would disappoint the legion of fans who had been waiting for hours, there is some obvious upside for the Packers if they can make it happen.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers fans are shown before the start of the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Green Bay Packers fans are shown before the start of the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday. | Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Imagine spending 4 or 5 hours on a chilly night outside Lambeau Field waiting for the Green Bay Packers to make their pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, only for general manager Brian Gutekunst to trade out of the round.

It could happen.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Packers are among the teams that have “explored” moving into the second round.

It takes two to tango, and there are two obvious dance partners based on their quarterback depth charts and the possibility that Colorado’s Shadeur Sanders, Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart or Alabama’s Jalen Milroe could be available at No. 23.

The Cleveland Browns own the first pick of the second round, No. 33 overall. Their healthy quarterbacks are Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.

The New York Giants own the second pick of the second round, No. 34 overall. Their quarterbacks are Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.

The Las Vegas Raiders also could be an option. They own the fifth pick of the second round, No. 37 overall. While they made a huge splash by acquiring Geno Smith from the Seahawks, he is 34 years old.

While the fans who would have stood outside for several hours by that time would be frustrated by the turn of events, there’d be obvious upside for Gutekunst and the Packers.

More draft picks.

Using the Rich Hill trade chart as a guide, the Packers’ pick at No. 23 is worth 245 points. The Browns’ pick at No. 33 is worth 180 points, the Giants’ pick at No. 34 is worth 175 points and the Raiders’ pick at No. 37 is worth 162 points.

The difference?

Moving down with Cleveland would be worth 65 points. The Browns’ third-round pick, No. 67 overall (the third pick of the round), is worth 75 points, so Green Bay might have to send back one of its fifth-round picks to make it work.

Moving down with New York would be worth 70 points. The Giants’ third-round pick, No. 65 overall (the first pick of the round), is worth 78 points, so Green Bay might have to send back a fifth- or sixth-rounder.

Moving down with Las Vegas would be worth 83 points. The Raiders’ third-round pick, No. 68 overall (the fourth pick of the round), is worth 73 points. So, to make it work, the Packers might also get the Raiders’ fifth- or sixth-round pick.

“I think certainly we’d love to” get more picks,” Gutekunst said on Monday. “Whether that’s where we do that or how we do that will really be dependent on the opportunities that are there and the players that are there. We’re not going to pass up a really, really good player to move back, unless we somehow still feel we can get that player.

“So, we’ll see. Yeah, I’d like to have 15 every year. That would be just about right. But I think there will be opportunities but, at the same time, it’s such an unpredictable thing.”

The strength of the draft is in the numbers, especially with those premium picks in the first three rounds. The Packers had additional premium picks in each of the last three drafts after trading Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers and Rasul Douglas.

This year, the Packers have only the one pick in each of the rounds. With more key needs than premium picks at his disposal, a big trade back would give Gutekunst another swing of the bat.

“It’s a starter’s draft is how I would phrase it,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said before the Scouting Combine. “Going through and watching all these guys and talking to a bunch of people around the league, OK, some positions maybe don’t have that superstar that we have had in years past, but we do have a boatload of starters, particularly the defensive line. A bunch of really, really good players.”

Gutekunst said his hands aren’t tied in terms of trading out of the round and disappointing the tens of thousands of Packers fans in attendance.

“Not yet,” Gutekunst said with a smile, “but there’s still time to go.”

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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.