Packers ‘never in’ trade talks for Antonio Brown, per report
The Green Bay Packers reportedly aren’t interested in making a trade for Antonio Brown.
Will Antonio Brown be traded on Friday? It’s been an interesting day, starting with a report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network last night that the Buffalo Bills were “closing in” on a trade for Brown. But on Friday morning, Rapoport reported that the Bills are now out.
So, what does this mean for the Green Bay Packers? Could they now make a move for Brown?
It doesn’t look likely. According to Rapoport, the Packers were “never in it”:
Some wondered about the #Packers. They were never in it. Many teams are out. Where, exactly, does this go? https://t.co/UmBS4eoQ3N
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2019
Rob Demovsky of ESPN also reported that the Packers “never had any conversations with the Steelers” about a potential trade, and won’t be making an offer now.
While the thought of adding Brown to Matt LaFleur’s offense is an exciting one — Brown and Davante Adams would form by far the best receiving duo in the NFL — a trade for the seven-time Pro Bowler would come with too much risk, and I can completely understand why general manager Brian Gutekunst would decide not to make a move.
From a Packers’ perspective, a trade to the Buffalo Bills would have been perfect. They are an AFC team and won’t play against Green Bay again until 2022.
The question now is which team will he play for next season? I can’t see one of Green Bay’s NFC North rivals making an offer.
The Chicago Bears only have five draft picks, and none in the opening two rounds. They also only have around $18 million in cap room, according to Over The Cap.
The Minnesota Vikings only have around $5 million.
The Detroit Lions have $32 million available, which is slightly less than the Packers. They also own nine draft picks, including the eighth overall pick. Their situation is stronger than the Bears and Vikings, but if the Packers are out, it’s hard to imagine the Lions being seriously involved in trade talks. But we’ll see.
As Packers fans, we have to hope Brown isn’t traded to an NFC contender like the New Orleans Saints.
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Time will tell. It’s going to be an interesting couple of days.