Getty Mohamed Sanu #12 of the Atlanta Falcons is hit by Reggie Gilbert #93 of the Tennessee Titans in the second half of an NFL game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Green Bay Packers now have a stockpile of late-round draft picks for 2020.
General manager Brian Gutekunst revealed Friday the Packers had received a sixth-round conditional pick for their preseason trade of outside linebacker Reggie Gilbert to the Tennessee Titans, according to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber. Initial reports surrounding the deal late last August said the Packers would receive an additional seventh-round pick in the exchange, but the conditions of the trade were never made public.
Brian Gutekunst said #Packers get Titans’ sixth-round pick for trading OLB Reggie Gilbert near end of camp. So Packers currently have a first, second, third, fourth, fifth, three sixth, and two seventh in this spring’s draft.
The Packers will now have a draft pick in each of the first five rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft along with three in the sixth round and two in the seventh round, which gives Gutekunst and his staff a good amount of currency to potentially trade up throughout the draft. The Packers have swapped picks in the first round of each of his previous two drafts as GM, which has netted start-now talents such as cornerback Jaire Alexander and safety Darnell Savage Jr.
Gilbert, who spent his first two years in the NFL with the Packers, played in 11 games and made five starts for the Titans during the 2019 season. He finished with 22 tackles, three quarterback hits and one sack will playing just 27 percent of defensive snaps.
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Packers Have Amassed Serious Draft Capital
Gilbert wasn’t the only player the Packers offloaded for draft capital ahead of the 53-man roster cutdown deadline last August. They also dealt away offensive tackle Justin McCray to the Cleveland Browns, who deployed him for a career-low 31 percent of offensive snaps during the 2019 season. McCray did start four games, but his lackluster performance has the Browns assessing their options and looking for upgrades along their line this offseason.
The Packers also gained an additional sixth-round pick for trading former return specialist Trevor Davis to the Las Vegas Raiders and still have the seventh-round pick they acquired for dealing away running back Ty Montgomery to the Baltimore Ravens in October 2018.
It would be difficult to argue the Packers missed any of the four of them, even without knowing how valuable the draft picks will turn out to be. Davis made eight catches for 111 yards during his nine games with the Raiders, but he was waived in December and was later picked up as an inexpensive piece for the Miami Dolphins’ ongoing rebuild.
Meanwhile, Montgomery’s career as an NFL rusher has withered while the Packers have thrived with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams rushing out of their backfield. He rushed 32 times for just 103 yards and no touchdowns during his most recent season with the New York Jets, with whom he landed after failing to impress with the Ravens.
How Gutekunst and the Packers decide to leverage their 10 total draft picks will be interesting to watch, as they were awfully active in last year’s free agency and don’t have as much cap space to depend on this offseason. The Packers’ current cap space is sitting at about $23.2 million, some of which will likely be spent on re-signing some of their 21 pending free agents.
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