If the Green Bay Packers were to come out of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the best player available on their board (potentially a No. 1 receiver for quarterback Jordan Love), everyone would be pretty satisfied, Love included. But what if there were another option for the Packers to explore?
With the 23rd overall pick, Green Bay just happens to be in perfect range for teams picking early in Round 2 to trade into. There are a handful of teams that could be looking to move back into Round 1 to draft a quarterback, and they may be willing to pay a premium to do so. The relative haul the Packers could get in this scenario may be too tempting to pass up, depending on the desperation of the team(s) involved.
In the likely event that the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants bypass drafting a quarterback with their first pick, both could become suitors to trade up with Green Bay. The most likely quarterbacks that would be targeted here by teams looking to move up would be Alabama's Jalen Milroe or Ole Miss's Jaxson Dart.
It is also possible that Shedeur Sanders will experience a draft-day slide and will be available much later than most anticipate. However, the more likely scenario is that teams will try to figure out a way to move up and grab one of Milroe or Dart.
Trading down might be Packers' preferred path on Day 1 of the NFL Draft
What this comes down to, really, is the Packers keeping any and all options available to them. If Green Bay is not necessarily in love with anyone still on the board at 23, exploring a trade-down with a team actively trying to move up may be the best move for them.
Team president Mark Murphy squashed the conspiracy theory that the Packers would veto trading away their top choice in the draft they host.
It would provide the Packers with more picks that can provide help in the form of drafted players, navigating this and future drafts, and the ability to acquire proven NFL players for future draft capital.
Being able to take a multi-faceted approach is how the most successful teams operate, and the Packers must fully embrace that philosophy to construct a roster capable of going to the next level. Navigating their draft position properly by weighing all of the options available to them (including a trade down to a QB-needy team) is a very important step in the overall team construction process of successful organizations.