The Green Bay Packers just made a surprise trade with the Indianapolis Colts, sending defensive lineman Colby Wooden to Indy in exchange for longtime starting linebacker Zaire Franklin.
Franklin's experience and pedigree can only mean one thing: Quay Walker is not going to be returning to the Packers in free agency.
But the interesting twist with the Packers and Quay Walker is not simply that the team is ditching him without effort. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Packers made "several runs" at re-signing Walker before ultimately deciding to address their linebacker need with this trade out of left field.
Packers tried 'several' times to re-sign Quay Walker before Zaire Franklin trade
Pelissero's report indicates that Walker is expected to have a "strong market" in free agency, which should surprise nobody.
Walker was a first-round pick back in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Georgia, and although he hasn't been perfect in Green Bay, he's been productive. Walker racked up over 100 tackles in each of his four seasons with the Packers, including a career-high 128 total tackles this past season.
He's also been effective as a pass-rusher from the off-ball linebacker position with 9.5 career sacks, including 2.5 sacks in each of the last three seasons.
Although staying in Green Bay would have been a fine option for him, Walker probably figures that if he's going to be changing defensive schemes yet again after playing for Joe Barry and Jeff Hafley, he might as well cash in with the biggest possible offer he can get in free agency.
And sometimes, the grass is greener where you water it. We'll see if Walker is making the right football decision in time, but whether he re-signed with the Packers (which no longer seems to be a possibility) or signs with some other team, he's going to see a lot of zeroes in his bank account.
The projection from Spotrac feels like an extremely conservative $8.3 million in average annual value. If that was all it took to get him to sign on the dotted line, you'd have to think the Packers would have made it happen, especially for a player they invested a first-round pick in once upon a time.
But we'll see what happens with the linebacker market, because that is expected to be one of the most loaded position groups in all of free agency. And a lot of teams need help there, so Walker should have a lot of options.