Packers: Three way-too-early trade candidates for the 2021 season

Three way-too-early trade candidates for the Packers.

The Green Bay Packers are 2-1 heading into a Week 4 outing at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aside from a disaster loss in Week 1 to the New Orleans Saints, the Packers have looked like an overall good football team.

But as is with every other team in the NFL, there are some glaring holes in this Packers’ team – for all three sides of the ball. Week 3 just ended, but there are only five weeks until the trade deadline approaches and the Packers are hopefully looking at candidates already.

These are three way-too-early trade candidates for those lovely boys up in Lambeau – a.k.a the Green Bay Packers.

New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas

I can hear the moans and groans of this one already. Let me explain.

Michael Thomas, despite his controversial off-the-field remarks and recent injury history, is an absolute game changer for the Packers. A one-two combination punch of Davante Adams and Michael Thomas would be comparable to other historic WR duos like Cris Carter/Randy Moss and Isaac Bruce/Torry Holt.

QB Aaron Rodgers has been vocal about the offensive side of the ball not receiving much attention during free agency and the NFL Draft, so what better way to relieve those concerns than by grabbing a two-time All-Pro receiver and a guy that registered 149 catches in 2019.

Every trade comes with concerns, and Thomas is no different. Thomas is due roughly $75 million over the next three years, and I don’t know if that’s something the Packers can handle with the contracts of Davante Adams, Jaire Alexander and more expiring soon.

With the Saints reportedly “more than open” to trading Thomas, I don’t think the compensation in a trade would necessarily be an issue either. I can’t see the Packers giving up a first-round pick, but maybe a second-rounder and an additional fifth- or sixth-round pick.

Even with a few things to figure out about Thomas, I couldn’t think of a better way to capitalize on the “Last Dance” narrative than grabbing a guy like Michael Thomas.

Kansas City Chiefs G Laurent DuVernay-Tardif

I’m a firm believer in the theory that you can never have enough talent on the offensive line, and it’s something the Packers have a chance to capitalize on here.

The Chiefs, despite his injury this year, seem to have moved on from DuVernay-Tardif after he voluntarily took last year off to help his home country of Canada tackle the ongoing pandemic.

Royce Newman, albeit a rookie, hasn’t found that inside offense line success that the Packers were hoping he could provide. With Jon Runyan and Lucas Patrick playing well, I think a trade for DuVernay-Tardif would only help out the depth for the interior of the Packers’ O-Line.

DuVernay-Tardif carries a small cap hit of $4.75 million, so a trade between the Packers and Chiefs should be easy to facilitate.

New England Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore

Although every player on this list could be considered “unrealistic” or a “heavy hitter” given the Packers’ cap situation, I think the team can find a way to make these trades happen – especially if they’re operating under the assumption this could be the last season with Aaron Rodgers at the helm.

The Patriots have had an issue with giving Gilmore a raise and while it’s definitely an issue that the Packers would have as well, I think it could be worth a “one season” type deal if they only give up a small bundle of draft picks.

I mentioned earlier that Davante Adams and Michael Thomas teaming up would be comparable to some of the great wide receiver tandems we’ve seen, but I can say the same thing about Stephon Gilmore and Jaire Alexander covering opposite sides of the field. Somebody like rookie Eric Stokes would also benefit massively from having two of the best corners in football teaching him the ways of the position.

With the Randall Cobb trade earlier this year, the Packers front office proved that they’re willing to make roster moves in order to keep AR12 content. Although a few of these moves could be considered out of the Packers’ reach, you never really know what lengths the team will go to in order to keep Rodgers around for years to come.